Sulk

This is trash.

Was digging the 80s/synth vibe for about 15 seconds on the first track. That's where the enjoyment stops. This was AWFUL

did not like it.

Had to stop, did not like even a little

I put it on while I sat and read the news and don't remember any of the album.

Awful 80s synth pop. I could almost forgive the plastic music but not the vocals. Especially the slaughter of Gloomy Sunday - check out Sinead O'connor's version to hear how it's done properly.

Didn't like his voice or the 80s bibe :(

1.3

Why? This sounds like there’s three songs playing at all times and they never line up. Even the famous single isn’t great other than the opening riff.

Bad news wave/Britpop. I hated it.

could not enjoy...weird mix of 80s top 40 rock with haunting / terrible vocals and techno dance.

No standouts, just noise

Absolute tosh

Awful.

Unbearably bad to the point of being funny.

In yesterday's review I said this list was actually helping me enjoy a lot more 80s pop. The monkey paw behind this website curls, as it lines up this album for today.

I can’t get over how much I dislike the lead singer’s voice. Kind of atonal Bowie or more theatrical David Byrne or something. The music I would probably enjoy if I weren’t so distracted.

Pas aimé, criard...

I tried. In the end I just sampled most tracks for the first 10 seconds, then a minute in. I then just sulked away disappointed.

An appropriately titled album. A painful listen with insufferable vocals that did nothing except send me further down a sulking hole.

This was quite annoying. Suffered as much as I could then bailed.

There’s a world where the music and vocals work but not with one another. They clash and make both worse. It’s not good at all.

no

Nah

Bad versions of Talking Heads

Not good

Mid. Not much to talk about.

Really hard to get through. A lot of incoherent 80s wailing and below average riffs

Annoying AF.

Man. Just not good. The vocals are overdone, the musicianship is messy, there is very little flow or identifying characteristics. Feels like a couple of moody kids in a basement playing with a synthesizer got a record deal. I am a big fan of post-punk and early 80's alternative (Yaz/New Order/ etc.) but this was not good. 1.

This one is fuckin terrible. There's a reason no one's heard of this band. Much better and influential post-punk out there.

If Siouxsie Sioux, Robert Smith and David Bowie were paid to make music as bad as possible it would sound a bit like this

Imagine if David Bowie and Sparks were given severe head injuries, then locked in a recording studio with a mountain of cocaine. You'd likely get something similar to Sulk. It's not good. It's quite irritating, in fact, and I have to believe that the people who voted this onto the list also had severe head injuries. There is a lot of synth pop on the list, and this is surely the worst of it (he says while whistling past the graveyard)

1st song, 80 tv movie soundtrack for an unconvincing action sequence. 2nd song began with an "oh no, these vocals no" but in the end is wasn't too bad. 3rd song, murky synth-driven instrumentation in the back with reverb-and-echo-drenched vocals way in front of the mix and it a weirdly cloying noise. 4th song, thought it would be a more guitar-driven tune with crisp production and then the cabaret vocals draped over top of it all with no rhythmic connection to the music. Again no. 5th song. Sensing a pattern: mechanical and inflexible rhythms punctuated with weird fills. It's all about the vocals and they're the weirdest yet. 6th song has an interesting bass line, finally... some guitars, and then it's drenched with synths and Broadway/Bowie/opera vocals so you can't hear the interesting parts. better than the previous song though. 7th song starts with solo guitar and it's pretty ok, and then drum machines and then... again, as described before. 8th song, Party Fears Two, is a probably the best one here. The vocal and instrumental find a balance, baroque as it is. 9th song, maybe I'm getting used to this. Mix is pretty good. Still definitely not my thing, but I can see its appeal. 10th song, an instrumental bookend. Like the first, very very 80s, but this one has aged better than the opening track. So, for the first half I thought I was definitely going to award my first 1-star review. Couldn't find anything to appreciate. Second half got better or I just got acclimated to the distilled histrionic 80s-ness of it. But by the end, I think my little bit of appreciation was probably Stockholm Syndrome making me sympathize with my captors. So, therefore, and in conclusion, 1.5, rounding down.

The world would have been a better place if it had never been made. The vocals are like if Robert Smith didn't know how to sing, and the music is like highschool jazz band, but if someone gave them a guitar player too.

I really did not like this one. Very repetitive and not pleasant at all. I think I only got 80% through the album.

Repetitive and weird, and not in a fun a way. I read that Björk cited this as an major influence, but I feel like what this album influenced is a lot better than the album itself.

I don't know how this album got on this list. It's everything that was bad about the genre/era, and none of the good.

I thought I was a fan of 80s synth pop, but between this and the Heaven 17 album I got the other day, maybe I'm not. Woof.

They misspelled Sucks in the title.

Down with this sort of thing.

Album development / concept conversation went something like this: Hair dude = "The year is 2399, i've got Garage Band and have uploaded 500 synth loops and 200 drum beats" Hat dude = "Yes, set off a minimum of 50% of these loops / beats for every single track on the album" Hair dude = "Are you sure? Some of them don't go together, in fact they really clash" Hat dude = "Yeah set them off anyway, make sure you do this on the very first track as well, i want it to sound like we've dropped an electric drum kit down the stairs, get people into the groove" Hair dude = "What above vocals? I've got some melodies and harmony parts worked out...." Hat dude = "Sounds good but I think we just sing it like we're alien invaders, lets very our pitch every 10 seconds regardless of the tune" Hair dude = "Awesome" ........presses record

I feel bad giving it 1 star but it was just way too long and it really got on my nerves. Had it been a bit shorter I might have given it 2!

I had high hopes for this album. While I'm not familiar with anything from the Associates, I definitely knew of them because of their associations with The Cure (which many of you know is my favorite band). Michael Dempsey was the original bassist for The Cure and joined the Associates after leaving the band. And, Robert Smith was friends with Billy Mackenzie, who was the lead singer of the Associates. In fact, The Cure's song "Cut Here" is about the regret Robert Smith always had when he blew off Mackenzie backstage at a Cure concert just a few weeks before Mackenzie died by suicide. Having said all that, I just didn't care for this album at all. A lot of the songs just sounded like noise to me. I'm not a fan of Mackenzie's voice. Honestly, just not sure how this one ended up on the list. In fact, there were some bonus tracks from the re-release of the album that were listed on the Spotify track list and I didn't listen to them. Normally I would, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

Leider macht seine Stimme nicht mehr mit

Weiss nicht, wie dieses Album in dieser Sammlung gelandet ist.

Uch, not for me. Chaotic, loud and dramatic.

as already mentioned by other comments. This is low budget David Bowie, like bargain bin stuff... If you don't like Bowie listen to Bowie insted of this.

Utter warbling bollocks.

awful and boring

I don't know if I'll be in able to choke this down. 2 sings in and it's unbearable. Possibly the 1st album I won't finish.

Another band I’ve heard the name of but know nothing about. The write up made them sound like they could be interesting and right up my alley. Maybe an alley. One with cats on heat. Bloody awful - and I’d have thought I’d have been in the target audience for this one given the era. Gah! It’s a shame 1 star is the lowest option.

Very 80s innit

The creator of this list is a tone deaf asshole. His tastes are awful and I hope he gets ear cancer. He’s truly a masochist. What a moron and a fool.

You can tell this was made by the most pretentious trust-fund faggots in England. Indulgent and yet unlistenable. Maybe there are too many superfluous British albums on the list?

Ikke for meg i det hele tatt. Et slit å komme seg igjennom. 1.4/5

Holy lord that’s horrible

OMG from the first measure I knew I didn’t need to hear this before I die. What a hot mess. This list is so shite. I’m sorry there’s not over 1000 albums you have to hear. There’s probably 100 that you should listen to no matter what and then whatever you like. And then you should probably listen to a fuck ton of classical/baroque/romantic music. Not all these shite UK albums. Sheesh.

WTF. A strong contender for worst album so far. This is why I don't hand out a lot of 1's - they're reserved for crap like this.

Quite shit

A fine, but not great album. Where this album shines, at least for 1982, is the sublime synths and creative risks taken on the production side. The Bowie-esque vocals are enjoyable, but the lyrics are daft. Not worthy of a position on this list, but a bit better than the usual fare of English bands that are noteworthy to no one. Better albums from 1982 that should have been included instead of this one: Men at Work BUSINESS AS USUAL, Toto TOTO IV, Frida SOMETHING'S GOING ON, Rush SIGNALS, Billy Idol BILLY IDOL, abc THE LEXICON OF LOVE, Fleetwood Mac MIRAGE, The Cure PORNOGRAPHY, Steve Miller Band ABRACADABRA, Madness THE RISE AND FALL,

Interesting choice to start with an aggressive, energetic synth instrumental. I don't hate it. It's definitely a relic of the 80s. I feel that the follow-up, No, is trying too hard to push the boundaries of music. It's all the ingredients of a post-punk band, complete with horrifically bad vocals, repetitive guitars, droney basslines, and synths that echo like nobody's business. It comes across like a very off-brand Talking Heads (circa Remain In Light), so for the good taste in inspiration, The Associates get at least a few style points. I'm 50-50 on the song No, but it gets a pass because the piano melody is kind of catchy. But no more bad-experimentation-for-the-sake-of-it, please. Well, at least Gloomy Sunday is sort of like conventional pop. Apart from the vocals, which are just so darn terrible that it becomes impossible to ignore. They're mixed up loudly in both ears, somewhat out of tune, and echoed as if you were standing in a Satanic cathedral. Sounds like drunk karaoke. At this point in the album, I started to realise all of the remaining tracks would be pretty terrible. Of course, I remained open to a happy surprise, but everything from track 3 onward is so kitschy, so overdramatic, and so unbelievably badly done. The only exception to this is Club Country, which is at least middling (on account of the positive, upbeat mood) and has passable vocals. Now let's check the Wikipedia article... Dang, those "professional" ratings are pretty harrowing. Of the seven listed, the lowest rating is four stars. Out of five. In contrast, the average rating in this project stands at 2.36. I would personally wager that the masses (us) are right about this one (but 2.36 is still far too high for this monstrosity). 1/5 Key tracks: Arrogance Gave Him Up, No, Club Country

.

My optimism soon crashed with this album. I could hear the Bowie influence but not in a good way

David Bowie wannabes? Not for me

Didn’t like this at all, I remember Party fears coming out, and didn’t like that……🤣

This explains why so many people hate New Wave.

Here's how this played out... 1st song - Instrumental? Cool. Not astounding, but not bad. 2nd song - A bit dramatic and that voice is overly melodramatic. Maybe he's just leaning into it for the vibe on this one. 3rd song - What the hell? Is that just his voice? It's pretty damn annoying. 4th song - He toned it down a little, but really, I don't think I can listen to this whole album. Gloooooomy Sundaaaay Gloooooomy Sundaaaay Gloooooomy Sundaaaay Ok, Let's take a break and come back to this later. 5th song - incoherent yowling. Is this even in English?? 6th song - Oh, ok. Music! cool bassline and he's not yowling. It's still a little dramatic, but dealable. Oddly, the least appropriately named song on the album, "Skipping" is prolly the least skippable song so far. No more play-by-play because I want to get away from this piece of crap. Just one more thing: Some folks commented that "Party Fears Two" is the jewel of this album and I'm calling bullshit. Nobody would play this on purpose, would they? This is a 1 that deserves a 0

Holy shit, no. I had high hopes after the opening track, but they lost me about 3 minutes into track 2. This is album #216, so I am about 20% through this exercise. At this point I have serious concerns that I will finish, and I have serious concerns about Robert Dimery's qualifications for compiling this book, not to mention his editors' and publishers' sanity for approving him as the executor of this project. Send help. Please.

The wikipedia article classifies this band as post-punk. A genre that hasn't been my favorite before but this albums sounds nothing like the previous post-punk albums on this list. That being said I really didn't like this one either. Strange noises, singing/talking out of beat, drums that doesn't really have a tempo and changes when the band feels like it instead of having a transition. There was two or three songs that were okay to listen to but the others made me mostly irritated.

Jep, ei kyl pysty nyt kuuntelemaan kiekumista ja syntikkasaundeja

You just can't be serious at this point

I don't know what that was all about, but whatever it was, it wasn't for me. Off-kilter beats, boring themes, messy.

Its been a while since there has been an album on here that has had me thinking "Can I actually bear to listen to this all the way through?" Surprisingly the answer was yes, though its an hour I'll never get back. I was truly awful 1

Not a fan

First four tracks are God awful, so I stopped listening. Who the fuck thought this was worth including?? Shockingly bad

Not good. Do not recommend. I'm giving this a 1 as in "the worst rating possible".

Horrendous caterwauling that couldn't end soon enough. What Bowie probably sounds like in The Bad Place. I'm appalled that there's a 3-hour version of this on Spotify.

I didnt need to hear this. Actually i would be better without it.

Absolutely horrific, awful, garbage. The only two songs that are not dreadful, are the two instrumental tracks. The rest is painful, wailing crap. How has this ended up on the list? Absolutely nobody needs to listen to it.

Just a brutal listen. Sulk? Yeah, that’s what I did the whole damn time I was listening through this album. In all sincerity, why is this on here? There is just heaps and heaps of much better music in this genre. “Best” Track: 18 Carat Love Affair

No thank you.

No likey.

this blows

Good Lord this was horrendous. The guy's voice makes me want to punch him in the throat so he can never sing again. This represents the worst of the 1980s. Just awful.

Listened to 3 songs. Not into it.

Blech, what a ear sore

Dreadful concept album. The very best bits were listenable. Nuff said

Album No. 0076 on my list. Phew, what do I do with this album? First things frist, I've not been aware of the existence of both the album and the group. This was completely new, and i tried to get into this with an open mind. Unfortunately, the whole album is just annoying. I'm not even sure why. It's not a terrible collection of songs per se, but I just didn't like it. The singing is annoying, the music is unnecessarily weird, I don't like its overall vibe. It's not that I don't appreciate avant garde music, quite the contrary. But this just felt unnecessarily annoying to me. I'll add "Club Country" to my playlist, which is a song that at least somehow got stuck in my head. I'll likely never listen to the rest of the album, unfortunately. Bonus points (negatively) for the whole extent of the album - too many, too bad songs. So, finally: it probably doesn't deserve such a bad rating, but "Sulk" will just get 1 star from me. I guess it's just not for me, or maybe I was just in a bad mood, I dunno. Sorry to The Assoiates, maybe I'll listen to the album again in a few years and find it better. 1/5 stars.

Kuidagi kehv mix, ma nagu kuulaks seda läbi mingisuguse toru. Väga palju kahtlaseid ideid ja kõlasid, mis ei tööta. Selline eksperimentaalne brit synthpop, mis mulle kuidagi ei istu. Vokaalid on ikka päris kohutavad ja kriibivad kõrva. Omal ajal võis ta midagi huvitavat ja uut olla, aga praegu kuulates on see ikka piin. 1/5

Musically could have been background music. But the vocals make it unlistenable for me. Almost quit at track 3.

I didn't think it could get worse until I heard the vocalist. Song 2 sums this up perfectly: No.

This is a slog. It’s every band of the 80 mixed together and then carefully sieve of distinguishing marks. Oingo Boingo without the humor; Tears for Fears, but for the talent. Placeholder at best, but one which sorely tried my patience.

0.9 Well I guess this finally answers the question "What if David Bowie wasn't a somewhat functional drug addict"

55

This was awful. This is the kind of album that scares people away from this list. Especially after listening to Night at the Opera by Queen. I either do not like new wave music at all, or this list is just filled with bad new wave albums. Kind of wish I could discuss the inclusion of this one with the creator of the list. Like even if its a 'stepping stone', it sounded like the sad part of a subpar musical that goes on for an hour. But the singer is putting way to much oomph into everything, and the instrumentation is totally doing its own thing, like they are both deaf to one another. Actually had to skip certain songs, because I honestly couldn't take it, they were difficult to get through. Plus the songs were going nowhere, and you could tell they were going nowhere, so why endure it. blah blah, its experimental... blah blah... wellllll it sounds bad... soooo.... Great name for the album though, surely put me in quite the sulk. 1.5/10

This was an odd one, definitely different, but not something I enjoyed really at all.

Uno de los peores que he me ha tocado escuchar. Música estridente, machacona, y aburrida. No me gusta este sonido del nuevo pop ochentero, y en este disco está por todos lados. La segunda parte no incurre con tanta insistencia en los pecados de la primera, pero tampoco hace nada por redimirse.

Didn’t like this album. Just generic New Wave. Nothing interesting.

This is just hard to listen to! Now I know why even though I was buying tons of albums in the 80’s I never heard of these guys! How about a new book “1001 albums You’ll Actually Enjoy Listening to!” 1 star only because there is now way to rate it ZERO!

Second album in a row of artists I'd never heard of before. Yesterday was a big surprise for me. It was a Scott Walker album that was reviewed very poorly but I really enjoyed. Looking at the reviews for today's record, I'd hoped to find another diamond in the rough. I do generally this genre of music very much, so I figured this would be another where I stood out from the pack. When the first song came on, I was totally on board. It was an instrumental and very much in my wheelhouse. And then the song No started. As soon as the vocals began, I realized what I was reading in the reviews was exactly how I was feeling. Though derivative of Bowie, it was off key and at times painful to listen to. This wasn't enjoyable at all. The next song I liked was the last, another instrumental. Unfortunately there were 8 almost unlistenable songs in the middle. I still enjoyed the music throughout. There wasn't a song on the album where the music was the issue for me. It was all about the horrible vocals. I don't know what I will rate this yet. I'll need to let it fester for a while before I decide.

Not a fan of this one, it's a bit like a sparks record but missing some of the theatricalness and catchy hooks. Wasn't a fan of the singing. Musically it felt quite 80s, but not the interesting strand of the 80s.

This was not good for my hangover. Sounded like a haunted industrial site

What am I listening to? I do try to finish the albums even if I don't always succeed. But this one was hard to give more than 10 minutes of my time.

Shite

Nein

This seemed like the worst 80's pop had to offer

Besides reminding me of the music the goth kids listen to on South Park and giving me a little chuckle, this album did absolutely nothing for me.

I can't work out if this is genius or terrible. Some great energy in the music, very danceable in places. I recognised one song, Party Fears Two, but nothing else here seems that different from other new wave bands at the time. The vocals are quite annoying at times, and very derivative of David Bowie too. The drumming is absolutely frantic on some of the songs, and I think slightly out of time, which made me uneasy. So I think I've landed on terrible.

Overproduced and histrionic; there are some stirring moments and cool ideas here, but it’s melded together by a post-rock and 80s pop fusion that doesn’t work for me. I have to respect the vocal performances even though they often annoyed me - they were really going for it. I listened to the original UK tracklist and couldn’t bring myself to listen to the US/Europe exclusive songs. It already felt longer than its runtime and I think I got the idea.

Ya know, I really didnt like this and was going to give it a 2. Then i heard the guys voice and yeah, it's a 1 for me, dawg. 1/5

It sounds like a combo of David Bowie and The Cure but like you got them from Wish. This is epitome of “We Have David Bowie At Home”, this just sucks

Ear vomit

My first 1 given on an album. I can handle a lot of music. Even if something isn't my style, I often still find some beauty in the instruments, songwriting or overall love into an album. I also enjoy experimental stuff. This however, is shit. Every single element is all over the place, and it feels like the autotune has been deliberately set to false. Honestly, I don't know how you can listen to this and think "yeah man, this is what I'm going to release to the world". It feels like you're high on psychedelics or ate too much spacecake and your best friend decides to play a record backwards, turning your good trip in a trip from hell and you are convinced the devil is talking to you and you are confident your consiousness is transported into the deepest realms of hell. Quite impressive an album can mimic that exact feeling, but still a 1 from me.

Thoroughly hated this. The drum programming all sounds like a mistake

No thanks 🤮

I used to think I liked 80's music but now that I've listened to every garbage post-punk album britian has ever produced I have my douo. Everyone is worse than the one before. This one is so full up their ass i seriously considered not listening to it. The first time that's happened on this list. At least with Neil Young he has a humor to his shittiness

This sucks. Synth pop is really one of my least fav genres. 1.5/5

That album cover and the name “Sulk”? I’m already not happy. I cannot with this voice. I. Can. Not. What if David Bowie wasn't talented? Yeah, I guess I now know what that would sound like (and I don't like it).

Sounds like a bad parody typifying the very worst of the 80s. But I was happy to give a 2 to this terrible album and move on with my life. But then I got the one-two punch of 'It's Better This Way" and "Party Fears Two (Remix)" which amp up the awful vocals to an absolutely transcendent degree, followed by the realisation that my streaming version had 7 bonus tracks, and the 40th Anniversary version 36 extra tracks(!). That's a war crime.

Can't even say I enjoyed part of it.

Uninspired and feels like low-quality garbage straight out of the 80s. I can’t imagine anyone listening to this voluntarily. It's the kind of album you'd hope to never hear again.

nah

Immer noch avantgardistische Musik.

этот альбом тяжело дался, шумный, голова болит от него. не порадовал

I was hoping it was going to be an instrumental album. The second song started and it was a let down. "I bit my nails down to the quiCKKKKKK" what a line. I would never listen to this album on purpose again.

Nope

Sulk is a good name for this album. After 3 straight days of crap, this one included, I just want to sulk. I made it to about halfway into the album before the lead singer’s voice finally made me rage quit. I love 80’s music, but some of the choices on this list are downright terrible.

The singer has a very thetralic delivery. The songs sound dated. I didn't like it at all.

I don’t know what kind of mood this music is even for.

Hmmm. I don't enjoy how this sounds, it feels really trebly and aggressive. It sounds very 80s sample heavy, some of the noisy guitar bits are interesting, but I don't really enjoy the synths and the vocals sound like someone doing an over the top bad impression of Phil Oakley. There are bits that reminded me other stuff, some of which I like (there was a drum intro that sounded like a poorly recorded "run to the hills". I just didn't enjoy it. It was messy and tinny and naff.

Fuck this wank of an album.

Absolute irredeemable garbage. I went into this with the lowest expectations and even those weren’t meant. Insufferable useless pile of slop.

Det är okej tills sången kommer in.

Ständigt denna jävla new wave. Måste ju finnas miljoner album som är bättre, intressantare, mer betydelsefulla än detta mög. Det hjälper inte att de försöker lajva Bowie. Blir bara mer uppenbart hur fruktansvärt svagt det här är. Urtråkigt! Har varit försiktig med ettorna på sistone. Det får inte gå inflation i dem. Precis som svårigheten i att nå Gazzettans 10a, ska du tvärtom vara omänskligt usel för bottenbetyget. Men nu räcker det! Nästa album tack!

Well. It makes sense why I have never heard of this band or album.

I can't. Didn't make it past track 2. Not my type of music at all. 1 star

Awful. The voice, the bad use of synths: I had to quit this album in the morning or it would break my mood.

Pfff, klinkt als een flauw afkooksel van Talking Heads. Verschrikkelijk om naar te luisteren. 1.2

Meh, not my type

Utterly horrible. Whoever thought it was a good idea to give this group a recording contract should have reconsidered their career choice. 1/5

80s Synth-Pop but without any upbeat catchy hooks to at least provide the odd glimmer of guilty pleasure. It's miserable from start to finish. The best moment was the little instrumental outro track at the end.

This album truly sucks. Pretentious garbage.

Unlistenable. One of the rare albums I feel generous giving it a 1 star.

Terrible

This was pretty bad. The vocals are horrendous. The instrumentals weren't too bad. This album did not age well.

Oh gawd, what a piece of self-indulgent, sulky rubbish. Truly terrible, including the worst version of Gloomy Sunday ever recorded and released on the unsuspecting public. I'd rather untangle 20 of those slinky stair hopper spiral things than listen to this again.

I don’t give many 1’s but nothing about this album was even listenable. Hot garbage.

Awful. Just awful. Weird music, terrible vocals and bad lyrics. Avoid like the plague.

Nope, just nope. Credit for trying something different but not everything different is good.

What a bunch of crap...

This should've stayed in the 80s. Yuck. 1.5

It's like The Cure smashed together with David Bowie. Really not my thing.

Sometimes I'm almost persuaded that my hate of 80s synth-pop is slightly irrational. And then I hear stuff like this that makes me want to punch the entire decade in the dick... Awful. -5 points.

Calling this post-punk is an insult to all things Post and Punk.

I literally thought my streaming account was skipping while playing the first minute of the first track. After confirming on a YouTube link that the awful timing/playing was *actually* what was recorded I'm completely offended on a musical level that this was even released. Are there 2 drummers? 2 drum machines? Is this 2 songs just overlapping? Did someone not plan this out? Driving me nuts. Whatever .... how will the rest of this soun... GOOD LORD THESE VOCALS Is any of this any good at all? .... quoting both the title of their 2nd song and Marcel Marceau in Mel Brooks' Silent Movie........: "NO" Worst theatrical stereotypes of mopey early 80s synthy bad post-punk newwave all in one obnoxious package. 2/10 1 star.

This album is absolutely awful. Boring, repetitive, whiney, and cringey. The vocals are like nails on a chalkboard, and this is coming from a metalhead, who can justify all manner of screams, growls and off-key warbling. I can't ever think of a time when I would voluntarily listen to this. I like weird. I love The Residents album Duck Stab/Buster Glen. This? It's different but, not in a good way.

Annoying synth-pop with lots of beeps and boops like some old videogame music.

The first instrumental track was intriguing... a good vibe. Then it really look a left turn. The next few tracks made me fell like I was in a fever dream... and not in a good way. Although, is there ever a good fever dream? Regardless, I was definitely not in the right mood/state of mind for this album. And I'm not sure it's the type of sound I am ever in the right mood for. The most curious/interesting track was "Gloomy Sunday," which sounded very David Bowie-esque, but I learned it was a version of an old 1933 Hungarian song that has been recorded by a million people. 🤷🏻‍♂️ After that it went back to its assault on my nerves and didn't let up.

Steaming pile of pretentious garbage. I kept waiting for something that was redeemable and it never showed up.

Just not an album I can vibe too, I appreciate a lot of the instrumentation and production. But this is just not my type of music, took a lot not to just skip through. Favourite Tracks: None Least Favourite: All of them

Schrott

говно я не понял вообще даже дослушивать не хочу ща блевану

I know they say not to judge something by it's cover, but this is exactly what I feared when I saw this album cover.

Absolutely awful. No interest in hearing this again.

Truly strange, cut-rate Davide Bowie tribute band

If David Bowie were born and raised in a basement and only got to listen to the clanging of the pipes for music and one day was set free and heard real music for the first time and decided to give it a shot - that is this album. At the 90 album mark and so close to being 10% done and get thrown this hot garbage. Albums like this make drudging through this list really hard.

Very dreary early 80's pop

Muito fraco. Um disco confuso, sem direção, sem melodias interessantes ou agradáveis. Sem entender como um disco destes veio parar numa lista de álbuns essenciais.

Weak music combined with exceedingly bad vocals is what I needed to hear before I die? I would be better off dead. 1 star or F- is too good for this album.

Couldn’t get into it. Way too chaotic.

Post-punk icons, or just synth-goth weirdness. For me, the warbling vocals are pitched somewhere between operatic soft metal and Vogon poetry, amusingly at odds with the (occasionally) chirpy synth lines, but generally adding an uncomfortably high-pitched icing to a needlessly melodramatic cake comprised of surprisingly tuneless 80s pretentiousness. I did warm to the sound a little the more I listened, but - no, not for me - its just a bit too proud of its own pomposity to be taken seriously.

It started off bad, and got progressively worse. There are so many other bands / albums in this genre that I would listen to long before I even considered listening to this again.

We duiken wéér het theater in. Ik ben inmiddels gegroeid als mens en ik kan over het algemeen dit soort 80's meuk al iets beter hebben dan vroeger, maar deze specifieke plaat durf ik wel de stempel 'verschrikkelijk' te geven. Mijn pantser is te dun, ik ben hier niet tegen gewapend. Een half opengescheurde, gekreukte David Bowie uit de kortingsbakken van de Xenos. Galm, galm, galm. Goedkope synth geluidjes. Een vervelende lul van een zanger. Kopstem. Veel gedoe. Ik geef me gewonnen, ik kan niet anders dan een 1 geven hiervoor. Verschrikkelijk.

No amount of drugs can style this music

Nope - not working for me

Phew, what a load of shit. In between, there were a few passages where I thought it could still be something. In the next piece, however, my expectations were always emphatically disappointed. I finally broke it off. My time is too valuable for crap like that. 1/5

That was bad. Bland, uninspired music, and horrible vocals on top. Waste of time.

Absolute garbage! It was like listening to a terrible movie soundtrack. I was bored to death by the instrumental tracks and angered when the vocals started.

Nope didn't like it

Wow, this was terrible.

вот эти кусты с обложки явно обладали каким-то дурманом

i know the reviews were warning enough, but i really wanted to keep an open mind and give it a fair review. nothing could've prepared me for how bad this was. i couldn't even make it halfway through i have to agree; this sounds like a less talented and more pretentious David Bowie. i can only assume this is another case of an artist making it onto this list because they're from the UK, as per usual i can't fathom why the author of the book thought everyone should listen to this. there's so many more talented artists that the post-punk genre has to offer. do better!!

WHY

Some Halloween core ass music? Why was this on the list? 2/10

Terrible, can’t listen to it anymore made it 5 tracks in!

Oough, this is akward and painful.

I very much could have died without listening to this one.

No thank you

Too niche a sound for me to make room for these guys when I already have the Cure and Bowie.

Suck by the Asses

This album screams "we have David Bowie at home (and he fell down the stairs on the way out)"

bad

Even though I had low expectations, seeing that this album is 80s pop punk, I was still disappointed. It sounded like Pet Shop Boys, but with weak vocalist and very monotonne music. I don't think there's anything that I can praise. Just a waste of time.

It’s so bad I can’t listen to it

British post-punk has gotta be my least favorite genre. I was going to give this a 2 and say "these guys put the mid in MIDI," but then I read the Wikipedia article about this album and these guys are so far up their own asses about it that I had practically no choice but to give it a 1.

Too messy, too out of tune, too 80s, too long, too pretentious. 2/10

What the fuck is this?

Never heard of "The Associates." "Sulk" is totally boring and weird crap. What kind of singing is that? Holy shit, and they dare to take to the streets with that! Awful, really awful.

Pretty average and boring. Maybe this was revolutionary for its time, but much of this genre that came later was much better.

Where do I begin with this pile of trash? Let’s ignore that the production on Sulk sounds dated as fuck. Are The Associates even playing in time? Like, is the drum machine even in sync with the synths? Can they not hear that this sounds like a bunch of teenagers in a garage on December 26th with their Christmas gift guitars in hand attempting to play a Van Halen song, but like, the new wave version of that? And when these guys *are* playing in time– purely by accident, I assume– well, then the atrocious moaning vocals come in and muck it all up. As a pro-level, seasoned David Bowie hater, I am especially annoyed by how his influence has touched this band, but Jesus Christ…A knockoff is torture already– a Bowie knockoff is like a personal vision of Hell for me. And every time the vocals catch a vibe in that ‘80s new wave way and I start to imagine I’m hearing a hook, the instruments all fall out of fucking time again! Which, again, all sounds dated as fuck!! I truly worried I was being too harsh on this record, but I think any semblance of a hook or a catchy line that I might be hearing is just Stockholm Syndrome. I feel like I’m forcibly gaslighting myself to find something positive about this record. And EVEN THEN, I walk away concluding that Sulk is one of the worst pieces of shit I’ve ever heard in my life. Abysmal is an understatement. I don’t think The Associates have a musical bone in their body, and certainly none in their ear canals, that’s for fucking sure. On paper, I was already not the audience for Sulk– an early-era new wave album [i.e. inherently dated] that was only popular in the UK [i.e. too British for my Yankee ears] and heavily influenced by one of my least favorite musicians of all time [a.k.a. I’m a Bowie hater]. In practice, the end product is a million times worse than I could’ve ever imagined. It’s almost offensive that these idiots even got a record contract, let alone that this ear-bleeder somehow got included on a list of any kind that isn’t “The 1001 Worst Albums of All Time That Will Make You Wish You Had Hearing Loss.”

A really bad and discordant album. Bizarre music choices, and some songs sound like the drums aren't even in time? Awful sound and even worse production quality, to say nothing of the shrill and incomprehensible lyrics. Total pass

Sounds, bad. Style, annoying. Total listening experience, also bad.

This must be a joke. The sounds are so thin that I thought that I was listening this through some tweeters. Also that singing is very "interesting".

Oh gawds. Artsy post-punk electronica, distressed flamboyant vocals, super tinny soundscapes and 80's vibes. I guess they're shooting for psychedelic weirdness, but it comes across as art school student work and forced strangeness. The cool bits that were happening in early 80's underground music have been layered on top of each other willy nilly and the cracks filled with "I want to add this" without a thought to consistence or coherence. This is fucking awful.

The worst kind of 80s synth pop, the type where it's all so overwrought and they clearly think so much of themselves - let's have upbeat music sang over by a man who sounds like Dracula discovering he has a fear of heights while in flight, tonal shifts so hard they could kill a man (who told you Gloomy Sunday needed a cover??), and tons of new ideas for instruments while still sounding like a less-good Cure. Too much freedom, too many ideas, none of the execution. Looks like the guitar isn't the only thing full of piss in this band.

Boring

If Adam Sandler and Talking Heads went to the mall to collaborate on a pop album in the 80s, it would sound like this... but better.

Love the 80s vibe but the record feels pretty flat, nothing exciting

1.0 - Awful

A Scottish post punk/pop band......fuck... It's so strange to me how you can 100% guarantee that if a band is Scottish, their music is going to be absolute dogshit. This may be one of the worst records I've been forced to listen to .It's awful. Dudes voice sounds like David Byrne from Talking Heads. The music is everything that was wrong with 80s pop. So much of this absolute garbage on this list.....fuck Scotland's shitty music. Where are all the bagpipes? At least back then, when bagpipes were being used in traditional celtic songs, you could make good music. Where did it all go so horribly wrong? Favourite songs: Arrogance Gave Him Up, simply because the lead singer shuts the fuck up, and this song is fully instrumental. Least favourite songs: No, Bap De La Bap, Skipping, Nude Spoons, Gloomy Sunday....and the rest of this album. I don't care....I've lost interest..... 1/5.....0/5 if I could. Nothing about this album is remotely "necessary listening". Fuck the writers of this shitty britpop enthusiasts book. It certainly isn't an essential listening book as advertised. Robert Dimery is obviously some form of moron.

This album got me thinking. About my aunt, who recently passed. She would have loved this. She always loved the worst crap from this age. I wish I could still ask her about it. Love ya Kerry xx

Trash

I couldn't latch onto it personally :/

And back to British music. Music is ok, singing is terrible, and songs are repetitive. Only ok song is Arrogance Gave Him Up, which is an instrumental. Best song: Arrogance Gave Him Up

Dieses Album war kacke - 1 Stern

point4.

noh art-pop screych.m paskaa ja ajan kliseotä täynnä...

not my style

Turned off after a few tracks couldn't take anymore

This. Was. Awful. Very 80’s and VERY bad 80’s. First album I couldn’t finish. If I could give it negative points I would. On a positive note, it is winning for worst album cover.

Total whiplash compared to my previous album. The instrumentals? Trash. The vocals? Annoying. I didn’t like this at all.

When I think of the albums that could've/should've been on this list and I hear this cringe inducing shite, I'm thinking the compilers should be locked in a room with this on repeat play for eternity. Maybe they will then learn the error of their ways.

Nearly unlistenable Boy George wannabies. They could have been big if only they had stuck at it and been any good.

I listened to the original track listing, first 10 tracks - not all the extra alt/demo bloat. Unfortunately, it didn't make it any better, it's far too melodramatic. I'm sure there are better albums that represent the a similar space and time.

Basically a David Bowie wannabe act. Why not just give us Bowie?

Rating: 1/10 0/10 vocals and mediocre instrumentals. Sounds like generic synth-pop that is trying too hard to be experimental.

Is this a joke? Am I getting trolled?

At last, an album bad enough to challenge The Cramps. I wanted to turn it off after about 30 seconds of the first track, but I've been surprised many times while working through the albums on this list so I persevered. Made it to track 3, and that was a huge fucking effort to not turn off. Musically it was awful, vocals were just as bad. The only plus side was this is the bands only release, thank fuck for that!

Horrible. Not my cup of tea but I can see how it influenced other artist who also make shitty music.

sounds like I’m listening to a rookie band that hasn’t figured out how to do vocals yet

Synthy, falsetto art rock, disco, glam, minimalism which I hated.

Ich habe keine Ahnung was David Bowie dazu bewogen hat, im LSD-Rausch ein Album unter Pseudonym zu produzieren. Aber vermutlich ist es auch nur unter dem gleichen Drogeneinfluss ohne Hörkrämpfe anhörbar.

Not for me.

Ah, Sulk, where The Associates try to convince us they’re doing something artistic by throwing every instrument they can find into a blender. It’s moody, it’s eccentric, and it’s entirely incomprehensible. Imagine sitting through a storm of synths, operatic yelping, and lyrics that make as much sense as your Aunt Marge’s fridge poetry. Billy Mackenzie tries to hit high notes that would scare away bats, and every song feels like a contest to see how much echo they can cram in.

Utter crap.

This feels like an Andy Samberg parody of a worse soft cell. yet I though I was going to hate it more than I do.

Biggest piece of dogshit I've ever heard

New album, new band for me. Some experimental music really works - see anything by David Byrne, or even that clangy album by the German band everyone on here hates (Einstürzende Neubauten). This just seems to be trying too hard to be David Bowie. Then again, not all of David Bowie’s experimental music works, so I guess they got it down after all. I was going to give this album a 2 for forgettable, but the more I listen to it the angrier it’s making me.

This album is so disjointed, I can't imagine anyone finding it enjoyable. The vocals are terrible, the drum beat machines seem like they're always off tempo, and the synth is absolute shit. This is concentrated hot garbage being funneled through a disposal directly into my earbuds. I did not care for this in any way shape or form.

"you know what the world needs? a two minute synth keyboard intro" W T F.

Some of this might have been bearable (e.g. Skipping), but I found the singer's delivery really irritating. First track's drums seem off.

The opening track was an instrumental. I was thinking this was an 80’s style upbeat synth pop album so maybe listenable. Then the next track - the vocals. When I say this sounded like my cat hacking up a furball, I’m not kidding. He actually burps into the mic in one song. That’s when I heard the most refreshing sound - the sound of the skip button. The fact that this album is 23 tracks makes it the most skipped so far in my journey. An occasional instrumental gave me a reprieve. But overall I have to say this has been one of the worst of the 50ish albums so far. What label in its right mind pays to produce such garbage? Reading the wiki article - which I always do AFTER I listen to the album - makes me think either the reviews were paid for like some 80’s version of an Amazon rating scam or the music critics were collectively insane at the time.

First listen. Nah

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds minus the baritone and cool lyrics, add 8-bit instrumentals. Not enjoyable and kind of discomforting like sitting on a couch with a plastic cover over it. Let me guess, they were big in the UK? Beans for breakfast and shit music, never trust a Brit's taste in anything.

Some songs would start out promising and then the vocals, melody and lyrics would emerge to burst my bubble. Should bot be on this list. Where are the real special albums by far superior blues, jazz, roots, early rock and soul artists? Huh? Where?? ,

Not good, and not even in an interesting way.

Awful is the only word to describe it. The album title should have been Suck

this makes my head hurt, what even is this?

It’s oddly magnetic for a few minutes—sort of like the draw to stare at a car accident. These guys must have been out of their mind weird, but I don’t need to listen again.

Was so bad I was sulking by the end of it

More 80s synth pop uggghhhh. Why did they have to gate the drum sounds like that?!?!?!

the concept was there but the execution was not

Does one half decent song make an album 'essential'? I don't think so, especially when it isn't as good as Ultravox and Simple Minds of the same era. Most of this album is pure dreck

Fav: Skipping Least Fav: Bap De La Bap

É um álbum do início dos anos 80 com todas as características definidoras da música pop dos anos 80, mas que, apesar de ser um produto de sua época, parece uma trilha sonora composta em para um besteirol que satiriza os anos 80. Os músicos conseguem colocar todas essas características (de um gênero que gosto muito, diga-se de passagem) juntas de uma maneira que fica insuportável de ouvir. A sonoridade é brega, a produção é ruim, a voz é estridente, as músicas são enjoativas. Simplesmente terrível.

Sulk brings a bad end to a bad week. Just really bad art synth new wave bollocks, some of the worst of that genre we've had, 1.

I don't even know, man

Lost me at bap de la bap.

I tried to make it through this several times and just couldn't. Not my jam.

Nit a big fan, but it's not that bad. I could hear the influence of David Bowie on a track or two. Not something that I will probably listen to again

I try to listen to all of these, but barely made it through 3 songs on this one. Awful.

I've never heard of this album or artist before, but I do love eighties music, so I'm excited to give this a listen. This album was certainly... something. I went into this expecting something more pop-forward, but got something frantic and echo-y instead. I really didn't care for this album. There were moments here and there that I enjoyed, specifically the synthesizers and keyboards on some of the songs. But that enjoyment was often ruined by the vocals, which I hated. The overall sound of the album was really muddled by the echoing effects, and it was hard for me to pick up on anything melodic on most of the songs. These songs weren't insanely long, but they felt like they droned on and on. I think I felt like most of the songs didn't go anywhere musically. The little snippets that I did enjoy often faded away or weren't really built upon throughout the song. "nothinginsomethingparticular" was probably my favorite song. It was bolstered by its short length and lack of vocals, which easily made it stand out from the rest of the album. I can't really find anything noteworthy or influential on this album, and I'm really confused as to why it's on the list.

Maybe I'm just not in the mood to listen to this kind of music, but I didn't like it, 1/5

This album is the answer to the question: What would it sound like if David Bowie was terrible at writing songs? I’ll bump them up to a 2/5 for their attempts to be inventive in the studio. … Just mercifully got to the end of this travesty. I take this comment above back. It would be too complimentary. There is nothing Bowie-like here. Sliding it back down to a 1/5.

Had to stop after the 3rd song; all this seemed pretty weird! Than I read some previous reviews and, yes, I had to agreed with those smashing this album! There was a lot more and better music from this year, why this album is on this list became a mistery to me :-(

Wtf

80’s weird pop stuff. Not for me.

Forferdelig.

Disappointing

I could've died without hearing this one. Honestly, a lot of songs the singer seemed to be in a different key than the musicians. A lot of 80's musical tropes. Just not great.

This feels like a joke. Like a parody of Duran Duran or Flock of Seagulls. The keyboard is the quintessence of the 80s. All you need is a Roland 808, some bad drum beats, and you’re fully capable of turning out some terrible music. That anyone ever bought this album, joke’s on you, kid. Gloomy Sunday!

This is not good. I understand that this is early synth pop goth. At best, it sounds like a bad joke. The more I hear, the less I like. 1/5

i could feel my ranking sink the longer i listened. could i write poetry to this? n

Wow... this is terrible. Possibly the worst album in this project so far. I tried to give it some credit for being so early in the Post-Punk/New Wave/New Romantic movement, but I just cant. It's bad, no matter how you approach it. Negative infinity stars.

This album has nothing redeemable.

This was like if you took the Cure and removed everything good they have going on. Annoying music, annoying wailing, nothing really interesting going on.

It's just bad and it goes on and on...

This is one of the worst albums I have heard, an album hasn't made me angry like this to finish in a long time. Boring and very very annoying

Terrible

You a band is a one hit wonder when their 3 most popular songs on Spotify are all various remixes or remasters of the same song. And it's a fucking terrible song. Better than some of the other songs on the album but still terrible. These guys were clearly trying to bite Bowie's style but did it poorly.

Please stop the music!

Could not dislike this more.

If I had to describe this as anything I would call it teen emo punk in space meets the 80s synth addiction voiced by Dennis from Always Sunny singing the Day Man song. If that sounds all over the place it's because this album is trying to do everything at once and is overwhelming. I thought this one was a chore to get through and I had to listen in multiple parts. This guys definitely think they are music's gift to the world because they released all their songs in triplicate assuming that anyone would every want to listen to this more than once.

This was so hard to listen to. Perhaps I don’t understand this music. It sounds like some guys messing around in the studio making songs on the fly. The odd timing of the drums sounds like “mistakes” as they are played at odd and infrequent times. One song sounded like the singing was recorded without any backing track whatsoever, then simply layered over some music. Maybe it just went over my head

2/10 not a fan at all

First song is way too repetitive. I don’t think I’m a fan of this style of music. This album feels so long because every song is boring and has nothing going for it. The 80’s style is driving me insane.

classic of shitty new wave

The colors they chose for the album art are nice I guess...

80te dance, OK ali nije moj stil

This is bad. These folks are yelping and making noise that I find harmful to my ears. Too much going on, and not even in a cool prog-rock sort of way

Did not enjoy at all

Truly awful.

God awful album. I liked gloomy Sunday but the rest was torturous to listen to

Not feeling this, a David ish Bowie vibe But not, hahaha Now it went kinda Talking Heads on better this way

I really have no clue what I just listened to. While not the worst thing I've ever listened to, I definitely won't be seeking it out again in the future.

Yikes

A little on the synth-y side for my taste, and I am not keen on the vocal delivery. Didn't do much for me overall.

I can't finish this album. It's terrible singing on top of very generic 80s new age synthpop music. There's nothing special about it and it's a 23-song, 2-hour commitment I'm just not willing to make

Dear god, it’s been a rough few days. This is so overproduced in the worst possible way, the amount of reverb on the snare creates so many moments where everything just feels out of time, and it’s all a complete mess. At least Einstürzende Neubauten from yesterday were TRYING to be unlistenable with their uncompromising industrial hammering - The Associates tried to record a pop album and somehow shat this out