Now I Got Worry

Hui, so schlecht, dass man manchmal lachen muss

It's alright at best. The nonsensical aspects of it don't land for me. The instrumentation is actually pretty good for most of the album. Until it isn't. The parts where it's bad are really bad. I will say a couple of the a side tracks I genuinely enjoyed and I think It's actually mixed pretty well. It really went off the rails in the last third. The entire last 5 or 6 songs are really rough. That run is not enjoyable at all. 2.3/5

Grungy and full of fuck you attitude, mostly not the greatest to listen to but has its place. Simply not my style with how raw it sounds and the experimental things they are doing. Didn't mind Can't Stop or R.L. Got Soul but the rest didn't grab me.

36/100. It is interesting for sure but I did not really enjoy listening to this release at all. It features sounds that I do not really enjoy together like a punky sound mixed with a country feel. At times the music came close to the style of Captain Beefheart for better or worse.

Sort of punk garage band, sort of rockabilly, sort of elvis. It's harsh, and the deliberate discordance keeps your attention, even if it crosses over into being deliberately annoying too much. 2/5

Didn’t dig this. There are interesting ideas all over the place, but they never come together to great songs. There are some genuinely bad songs on this. But the inventiveness and cool sounds keep it from being a 1.

estoy poniendo esta review a mitad de disco: no me puedo creer que quede la mitad del disco por delante aún, todas las canciones suenan igual que la anterior!!!! podría ser peor supongo pero es que esto es infumable!!!!

Blues, not so much. Explosion of sound and fury, yep.

Weird out there stuff not awful.

Two or three good songs in a mess of songs that are quite bad

It is fine, I am not sure I will listen to this going forward, but if I hear it I won't be upset. 2.5/5

3/10

The opener was a 1 but other parts dragged the overall score up to a 2

This was a drag to listen to

It wants to be dirty blues but kind of falls short. It needed more fuzz.

Too discordant and ear-splitting for me.

Maybe it's me (and my morning mood), but this flavor of noisy low-fi difficult-on-purpose music is all the more pretentious in its posing as trying to come off as the opposite. Bah.

5/10

eh, not my thing

Wail

Raucous

Might have worked with Mark E Smith on vocals but he wasn’t so it didn’t!

that first track is a DOOZY. nothing like turning that on at 8am as you're sipping coffee. all in all, this just isn't for me. its stripped down, its raw, and i really appreciate that. i actually listened to the extended version with a ton of bonus content. i felt most of the songs just bounced off me and i had a lot of difficulty absorbing the music.

This album feels like the artists were just throwing stuff at the wall and see what sticks. I think it had potential, but it desperately need refining. Wail seems to be the most popular, and indeed, it's the only one that has some coherence in melody and lyrics. Others are just... Chaotic.

Not something I'm going to listen to regularly - but some good stuff on here.

It would be easy to hate this based on the opener alone, but it is honest. Garage band with some catchy hooks dragged down by dumb lyrics and pointless noise.

Couldn’t finish tbh

kind of like all the worst parts of jack white's musical personality.

poop

Was potty training my son with this in the background, a very stressful experience and the music didn't help

First impressions, the vocals on this are really not my thing. Skunk was a good opener, but this is definitely not what I expected for an artist with “Blues explosion” as part of the name. I think the guitar work is awesome so far, I just wasn’t expecting a punk/blues/alt album out of this. Wail is the first track I think I could say I enjoyed. The vocals weren’t as in your face off putting as they were when they first came in the first couple tracks. It had a good groove to it. Fuck shit up was just great! I like a track occasionally that just exists because the artist wants to swear loudly into a microphone to some sick beats. I can now add electro into my genre list from earlier with 2kindsa love. This is the kind of track that I can easily bop to. Chicken dog was weird, I genuinely don’t wanna listen to that ever again. I can also now add country to the list with rocketship. Dynamite lovers was good. Can’t stop was alright. Firefly child was a good track. I thought it stood out as decent in a sea of weird. I’m done trying to classify genre here with Eyeballin. R.I got soul. Some good music in here. Get over here was middle of the road and Sticky made me regret I was born with fully functioning ears. 2.5/5 ⭐️. Some good moments but some tracks really made me hate myself. 56/1089

Eh, ok

2.5 - Not really my type of listen, but pretty interesting. Hits this electric blues and punk alt side of things pretty hard with a weird funky undertone. Definitely the most abrasive start to an album I have heard in a while. Top Songs: Wail // R.L. Got Soul // also kind of like the weird, disorienting outro, Sticky for some reason.

Listens: 2.5 Standout Tracks: Skunk, Fuck Shit Up What is this? Screamo-blues? Thrash-blues? Blues-grunge? This album feels like the intersection of a bunch of bands and genres: Elvis Presley, Cake, Jack White, uh... Beck? MudHoney? Turbonegro? I don't particularly care too much for this, between the weird and glitchy instrumentation and the sing-speaking vocals. It's a tad too discordant for me and its not getting better almost 3 listens in.

No private session used for Spotify. Lots of explosion, not a lot of blues. I remember hearing a few songs from this group in the 90's, never really dug them up after that, it was good to listen to it again and figure out why. I don't mind songs that aren't easy classified, but this had too much repetitiveness, screaming and off putting noises to enjoy.

Not a fan.

Meh

Not awful but not really what I’d consider to be good or mediocre either. Awful cover art though. Who came up with this shit?

I was into some of the distortion and rockabilly but not quite enough to get above a 2. Closer to a 4 than a 3 tho if yanno what I mean.

On paper The JSBE should be one of my favourite bands - lo-fi, blues infused, punk cacophony - sign me up! But when I hit play... nope! Auditory cilantro.

DNF. Not bad. Just not for me

Not good, not bad, resembles paralympics for me, you appriciate the effort, but wouldn't call this entertainment either. I wouldn't put this on a must listen before death list for sure

Jumpscare

2 1/2

Not my favourite thing in the world

If they removed any attempt at singing this would be a halfway decent album. This is a product of its time and will hopefully stay there.

202/1089 pressing play on this album and jus immediately being attacked oh god i think this could make a decent soundtrack for an SSX game but otherwise it’s generally just too noisy in a screechy way for me fave: Eyeballin 21/100

It is more and instrumental base album... I can't it is bad or any other negative word but I can't say it is amazing either.. I guess it is just fine 2/5

This is #day543 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… now I got worry that the generator is back on track, throwing shite in my ears. Because, well, here we are with punk blues, or so they say. At times this feels like Tom Waits during his '90s phase, at times like Nick Cave back in The Birthday Party days. Fun in places, but mostly hard to get a handle on. This is a 2 out of 5. Looking forward to #day544.

No idea why I needed to hear this

Inderdaad wel alternative

son im crine why was he screaming the whole first song

I did not get a kick out of this.

Oh not now. Fuck off.

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion liefern mit „Now I Got Worry“ ein chaotisches, lärmendes Album, das vor Energie strotzt, aber oft über das Ziel hinausschießt. Die rohe Produktion und wilde Genre-Mischung sind zwar mutig, doch viele Songs wirken unfertig und ermüden durch übertriebene Verzerrung und fehlende Struktur. Trotz einzelner Highlights bleibt das Album schwer zugänglich und hinterlässt eher Frust als Faszination.

I don't think it was downright unlistenable, but I do think it was trying to achieve something that it never did.

I didnt hate it? It started off with earrape which is a choice, but some songs were pretty good. Higher end of a 2 I guess.

Shouty and loud, enjoyed some of the tracks before the end of the album. But loud for louds sake a lot of the time. 5/10 .... More 4.9 than 5.1 so rounded down.

Not what I was expecting when I saw “blues”

I don’t understand why JSBE never really clicked with me. Some of the bands in their circle I’m a huge fan but these guys are a little to loose even for me. There were some good ideas in here but few and far between. 4/10

This has nothing at all in relation to blues music. Dang it. On the real, several of these songs were actually kind of a hearty, angry, vibe. Can't say that it's necessarily good music, though. Fave tracks: - Wail - Fuck Shit Up - Dynamite Lover - Hot Shit - Can't Stop - Firefly Child - R.L. Got Soul

strong first half and the second was just meh

Liked 2Kindsa Love, Chicken Dog, Rocketship and 1-2 others i don’t recall the names of. 2

I mean, that sucked.

Why.

Df was that first song i literally lost 10 years off of my life

Of all the weird and wacky music that came out in the mid 90s I'm surprised they selected this trash. Ween or Beck would have been a better option.

I only got about halfway through this album; it was a busy day. Some of the songs started out like they were just going to be good old rock and roll, but then they would deteriorate into just noise, or something worse. Others were just bad from the get-go. It’s between one and two stars for me. I’ll give it a generous two.

Definitivamente una declaración de intenciones el comenzar con los alaridos de Skunk. Si no pasas esa prueba, pues el disco te pasará por encima. En general, prefiero melodías al ruido, lo que no quita que las guitarras sobresaturadas no tengan un espacio, pero siempre deben rendirse, tarde o temprano, a la melodía. Y me pasa con este disco que, por mucho talento que exista, si hay más ruido que melodia, pues no me vas a enganchar. Hay algunos temas que priorizan la musicalidad, como Can't Stop, pero, en general, hay menos blues y más explosiones.

Meh not bad but not really good either.

mid

Pretty painful

*1996. New York punk blues, whatever that is. *I’ve read that this is a live, not studio, band, and they are band’s band and never write any radio friendly stuff for the masses. *Eclectic and interesting at times, but a little goes a long way. RATING - 5.5/10

There's enough interesting sections to keep it from one start, but not sure why this one made the list. Checked Spotify thinking it must be close to over and there were nine tracks left.

2 stars but I bet the live appeal is real

2.5 stars. I like it but I won’t listen to it again

It's okay, I guess. Probably was the buzz band of month at the time. I only really know them from the Floria Sigismondi-directed stripping nuns music video from years later. I do, however, find it curious how this type of punk-y garage rock would became way bigger a few years later. Key tracks: Wail

J’ai avorté l’écoute de cet album après 5 ou 6 musiques…

Not bad

This was a lot of noise, but in a kind of charming kind of way. I might have starred this higher but unfortunately, it was unnecessarily long.

Saw the name of the band and thought cool this should be good. Boy was I wrong.

Some truly excellent songs like Wail, Chicken Dog and Rocketship, surrounded by literal shit. This might be the most confounding album I've ever listened to. 2 Stars.

Good

No me está haciendo sentir nada

Dokaz da se treba pažljivo slušati cijeli album a ne donositi nagle odluke. Nakon prvih 20 sekundi bila sam spremna ovo proglasiti jednim od najgorih albuma dosad. Poslije je bilo svega, od vrlo neuspješnih eksperimenata do sasvim podnošljivih pjesama. Neke ljude jednostavno treba pustiti da budu čudni i autentični, makar se skoro nikom ne sviđalo.

On paper, this should be right up my street, but I’ve never got it. I just hear forgettable, thin, scratchy indie rock that paved the way for the White Stripes. Not a good thing. I think I’d like them more if people didn’t keep banging on about them - the praise they received seems hugely disproportionate to how good they are.

There is the beginning of a worthwhile album here but it is buried in the harsh production. I don't mind noise but this is way, way too much. Slightly more melodic presentation and it would have been a 3 (maybe even a 4)

Expected blues. Got bad 90s music.

an album okay only in bits and bites. halfway between white man blues and cool noise punk and never quite figuring out when to be which

I don't know what that was or why there was so much of it. Every time I thought I was starting to enjoy the album it reminded me that I did not.

Kind of hard to explain this one but it seems kind of punkish experimental sort of stuff. It's totally different from anything I have heard before, not terrible but not something that I would put on and jam to. It's also not something that I might find relaxing or chilled out. It's interesting but not for me.

Genuinely difficult to listen to. I gave it a try but it just wasn't for me.

This is just loud grungy "alternative".

How I expect an album by a band with the name "The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion" to go

interesting that this is on here cause i'm not sure why, it's a period of progression between the 80s and jack white that's easily forgotten

01) Skunk - 5,5 02) Identify - 5,5 03) Wail - 5,0 04) Fuck Shit Up - 5,5 05) 2Kindsa Love - 6,0 06) Love All of Me - 5,5 07) Chicken Dog - 5,5 08) Rocketship - 5,5 09) Dynamite Lover - 5,5 10) Hot Shot - 5,0 11) Can't Stop - 7,0 12) Firefly Child - 6,0 13) Eyeballin - 5,5 14) R.L. Got Soul - 5,0 15) Get Over Here - 5,0 16) Sticky - 5,0 TOTAL: 5,50 (55/100)

I remember going to some shows and trying to get into JSBE, but it never clicked. Still doesn't in 2025.

The guitar on this album is interesting and largely enjoyable. I didn't enjoy the vocals as much. 2.5/5

It was ok. Unique some cool riffs and catchy hooks but it was a little too messy for me. And I was a little bored.

Frenetic electric blues. A lot of energy, to mostly no great effect. Occasionally okay, often annoying.

Je vois le truc mais c’est trop long… L’album est mieux au fil des tracks

It was ok. Not my favorite genre with the yellish lyrics. Won't download the album.

This is the shit edgy teens listen too. Not for me

Didn’t like. Dissonant and empty.

A favourite festival memory is of seeing Jon Spencer at Reading ‘99 with zero prior knowledge of his work. In a live setting, those chaotic, primal elements work fine. On record, however, the chewing gum loses its flavour after a few tracks as it just doesn’t really have enough there to really connect with beyond the noise.

Can’t tell if I like or loathe this album

This is A LOT. Jon Spencer sounds like a louder, messier Tom Waits. Don't @ me.

You’re not what you think you are.

Not much to say here. Some songs have merit (Rocketship, maybe Chicken Dog) but this album is largely noise. I see it as more of a frenetic Beck album or more disjointed Primus album (with much less of the sick bass lines). Probably not coming back for the Blues Explosion

Not my vibe.

I love loud guitar music as much as the next person but this didn’t do much for me. Absolutely admirable to create something purposefully against the art of the time and for it to be received so positively that it makes this list. Great moments but no great songs. Sound design in fuck shit up for example. Cool ideas, didn’t translate to a good song. Eyeballin might be a good song. Wavering between 2 and 3 but I have to remember that interesting does not always translate to good.

Not entirely devoid of value, but pretty terrible nonetheless. There were times when I couldn’t tell if it was the song or my car’s Bluetooth failing. In the hands of a better vocalist, I could see some of these being okay early white stripes b-sides. Does not deserve a place on this list, but also not total buns. 2/5

This definitely wasn't the blues like I was expecting based on the band name. I didn't really care for it.

Erratic and fantastic at times but often focuses too much on their fun and not the listeners

Cool stuff

Ugh. Really? A must listen to??

Intentionally rough and grating. I enjoy it for about 10 or so minutes and then find myself skipping or going to something else. OK, what's next?

I was hopeful based on the title but it took less than 2 seconds of the opening to disabuse me of the expectation of enjoying this. There's an association with R.L. Burnside and while this tries to channel chaotic energy, it falls short. Maybe you had to see these guys in concert?

Meh.

I feel like if I heard this in 96 I could’ve convinced myself I liked it. But this isn’t 1996 anymore.

Blues explosion? I think not, maybe "fusion". There are some bluesy elements I like to some songs, but I was expecting something slightly different to this. A few of the guitar riffs are well done, but lyrically and vocally a misfire. I think I've heard "Wail" somewhere before. I liked this track for the most part, but the rest I could happily pass without much thought. It wasn't terrible, but not to my taste and way too long. 2.

Too rowdy for me

Has it's moments but mostly unremarkable. The ear splitting vocal recording was mostly not for me.

I knew the (Jon Davis) Folk Implosion was jokingly named after these guys but never heard them before. Blues isn't my thing but this is more punk rock blues I guess. It's noisy. I see the Elvis singing White Stripes comparisons people are making for sure.

What the fuck, how can a band name fill me with so much excitement and then just scream at me? Not good fun.

Bueno, hay que ratear esto. No conocía al disco. A la banda solo de nombre. ¿Me gustó? Definitivamente no. Fue duro, sobre todo al principio. Los AHHH AHHHH de Skunk, la primera canción, y que mencionaran al pelotudo de Weird Al Yankovich me hicieron pensar que esto era una especie de parodia del blues y el garage rock. Estuve tentado a ponerle una estrella y seguir de largo. Por suerte insistí y lo escuché un par de veces más. Me sigue sin parecer muy bueno, pero alcanza las dos estrellas. El poroto que tienen es por hacer una especie de revival del garage rock en los 90s. Son unos White Stripes adelantados. Mucho menos talentosos que Jack pero quizás un poco más que Meg jaja. Y mucho más punkies. Y eso es un poco todo lo que es este disco: una amalgama garage, blues y punk, grabada medio para el orto. No le di mucha pelota a las letras, pero viendo la actitud de la banda y los títulos de las canciones, creo que hice bien. El disco empieza muy mal. Se empieza a volver escuchable a partir del track 5. No entiendo porque el disco está entre los 1001 discos. ¿Habrá sido muy popular en EEUU? No lo registro. No entiendo su importancia como para incluirlo acá. Por lo general no hay canciones memorables, no te vas a quedar con ninguna melodía tarareando en la cabeza. ¿Temas a destacar? El primero, sin dudas, Skunk: si hay algo que todos (lo que participemos acá) vamos a recordar de este disco es esta canción y sus primeros segundos AHHHH que hacen una buena presentación del disco; 2Kindsa of Love está "bien", si bien tiene un riff feo que se mantiene durante casi toda la canción, es algo RECORDABLE, y el estribillo está simpático. La que le sigue, Love of me, está simpática. Es cortita y no molesta. Es la que podría haber sido grabada con mejor calidad y estaba bien. ¿La mejor canción del disco? Es muy probable. La que sigue también está bien, Chicken Dog, con cositas interesante con la guitarra. Estas tres canciones están bien, pero después el cantante borracho hace una impresión de Lou Reed bastante mala y volvemos a foja cero. Y después el tipo vuelve a imitar a Mick Jagger. Me imagino a Lou y Mick tomándose un par de birras y después ir a la casa del cantante a pegarle en las "partes bajas". Después el disco vuelve a repuntar un poquito con Can't Stop y Firefly Child (esta última también puede ser la mejor canción del disco), pero después cae otra vez. Y después rescato Get Over Here casi al final. ¿Soy un Patriota por haber escuchado este disco varias veces en vez de ponerle un uno? Creo que sí. En fin: dos estrellas, pero es un dos estrellas débil: serían 3/10 estrellitas. Me inclino por el 2 y no por el 1 porque en algunas canciones se ve algo de talento, y chusmeando las reviews vi que varios le pusieron un 1 sin pasar por más de un par de canciones. Comprensible, pero igual es un poco injusto ratear antes de escuchar. Por suerte ya vi que el que me tocó después es de Radiohead.

I can’t tell if these jokers are angry or horny or high or all three. This was a 1 star for me until the back half of the album. There’s even a couple tracks here that you might confuse for music. Good riddance

Ok here's the thing about Jon Spencer. He plays some songs that shows that he knows how to make a catchy song. That means that he is choosing to suck. And that's the worst kind of sucking. Some people give it their all and fall short. That's ok, it happens. Jon chose to suck, and slaps your ears with terrible noise.

Overall not the style of music I’m used to listening. One particular thing I’m not too fond of is the instrumental seemingly being louder than the vocals. Songs like Wail and 2Kindsa Love peak my interest, while Skunk was an instant skip for me. Overall not a project I’ll spend much time coming back to.

Blues that’s trying really hard to be new and cool. Sometimes gives Dj Shadow vibes. It’s fine but unnecessary 4.4/10

1.5 Like a 45 minute joke you don’t get to be a part of. The type of music that “too cool for school” white guys told you to listen to in the 90s.

Inventive and energetic: 1001 ways to make distortion sound interesting. But the pervasive devil-may-care attitude ultimately makes this a meal lacking in any shred of nutrition.

not bad

oh god no!

Maybe I just caught this on the wrong day but I hated the dissonant chaos of it. It's a shame because there are flashes of real musicianship throughout but man I did not have fun with this.

Most of it just sounded like a guy screaming

This album is like walking into a pub where there is a fight in progress and you think we'll go to the quiet one down the road for a game of dominoes.

Noise rock that has too much noise and not enough rock

I saw the vision, did not like the execution personally.

You Call Me Mr. Rhythm 1001 Albums Generator 89 (08/05/2025) From the scream that opens Now I Got Worry, I knew that this was not going to be an album for me. Don't get me wrong, I like some noise rock stuff (hell, I gave Atomizer a positive review), but The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is different. Negative connotation. Even once the band settles into a groove, the sung vocals are also quite annoying unfortunately. This is also quite an experimental album, with sounds that are not just confined to rock/punk. Fuck Shit Up sounds like a really glitchy version of a more trip-hop-ish Beck track. Sticky leans into some neo-psychedelia experiments. But for the most part, Now I Got Worry is a noisy punk blues album. This is a style that can sometimes work for me (see The White Stripes), but The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion did not interest me. There are some slightly bright spots. Identify is a short burst of sound that works pretty well. Wail has the closest thing to actual riffs on the album, and is all the better for it. Love All Of Me almost sounds like a really noisy indie track, which is kind of cool. The second half of Chicken Dog, when it's mostly instrumental, is pretty good. Eyeballin is also kind of cool with its guitar that sounds puled out of some southern rock song and drums that switch from more classic rock sounds and electronic. But then there's all the rest. While songs like Skunk and Fuck Shit Up feel too experimental and out there for me, songs like Rocketship and Dynamite Lover feel overly simple, almost like a parody of themselves. Sticky is also an absolute disaster. I think this album just doesn't know what to do with itself; it tries to do so much, but most of it doesn't end up working. In addition, Jon Spencer's vocals just do not work for me at all. In spite of some interesting riffs and grooves at various points, this album is less than the sum of its parts and does not deserve a spot on this list. 1.5/5, rounded up to a 2 because there were some redeeming songs. Favs: Wail Love All Of Me Eyeballin Least Fav: Sticky

This album starts with the most unpleasant screaming. It doesn't get much better than that the rest of the way through. However, it seems that when they try to make music that is less discordant they are able to. I actually quite enjoyed Can't Stop and R.L. Got Soul. I imagine many others didn't have the endurance to get to that part of the album.

This was meh? It really should be my style, a fast paced rock/punk band with tons of energy and guitar should be right up my alley but it just wasn't here. Coming in I knew "Bellbottoms", (thank you Edger Wright) and expected stuff closer to that so perhaps that's why? Maybe it's my mood? idk. Could see myself giving this another listen down the line but for now I didn't connect with it. 3/10

Explosion is probably the key word. Blues… less so. Little more heavy than what I like.

Okayish.

Not for me. I made it all the way through and wonder why.

Raw, energetic, eccentric, not quite to my taste.

Didn't seem interesting or original. The vocals seemed to be an Elvis rip-off at times. This is one of many where I am not sure how they made this list.

Can't quite get on board. In other context I really love that lofi style but here I can't get past it just feeling annoying. Not much notable songwriting that I can discern. Maybe caught me on a bad day.

Loud, chaotic, and full of attitude, but the noise rock/rockabilly thing just isn’t my vibe even if I get why it hits for some people.

punky noise - not my style.

Didn’t do a lot for me. Felt like Rolling Stones wannabes

The first song is horrid. However the rest of the album does get progressively better. Still the first few song are rough.

Album 846 of 1089 The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Now I Got Worry (1996) Rating : 2 / 5 Right out of the gate, this one brought to mind the absolute worst of Captain Beefheart—chaotic, noisy, and completely unconcerned with format or structure. Just a barrage of sound. But as I stuck with it, I started to catch little bursts—moments of genuine musicianship and flashes of creativity that hinted at something more beneath the mess. That said, overall, this was a real wreck for me. Not something I’d ever revisit unless I was trying to win some kind of “top this disaster” contest. I’m still glad I heard it—if for no other reason than to confirm that sometimes, art can be more fun to survive than enjoy. Today, we part ways, JSBX.

Already negatively inclined towards this because Ozzy Osbourne died yesterday and this wasn’t a Black Sabbath record. Noisy white boy blues. Gets old fast.

Obnoxiously noisy, as opposed to artfully noisy, or ragefully noisy, which I enjoy.

My ears need a break

Chaotic and sloppy, but he walKed so The Black Keys could run. Some decent grooves and dirty blues guitar but would probably never listen to this again.

Very noisy and a little bit chaotic. I didn't find it to be the most enjoyable. high 2/5

Meh. Although I can imagine some of these songs sounding better live

There are albums where chaos feels liberating. And then there are albums where chaos becomes so overwhelming that all sense of direction disappears. Now I Got Worry unfortunately falls into the latter category for me. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion tries here to distill their scrappy blend of blues, punk, and noise rock into something raw and energetic, but the result mostly feels like a loose jam session without clear direction. There’s plenty of attitude and bravery, but the songs drown in muddy production and a constant sense of unrealized potential. There are a few moments where the chaos hits something interesting, for example, in tracks like “Chicken Dog” or “Wail”, but overall, I miss a clear thread or just some basic musical coherence. It all feels too random and unfocused. The boldness and uncompromising attitude push the album up to 2 out of 5 in my book. But honestly, it’s an album I leave feeling more frustrated than fascinated. 2/5

Don't be confused by the band's name, this is not what I would call a "proper" Blues album - Wikipedia gives the genre as Punk Blues / Alternative Rock and I would say that Punk Blues is probably the most apt description, although angry noise might be another.

A couple of good grooves but mostly annoying snippets. Somewhere between 2-3 stars but the bad outweighed the good so going with 2.

Kind of agree with the consensus here, it’s annoying and amazing in equal parts. I think I can tolerate annoying a lot more than most though.

I missed this one the first time around—and it’s fine. It has its own sound: choppy, messy, full of guitar acrobatics—l noisy showman with chaotic flair vibes. I tend to lean more toward classic blues, and this felt too fractured for my taste (for a blues explosion). However, I kind of felt some Velvet Underground meets Stones influence on “Rocketship”…which was probably my favorite track. And ‘Sticky’ was kind of weird in a good way. But overall, I probably won’t revisit this album anytime soon.

Okay, it really grates on the ears. But it's also quite interesting. The further I got into the album, the less I liked it. In the end, I gave up. I won't listen to it again. 2/5

The fact this came out in the 90s and not the 70s makes this album slightly worse. Not that good either way.

Meh

A little chaotic.

i hate this type of music and most of the songs sound exactly the same. there were one or two good ones but i couldn't even finish it.

Ok listen. I was listening to this in the morning, which was a huge mistake. I got to song 17 (a little over half way!!) and said to myself “This almost certainly a 1 star, who are these people who choose these albums, let me pick it back up later because it’s simply making me too miserable right now and there’s so much more album to get through.” After work I had two (2) beers and on the walk home resumed the album, picking up at “Fish Sauce” and it was a BLAST. So I give this 2 stars instead of 1.

Very blues and punk at the same time.

Not my bag

Voy a escuchar solo los 16 temas del álbum original. Este grupo/autor siempre rondando lo que se supone que me debería gustar, pero nunca le he cogido el punto. Aburrido e insufrible. 2 estrellas.

Reading the reviews before listening (don't recommend doing this) made me think I would hate this. The opening of the first song starts with some screaming which I did in fact hate. However, the album itself is fine. Sounds kinda like Jack White to me. My biggest issue really is the length. It really doesn't deserve 1 hour and 19 minutes. If it was half that time, it'd be a 3 but I have to mark it down for being pointlessly long. The best song is 'Get With It' which sounds like Elvis singing whilst reversing a HGV.

# 489 : Now I Got Worry : 27/05/2025 A two line bio, opaque album cover and the first few reviews don't give me much confidence in this LP. Alas it lived up to it's hype. Another album which makes you reconsider whether there are as many as 1,001 albums you MUST listen to before you die.

I didn't like this one much at all, really dislike the first half but the instrumentals on most of the songs in the back half are pretty good (still don't like the vocals). Just barely enough to turn 1 star into 2 for me

The start of the album was jarring. I immediately disliked it and wasn’t looking forward to the rest. The rest except the ending was okay however. It was tolerable but sounded a little repetitive among some songs. I don’t think I would listen again but I’m glad I listened this one time.

This shit sucks

exceptionally okay. some stuff was flat-out weird, some was pretty vibey. nothing really stood out, and the album could have definitely been shorter. 2/5 because i just did not care for it. didn’t suck though.

This instead of 'Orange' on the list?! Tell me Orange is on the list. Nobody needs to listen to this album before they die.

The middle school level graphic design of the album cover should have been the first sign that I wasn't going to enjoy this that much

The screeching that opens this album is a pretty rough first impression. It is cool to see the thru-line here: a sort of missing link between punk of the 80s and blues rock revival that would follow in the form of White Stripes and Black keys. But the space between is pretty rough. Lots of extraneous punk style screeching and distortion that is jarring rather than, you know, good. If there's an artistic purpose to it that justifies the surface-level unpleasantness, it eludes me.

Could be better if the lyrics weren't non existent

What the hell was that opening to this album....all that screaming in "Skunk." It is a shame that some really interesting guitar riffs and Instrumentals were wasted on vocals that I feel at times were weird just for "shock value." This wasn't great. I'm gonna round it up to a 2 for instrumentals but some songs were REALLY bad. I'm looking at you "Fuck Shit Up." This album was also LONGGGG. Too long to be this bad. Actual....1.5 Liked Songs: "Wail" , "Love All Of Me" , "Chicken Dog" , "Rocketship" , "Dynamite Lover" , "Let's Smerf" , "Dig My Shit"

Sounded like when my brother found an electric guitar in our neighbors alley and plugged it in. He couldn’t play either.

Interesting. But not for me. I'm not entirely sure what's going on here.

This was a roller coaster. I hated it and almost stopped listening out the gate and then by Chicken Dog I was at a 3, then it fell back off. Half the songs sounds like someone is getting tortured back stage.

certainly a strange album even the album layout is strange

Really truly quite terrible isn’t it

# Album Name: Now I Got Worry # Artist: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion # Rating: 2/5 # Comments: The first half is An absolutely terrible album. From the first 3 seconds i just knew it was dog shit. Enough said. I read another comment saying it picks up half way through. So i gave it a chance. It morphs into something a tad better from rocketship onwards. The first half absolutely kills this one though im afraid. Theres some listenable tracks on the 2nd half. But there is no way this should be on the fucking list. My gawd. # Top Tunes: Rocketship / Dynamite lover / firefly child # Would I listen to it again? fuck no

What a string of weird albums…

Almost stopped after the first two tracks, but the middle stuff was a bit better. Not my jam.

I didn't hate it, but I doubt I'd listen to it again on purpose.

Tries too hard.

#577. This is pretty annoying from start to finish. I'm pretty sure I can see what he was trying do do, but fuck man, the execution is lacking 2/5: no

Not as bad as I would think. There’s some good stuff here, but it’s a bit too much noise for my tastes. I don’t think I’ll go back to this one.

Bad

Not my thing but not unlistenable either.

The shtick grows old pretty quick.

4 seconds in and I already want to turn this shit off. Maybe it’ll get better. Update: it wasn’t that bad!

Happy for the noise music community. Not for me. I don’t want to get on a pedestal and say it’s bad, but it’s certainly lacking something I like when I listen to music - and I listen to some unconventional stuff. I listened to this album all the way through though!

Ok

“Wail” is a banger. Also liked “can’t stop”. Everything else was just fine. Didn’t like the overall sound.

Some good stuff in here (chicken dog comes to mind) but I can't justify the length, it's an avalanche of improv and rambling

This oscillated between absolutely terrible and not awful. The floor is very far below ground, and the ceiling on it is of an average single story home. They could have been pretty decent in an alternate dimension.

The first 15 seconds of this album is funny as shit. I've never heard of this band before and I definitely wasn't missing out. It's mostly annoying. I can't think of any reason why I would need to hear this before dying. The chicken song was certainly a choice.. Favorite track: Rocketship

Some bits I kind of liked but it was too incoherent

A lot of that was annoying. It was decent at best.

Now that's an opening line. Cover art brazenly sucks. I don't really like the fake Elvis stuff on songs like Wail. This music would feel more authentic if the lead singer wasn't doing that impression, it just feels like a shitty high school cover band that's trying too hard. I do love grungy and gross slimy distorted jarring guitar and synth tones, so all my stars in this rating come from my enjoyment of those dirty sounds. Shout out to the guitar distortion on 2Kindsalove. Same with the wah wah sounds on Chicken Dog (and the clogged-drain sounding clucks and cock-a-doodle-doos make this prob my fave song on the album, very Zappa, very Melvins). But the second half of the album totally lost me. The song Fuck Shit Up makes me want to go to sleep. Why did they have high energy on every song but this one?? More Gen X grunge-adjacent Ameri-Brit white boy stuff from the 80s-90s that won't move an audience outside of that small demographic. I've decided whenever I get yet another one of those 80s-90s angst repeat albums on this list that I'm going to look up "albums that should have been on the 1001 list" and listen to one of those instead. Because this guy wants to sound so much like Elvis, I decided to go with a recommendation of Elvis' first album. Absolutely beautiful album, emotional, talented, unique, cultural zeitgeist. Shout out to the black musicians around Elvis for creating the beautiful and timeless sound that he stole. 4 stars to Elvis. Final rating of Jon Spencer: Jack White, Injury Reserve, Elvis, King Woman, JPEGMAFIA, Melvins do it better. Why did I need to hear this before I die?

Feeling a bit attacked after this. I don't normally like un-exploded blues that much, so this was a bit of a slog in places. There are a few interesting songs on it, but at it's worst it sounds like a band being deliberately obtuse. Still though, at least they made me feel something, which is more than can be said for a lot of these albums.

I guess there’s blues in there. Plus experimental screaming and other oddities.

The ingredients are there, I like the messy production, the barely audible vocals and the screeching guitar. However, it never really amounts to a proper song here. There's a lot of creative ideas but they all exist in a vacuum, they don't interact with each other and as a result its not very cohesive and the songs feel more like throw away demos.

Now I don't have worry about this album!

curioso, mas...2...3 estrelas, vai

It's not terrible but it's not for me, Clive

Наверное в этом что то есть, но я не люблю постоянные перегрузы на гитаре

I am clearly capable of making music that people would enjoy. Should I like, halfway do that, but then also halfway fill every song with abrasive noise that sounds terrible that any reasonable person would hate? https://tenor.com/Jz5X.gif

There are definitely some interesting moments here, but the singer's voice was just a letdown throughout. Better singing/lyrics could have made this one.

There were some moments on here that I could get behind, but mostly the other reviewer is right saying that it sounds like your neighbors who are getting in fights. lol

Jaha nähä. Kaosig skiva. Innehåller ju delar som är grymma. Men det är fan omöjligt att greppa på denna skiva. Kill your darlings. Men detta var väl hela poängen. Och det funkar sisådär. Om man inte är ett fan eller älskar att vara lite besvärlig.

Now he got two stars.

Too worried

Occasionally I noticed my toes were tapping, but most of this was very unpleasant. Screeching is not musical. I will say the album isn’t boring. Maybe that’s enough to lift it higher than 1 star. Would give it 1.5 if I could.

I don't think JSBX is for me. Maybe I'll try another one of their albums sometime, but I didn't finish it.

Huh. A rubric I don't often have to use is how capable I would be of a) generating the idea, and b) playing the music. In this case, yeah I could have thought up abrasive ass vaguely blues based music with a "punk" attitude that is not as fun or irreverent as the source material, and yeah I can noodle out some blues shit on most of the instruments. I 100 % could have done this, and that is not to its credit.

Not for me. Some of the Noise stuff was interesting, but the blues at Woodstock '99 vibe didn't work for me

This is pretty bad, but I dont hate it. I cant go higher than 2 stars though, it might just be because I'm sick today but this is really not doing it for me right now. 2/5

tryhards

40 percent listenable. Unremarkable pockmarked by unexplainable.

I don't doubt that in a loud american bar with lots of beer this might be great. But as an LP to listen to elsewhere, just dull dull dull.

In tears laughing about the review on here that left 4 stars and "Chicken Dog!"

Yepp, the Blues exploded alright. The resulting album is D.O.A. 1.5/5

My actual thoughts listening to this: "What the fuck?" "Is this whole song just screams?" "Oh, I get what this is gonna be." "An Elvis impression...okay." "Oh, he's still doing it..." This is the music your kid would listen to if you were a parent in the 90s that would make you yell, "Turn that ruckus off!" at them. There were some good moments but they'd last for 10 seconds before the lead singer would start screaming or the drums would glitch out.

With 32 tracks stretching over an hour, this album feels like an endurance test that makes you want to jab a pen in your ear. It’s chaotic without purpose, and honestly, Jon Spencer sounds like he needs real friends to tell him when something just isn’t good.

I really didn't enjoy this for the most part, though the size and scale is fairly impressive. I like how the first song started, but after that it became dull and lost it's luster. The punk elements did not help, of course. Make enough of an impression, but I really don't think this is a "must-listen". 1.5/5 -> 2/5

I don't see what's so great about this album honestly. Pretty lousy mix and no song really stands out.

I am very worried about this from the album art. yikes creepy white guy and sad Word 93 graphic design. alright I was justified in that worry, starting with a few seconds of screaming.. Here I thought we'd be getting white guy blues music but I guess this is punk? with like Elvis vocals? This isn't the worst thing I've ever heard, but it does absolutely sound like a band I would have gone to see live in small town Missouri in college. Like how'd they even get a studio album? alright this is kinda growing on me lol. But it is absolutely a live band. Losing me again with the last track Alright I didn't hate it, but I'm glad it's done. 2.3/5

Wail // Firefly Child // Eyeballin // Sticky 2.5/5

Cool elements of garage rock blues but still falls pretty flat. It’s like Temu Jack White

This albu has very high highs and very low lows. The bluesy get in your face vibe is really cool, abunch of kick ass stuff, but then you have these vocals I find ruin certain songs and make them hard to listen too. Especially with those high screams he does that just clip the audio. Idk, it's a high 2 for meɓ

Terrible singing over nice instrument playing.

если бы Элвис свихнулся

I'm admittedly not that far into my 1,001 album journey, but there are already way too many 1990s alternative rock albums per capita. Maybe I didn't read the disclaimer when I entered the building, but I think I was hoping for a more diverse roster of records, and certainly more records that I haven't heard. I'm biased here, as I am already pre-disposed to be irritated by JSBE. The '90s were full of noisy rock bands of different stripes, and one of those stripes was the "blues/roots revivalist" stripe. Taking James Brown's "Make It Funky" lyric and groove and saying "Make it Fucked Up" instead and have everyone think it's cool and clever was enough to make me hate all music for a brief period. All I can say to the positive about this is that the cool kids got it out of their system and JSBE is kind of an afterthought nowadays. Whereas I can go back to Howlin' Wolf albums and they never get old, and I can also go back to Captain Beefheart, or someone like Tom Waits, inspired by Wolf and Screamin' Jay Hawkins, and THOSE albums never get old ("Rain Dogs" in particular), stuff like JSBE feels disposable... at least most of this record does. Tracks like "Rocketship" at least sound like they're trying to be their own thing. I like this quote from the SPIN review, though: "garage raunch beloved by white boys who still believe a sonic mess equals something real."

Some of this was fine and most of it I disliked. I don't know what it means but I was listening to this in the car over two commutes and I found myself singing other songs over top of this. Not to the music or anything, just independently. I think it was not holding my attention. 2.5

ma perchè questi album così strani ma così generici allo stesso tempo sono su questo sito? sono costernata, veramente. e poi è davvero lungo. mi spiace non dare tre stelle perchè comunque a tratti è piacevole, ma ho dovuto davvero smettere di ascoltarlo a metà perchè mi stavo innervosendo.

Awful. I kept losing focus. Just shitty music and shouting. Why the fuck is this on this list? Favourite songs: Dynamite Lover, 2Kindsa Love, Wail, Rocketship Least favourite songs: Skunk (what a fucking jarring way to start an album.... With blood curdling screaming..... Wtf......), Fuck Shit Up, Sticky, Yellow Eyes, Radio Ad: Announcer #, Radio Ad: Ernie Eddie, Radio Ad: Announcer #2, Radio Ad: Secret Sez-Me 2/5

That was... Weird

I'm speechless, speechless. I am without speech.

My only takeaway is that this is an album full of the screaming music heard during the Hot Fuzz transition scenes.

The 90s would've been fine without this album. Really not a ton of redeeming qualities to it. Maybe not a 1 star, but no higher than 2.

I’ve never been into this rockabilly freakout thing and I don’t think I ever will be.

Pretty sure Skunk is there to filter out the faint of heart. Which would have been me if I weren't listening for this project. A shame really, as it turns out, would have saved me an hour of irritation. The album is not entirely intolerable, in places it is just painfully hokey. Clearly Jon Spencer is an acquired taste and I am absolutely not interested in investing the time to acquire it.

What the hell was that? Not what I expected but some of it was ok. Highlights: Wail

Medium Wat een geschreeuw soms Hou wel van blues vaak maar dit is wel iets te veel punk ook

I wouldn’t mind the music, if the recording wasn’t so muddled. It’s too murky and noisy. It might belong on the list, but it is unpleasant to listen to. 2/5

very bad. some fine tracks in the garbage over overall very few redeeming qualities

Loud and abrasive. It's got some real soul to it for sure, and they all sound like they're having a lot of fun. Just...not particularly pleasant to listen to for me.

He thinks he's so cool and the worst part is he has literally no reason to believe this

it's ok. like a solid 2.5. a little bit weird and I'm tempted to round up for that. I've rounded down more significant albums. This one seems like fun for a bit, for a short time when people thought maybe blues played punk-like loud and fast was a way forward, then no longer notable. music: hated. (⌐■_■)

At one time I just have liked this quite a lot. At this time not so much. Not awful, but not something to go back to.

25 minutes of this would’ve been more than enough. Occasional flashes of some fun stuff but mostly weird and assaulting. I can see a world where maybe I would give this another listen but I don’t think it’s this one. High 2

I wouldn’t mind the music, if the recording wasn’t so muddled. Yes, they’re going for the scuzzy sound. But it’s too murky and noisy. This record certainly fits alongside The Cramps, Meat Puppets, Primus and Beck. Lots of distorted sharps and sour notes, scratchy noises and unbalanced sound. This feels like they got to play with all the buttons and knobs in the recording studio, but then decided to blindfold each other and only use their feet. It’s too much. It might belong on the list, but it is unpleasant to listen to.

Gonna be honest, a brutal scream was not how I wanted to start my monday morning.

Not much blues on here. Some good guitar stuff here and there and some songs I did like, but a lot of noise rock. The screaming…

Too grungy for me

Weird - sometimes in a kind of cool way, sometimes in an annoying way, but in the end, the scale tipped more toward annoying. 2.5

Listen, I am a fan of punk. I am a fun of blues. But said genres don't merge as nice as I would like them to merge. Maybe it's on the band, maybe it's not. Anyway, I don't think I'll listen to this again. 2.5/5.

What is this? I kind of like the messy instrumental part but the vocal, um... what exactly is this? I can stand it but I won't say I like it. 2.5/5.

johnny bravo starts a garage rock band. all their shows start at 3 AM and they live right next door to me. i am carried out of my home on a stretcher.

this is like the residents meets beck meets jack white, and unfortunately i did not really care for it. the jon spencer blues explosion was ultimately rather light on the blues and very heavy on the explosion. it takes a bold artistic vision to open your album with 15 seconds of screams, so kudos to them for that. sadly, it only got worse from there. i also listened to the version of the album that this site linked to, and saw no indication that it was a deluxe version, but what's done is done i suppose. this probably works better at half the length but if you're a masochist and/or idiot like me, have fun slogging through the 32-track, 79-minute feast for the senses that only 1001 albums can provide. favorites: skunk, wail, chicken dog, rocketship

Blues rock, bah.

This album did not need to be 32 songs long especially considering almost all of them were hot garbage.

There is a lot of wasted time in this thing. The actual songs are alright. But this should be half an hour long tops. An hour and 19 minutes is insane. Even if you cut the ads, the length ruins this record. Mr. Spencer should have cut the fat.

Lots of sound. It just becomes noise at a point. And a lot of it.

In what world is this the JSBE album you pick?

I mean, not great. I didn't like the shouting through a megaphone tone. Wouldn't listen much again

I was disappointed right off the bat to discover that this wasn't a blues rock album. There were a few things here and there that weren't devoid of merit but as a whole, I didn't like this and wouldn't want to hear it again.

Handful of tracks are FINE, others are just awful. If not for the former, would have been an easy 1 star

1/2

-well it’s quirky… and unique… but idk it just was not really cohesive or interesting enough to keep my attention all the way through. most of the songs were corny and completely blended together, so not really my ideal album experience! had a few fun numbers though -Favorites are Wail and Rocketship

Alun jälkeen hiukan pelotti, mutta ei tämä niin kauheata kuraa ollut. Ihan siistejä kitarariffejä, mutta aika kokeellista kamaa. Ei kauhean korvia miellyttävää. Parhaat: Wall, Identify

Some good ideas that are ultimately lost in a vast ocean of bullshit.

I didn’t like this. Not terrible, just bad.

Quite a rough and garage sound, probably not going to listen again

I genuinely want to like Jon Spencer better. I feel that it's almost there sometimes to the potential I imagine it is. And then there's some godawful screeching or some shit to break me out of my daydream

I get the feeling they were trying to come across as a 90s punkabilly version of Swans or Sonic Youth, but I’m just not convinced. It comes across less as earnest experimentation and more as affectation. As an aside, I also think they may have the worst band name in the whole list.

Well, Skunk definitely sets the tone of the album with the instant blood curdling scream. There's some good guitar work to be fair, but I feel like the vocalist needs a lie down. Sounds like he's singing with the microphone lodged in his throat.

In general I tend to prefer punk blues more in concept than execution. This project is a bit...ambitious for the genre, but sometimes I think it's avant-garde to the point of being unlistenable. Not a ton of fun to sit through. But Wail is a cool song. 2.5/5

One thing I really enjoy about this project is discovering other bands'/singers' influences. And upon hearing the punky bluesy combination, there is no doubt in my mind that this group was a major influence on Jack White. Now, to the album. That visceral screaming right out the gate of the first song did not set a good tone. Maybe prime people a bit before you start with that. Like a lot of punk had a tendency to do, this sounded a lot like garage jam sessions that were never actually really finished or put into cohesive songs. Per that formula (or lack thereof), songs start, change, and end quite abruptly. Some of the tracks even sound straight up like dog barking? Anyway, it was interesting, but not interesting enough.

Pretty bad, but not actually offensive. Just sounded like the band banging and crashing away for 45 minutes.

This definitely wasn't what I was expecting from the name - and was even more surprised when the album started off with a shrill scream. Not sure what to say about this - it had a couple of nice little riffs but overall just felt very mediocre and run of the mill, and the blending of bits of genres just didn't really come off all that well. There's so many better albums in the styles this touches on (Blues, Rock & Roll, Punk) and it just feels like a bit of a lazy amalgamation at times. I think there's definitely a bit of a slacker, almost parody vibe going on at points, but if you're gonna do that you have to go all in - which I think is what this feels like at the core; nothing is committing fully, just half baked bits of different stuff that never really melds together. I guess the best way to sum this up (which I may well find many times on this journey) is how the heck was this considered an essential listen of all time? Not offensive by any means, just a bit forgettable. 3/10

Just to point something out — this is classified as «punk blues» on Wikipedia. That is interesting. Not good, but interesting.

Very few good parts, vocals are trash

I kinda hate this. Some people would call this experimental, but it feels like there's a lack of music knowledge misinterpreted as passion.

scawny dirty noise rock, not my cup of coffee

Occasionally grooving but mostly just waiting for it to be done.

Just not my cup of tea. Punk x blues is an interesting combination on paper, but not in execution.

Peut-être que cet album a eu un impcat sur la scène un peu plus avant-gardiste, mais honnêtement j'ai trouvé ça vraiment très ordinaire. On dirait que le mixing et la production étaient volontairement mal faits et je ne trouvais pas que ça rajoutait tant que ça au style. EN général ce genre de "on fait exprès de sonner mal même si on est des bons musiciens" n'est vraiment pas une esthétique qui m'intéresse. 3/10

Annoying AF.

almost a twinge of Elvis in Love All of Me... but definitely not my taste