Reviews (page 4 of 8)
Fantastic. Almost a 5 but always think Don Amon drags on a bit
Class, never heard of them before. Good morning, Captain played a good few times this morning
I liked that. Great music to have on when I don't know what to listen to. Probably a high 3.
I feel like I should have enjoyed this more than I did
Anxiety en depressiviteit. Intens album
I felt bad for rating the Killing Joke not as high, since it felt unique. Then Spiderland comes along and that rating is justified. Spiderland is feels even more unique than that album. Truly an unheard sound. Great record.
Unsettling but I think that's what they were going for. I appreciate the musicianship! I never want to listen to this again.
Solid
Pretentious noodling with mumbling vocals.
Chill and hypnotic. I feel like I’d love hearing them in concert in some grimy shoebox music club but streaming the music didn’t quite hit.
Quite ominous. Especially track 4: Washer. Done very well. I really love the use of spoken word
Meh. The talking over the music gets boring quickly and most of these songs are that style. I’ve heard worse on this list so I’ll give it a 2.
I'm just picturing the emo vs goth kids fight in South Park Best Song: Good Morning, Captain Rating: 5/10 Stars: 3
I was in a strange mood and this was even stranger. Loved it.
Honestly, not a fan. I've definitely heard worse, but it just didn't do it for me.
I understand the criticisms that some other reviewers are putting around this album without it being slow and boring and may be a little too avant-garde, but I enjoyed it.
Confused, wandering, binned
No
This is one of those albums that will take a lot longer than a day to take a view on. Some super-nice ideas, and great vocals, but judgement needs to be reserved until I've had time to get to know it. A cautious 3.
Harmonic 90s rock sound was fun and interesting
Narrative Music is so much fun, especially early '90s Rock that has Stone Temple Pilots "Creep" vibes. This album consists of six stories, if you will. Favorite Track: "Don, Amanda".
4/10
FUCKKKKK i love this album so so much
I have no idea of what the fuck that album was.
I love a bit of post rock, and have listened to this a few times in the last 6 months. It’s overrated to me, Talk Talk did it better, but it’s still a vibe
Utter garbage, finished by 12 mins of garbage
Best Song: Nosferatu Man This is meh. I get it's post-punk and fighting the mainstream music at the time but, in the end, most of this is decent instrumentals ruined by their singer talking over it. 3/5.
I'm not exactly sure what this was meant to be. It's mostly instrumental, and not bad at that, but I think the album, overall, lacked a soul, lacked an identity that would make me want to know more about who they were. So it will just get shuffled into the middle of the pile, neither good nor bad, just ultimately invisible.
Contemplative, dark, heavy, beautiful. Not a record I would turn on again, but if you like a Television + Nirvana kind of sound, this record is very worth checking out.
The music was ok. From the first two tracks, my thoughts were. 'Get a singer'. But it became evident later that he could sing when he wanted, he obviously didn't want to very often. Which is a shame it might have got up to a 3 without the screeching.
They’re not bringing anything new or exciting to the party. I’m sure it’s all very clever and deep, which is why is over my head.
It's a tricky one. A very influential album so they say, I have listened to it in the past just to see what the fuss was about, and I was never really bothered with it. It's not going to be a regular player any time soon, but it did have its merits.
I combed the Wikipedia articles for some mention of it because this feels like such an inspiration for Midwest emo. There wasn’t any direct connection but I heard it there, I swear. Innovative for its time, was a great listen even now.
Background punk music that I have already forgotten what it sounded like. 4/10
Its literally just noise.
Nice try! What I'm about to write is probably not correct from a theoretical point of view, but I consider Splint's “Spiderland” to be a somewhat premature attempt to break free from the constraints of 80s stadium rock. The mood created by the harmonic structures (especially the frequent use of the major sixth in minor keys) and Brian McMahan's explicitly non-80s vocal style is clearly similar to what became popular six months later under the label “grunge.” However, Slint did not succeed in creating a new mainstream – in my opinion, because their songs lack the intuitive catchiness of the numerous milestones from the fall of 1991. Instead, from today's perspective, they can be seen as pioneers of the more intellectual approaches that became popular in modern extreme metal – although it was still a long way before the right sound could give the whole approach the necessary impact. Whether the former, the latter, or even both were Splint's ambitions is, of course, speculation. In summary, for me this is a rather immature album, but one that is very interesting from a historical perspective. Oh, and of course, with this approach, it's impossible to highlight individual songs – it's not for nothing that Splint didn't release a single single, according to the available information...
I've listened to this a few times this week sort of expecting it to fall into place and blow me away. I can't quite decide if it's pleasantly non-conformative and atmospheric in a post-rock way, or just pretentiously odd for the sake of it. I guess on the other hand, I've listened to this a few times this week and quite enjoyed it, so I guess it must be closer to the former.
My initial take on Spiderland is that I can't hear the goddamn lyrics and the guitar is actually kind of annoying and shrill sometimes. This seems like more of an atmospheric album. Ok, thats all fine and cool. But it seems to me that the band just picked a kind of weird lane and stayed in it for the entire album. It's not all that bad though. I like the distorted guitars and a bit of the droning, chugging rhythms. It's still a little slow and uneventful. The album just feels like a lot of missed potential. Standouts were "Nosferatu Man" and "Good Morning, Captain." I feel like I should like this album because I'm usually into weird/dark ambient stuff, but I really don't think I do. The all spoken serial killer style vocals were just disappointing. I'm kinda stuck between a 2 and 3 star rating because there are glimpses of something cool here, but the band never gets there for me. It's gotta be a 2.
1. Breadcrumb Trail - 1 The equivalent of noise rock. There's a ton of nonsensical talking in the track before guitars screech over the instrumentals and a waning whiny voice sings the lines. Awful piece of music. 2. Nosferatu Man - 2 The riffs through the central part of the track are enjoyable but nothing lyrically or vocally about this song is anything close to enjoyable. The screeching is still there but it's not as bad as it is on Breadcrumb Trail. 3. Don, Aman - 0 It takes four and a half minutes for the actual music to kick in. By then you're completely asleep with whatever the opening four and a half minutes are and then the music only lasts about thirty seconds. Track is a complete nothing burger. 4. Washer - 4 Vocally horrendous and lyrically dull the only enjoyable part of the track is the awesome soft guitar play between the verses. This lasts for six and a half minutes, constantly cutting out for the lyrics and leaving you wanting more of it. Finally you get a pretty good burst of guitar sound but that only lasts thirty to forty seconds in an over eight and a half minute track. 5. For Dinner... - 0 It's way too slow for a fully instrumental track. Yes it builds into a crescendo but it's not gradual it's more just four minutes of nothingness until the finish. Sometimes the track is so low you'll forget it's even on and playing. 6. Good Morning, Captain - 3 Just a completely uninspiring song outside of the louder moments of guitars which are short bursts of excellent sound. The track goes on for too long without those moments to really be considered very enjoyable. Average Rating: 1.67 Adjusted to 5-Point Scale: 0.83 Rounded Up: 1 Star
This is a cool sounding album. Fits right into the moment, early 90s. Some early Soundgarden vibes, maybe some Black Flag ish elements. This one is a good discovery. 4/5
niet mijn vibe maar opzich is het zeker luisterbaar. Ik zou zeggen dat het een beetje te grungy/metal is
One of my favourites
Great surprise!!!
un objet metallique hanté
It’s definitely early 90s sound, and it’s a surprise that this was their 2nd album … like, someone told them to make another one. I’ll pass
It's like early Arctic Monkeys, or they were inspired by Slint.
Works for me. Have you tried turning your copy off and then on again?
Boring, slow
rym core (and its precisely why i like it so much)
Y'know, I was actually interested to listen to this album. Honestly, I was. I read on Wikipedia that this was gonna be some math rock (among other things), and, y'know, I've had some experience with that before. Sure, that experience was a parody where the refrain went "I'm smarterrrrr than yoooou," but still. It'd be neat to get some real experience. It could be cool. And I had a good idea what I was getting into, so it wasn't like I was gonna be jumpscared by anything. I was gonna have a good time. And yet what I **actually** got was ... jeez, a heckuva lot less. On a purely musical level, I think this is one of the most nothing albums I've ever received. Both in terms of shit actually happening and in terms of ... y'know, leaving me with any feeling. I'm not even sure what I was **supposed** to get out of this. Maybe a light sense of melancholy? I wish I could've gotten something even remotely close to that, goodness. It's funny. This feels like one of the first albums in a while where I've actually gotten more out of the **lyrics** than I've gotten out of the music. And it's not like the lyrics do much for me anyway; I couldn't exactly sort out what they were supposed to mean. But I was interested in their narrative style. The way they were spoken sometimes didn't do it for me 100%, but, y'know, it was different, and I appreciate that. There's clearly something **here**. I just wish the music could have been more interesting to support that. And it's not even like the music is all bad. There are a couple of releases that make the endless build-up worth it. But largely, that's all this music sounds like to be: endless build-up. It's a kind of sound where, if I had to assign it a color, it'd be ... grey. With maybe a slight gradient that goes off to black and white at the edges, though it's largely a dull, blurry grey. I mean, maybe if I was more into music theory I could pick out exactly what was going on in these instrumentals and get something out of 'em, but since I got myself a pretty tin ear... I'unno. I'm a little surprised I even managed to pull this much out to say about it. It's just a largely dull album, though on the cusp of being something more interesting, and I think that's ultimately what disappoints me about it most of all. Like, as much as I wanna give it additional props for almost being something ... eh. I just can't. To the people who gave this thing a cult following, I'm glad you can hear something in it that I don't. Myself ... I think I'm just gonna go listen to that math rock parody again. At least stuff is happening on that. ""I'm smarterrrrr than yoooou..."
Not getting much math rock in this rock, but I dug it nonetheless. Solid 4 Stars.
I’m at a 5. Perhaps slightly higher. I’m not sure how to describe that, really. At its core, it’s essentially an early version of the foundation that Nine Inch Nails would take to a more industrial extreme on “The Downward Spiral”, but here, because it’s still rooted mostly in calmer instrumentals & with a spoken word approach for the vast majority of the album, I found this to be oddly poetic, with a tension building over the course of the album. A great poet knows how to build suspense, letting each line paint more & more of a picture until it finally bursts into life in front of you, with the ability to imagine far beyond just the words you’re presented with. This album fits the bill on all ends; the spoken word / singing / screaming dynamic that acts as a sort of push/pull throughout the album is very effective, used in combination with the intensity of the guitar & the instrumentation to accurately capture a sense of tension & or a changing mood. It certainly helps that the lyricism here paints really, REALLY great pictures; whether it’s the coming-of-age pleasantry behind “Breadcrumb Trail”, the insecurities of love on “Nosferatu Man”, the social anxiety of “Don, Aman”, the suicide note that is “Washer”, or the lamentation of leaving your childhood behind on “Good Morning, Captain”, each track tells its own story very, very well, enhanced further by the vocal / instrumental shifts at play. Even without the lyrics, I think just the tone of his voice & the ways the instrumentals move captures an energy to each track that tells the story all the same. I really want to focus on the last 3 tracks in particular, because I think they’re the highlights of the album. “Washer” is one of the best audio journeys I think we’ve gotten throughout the 673 albums we’ve done so far (counting this one), and the way that track slowly layers its despair with the passing realization that this guy is gonna kill himself is done incredibly well. It just sort of stunlocked me, and while I might be able to kind of understand someone bouncing off of that track, I think the fact that I didn’t even really notice the last 3 minutes of somber guitar work fly by as I just sat and digested it says a lot about how effective that track is. The next track, “For Dinner…” being an instrumental afterwards, allowing the listener to just sit & reflect on it further, is a very good choice as well. While listening to it, I noticed that the track always tries to lift into something bigger, and yet never really gets there itself, eventually paralyzing itself into one note, almost as if the track itself is mourning the suicide from the last one, unable to move on. Even the title implies to me that it’s a routine that simply can’t be finished as normal, since it just trails off. “Good Morning, Captain” is super effective, in a way that I’m not sure that I can really describe accurately. The entire buildup of this captain & this boy (who is either his son, himself, or some other childlike representation of his youth) is really well done in the storytelling, and it’s paid off brilliantly in the vocal / instrumental outro, especially when Brian McMahan belts out those last lines with a visceral ferocity that feels like it came deep from within his soul. It needs to be heard & experienced to truly feel, and I certainly felt it. I think it’s a great closing track that solidifies the whole thing as a truly great album. So, yes, I’m at a 5. It might be a little higher, even. This thing came out of left field with its post-rock, math rock, whatever the hell mish-mash of genres it has on Wikipedia & surprised me by being as brilliantly designed, thought out & effective as it is. It feels like it’s pioneering, to some degree, even if the tree of influence this album might’ve spawned took a while to sprout. I’m very glad it’s on the list, as I never would have found it otherwise. Not bad for a 6-track album made from some Kentucky boys.
Decent!
Ahead of its time. Subdued and moody. I like contemporary bands that do this sort of thing, like La Dispute, so I felt like I should’ve enjoyed this more than I did. I appreciated the guitar work and sense of atmosphere and respect the impact this album had on post-rock as we know it. I’m unsure if I’ll revisit or not.
I appreciate how this may have inspired a lot of music I listen to now, but by the mid-point, I said out loud, “we get it!!”
Len Houmous invested almost all his money in a theme park called Spiderland in 1955 right after he got back from Korea! It almost went completely tits up. It was a health and safety nightmare! Fortunately he got a large royalty cheque the next year! 2.2 6/6 Good Morning, Captain
Pretty boring. I do acknowledge the sound difference and evolution in music but this album won’t be on repeat.
This is mostly bad shoegaze on steroids. A lot of it sounds like feedback, and the vocals are buried in the mix; which might be a good thing because when you can hear them, they’re awful. Still, I was going to give it two stars until the last “song”: 15 minutes of noise, presumably approximating a night in a quarry. This is not “daring” or “edgy” or groundbreaking in any way - it’s just stupid. Where are the record company execs putting their foot down when you need them?
8 minute songs should be outlawed.
No thank you. Too hard and screamy.
Cool album
I like its intent more than I do its execution. This probably isn’t meant for just anyone. If I were buds with these guys I’d probably love it, but as a random listener it doesn’t translate.
loved this album since hearing it for the first time in college. crazy it came out in 91
This gave me that deja vu vibe - like I've never listened to this or heard of these guys before but it felt familiar but not in a bad way. I'll chalk it up to what I've learned was the influence that this had on indie rock throughout the '90s and beyond. I need to dig a little deeper into this one.
The one song I recognized and slightly enjoyed didn't require any more talent than the rest of the lame album.
This is … not good. It feels like they are trying really hard to be all artsy and mysterious and ends up feeling contrived.
Eu gostei muito
Would not buy
trash 1/5
I was not expecting to fall for this. Something about it, though - hit my brain in all the right places. Also, I like when bands can show you what they're all about in less than 40 minutes. 5/5
This is so sick. The riffs are great, they have such a driving force and create an eerie, sinister, or tense vibe that feels like you're trapped in, well, a spiderweb. Nosferatu Man is awesome and the Don, Aman, with its absense or drums, builds the tension even more. And finally Good Morning, Captain caps off the album with a disorienting and chaotic song that perfectly represents the experience from the 30 mins prior.
Never heard of this band. Really interested in these guys as this is my type of music. These guys are pretty cool. I dig the music. Reminds me a bit of Helmet, less grudgy. Cool album. I can see why it's in this list.
мне все-таки нравится, когда певцы поют, а не просто орут или бубнят, и когда музыка ну хоть чуть-чуть музыкальная.. это треш
I've listened to this album multiple times and I never know what to think of it. It is heralded as one of the greatest albums of all time, and while it does have its moments, I find it to be kind of boring. The singer isn't exactly great and neither is the rest of the band, and they don't make particularly outstanding music. The songs are really spaced out here which gives them some room to drone on and breathe. This does create some nice and haunting soundscapes and the parting away from conventional song structure is commendable. I don't really like Post-rock much, I can find some good in this but it's not my thing.
Really fucking cool
honestly a pretty cool album, but i wouldn't listen to it on the regular. favorite song from the album: Washer
oh capa feia.... e músicas chatérrimas, todas são iguais credo
"Atypical rhythmic meters, harmonic dissonance and irregular song structures" do not necessarily make for good music. Most people gave this music a rating of 5. It comes across as boring and lifeless to me. I don't get it.
Can’t decide what I think of this. Actually liked it less on second listen on the earphones. There are some nice elements to this, I hear Mogwai, but overall there is something a bit precious about them which puts me off
Really hated and then really liked this album. Great Deeply Depressing Guitar Chords mixed with lower fret picks!
These guys are the World's second best Black C,NR tribute band. Good Morning, Captain is so so good, a unique masterpiece. It has a haunting vibe that I can't think of anything else quite like. Fave Tracks: Breadcrumb Trail, Nosferatu Man, Washer, Good Morning Captain 4.5/5
13.10.25 #17 Favourite tracks: good morning, Captain Rate 7/10
I could have gone my life without hearing whatever this was. I'm convinced anyone giving this a 5 is just being pretentious at this point because it inspired music that came after it. This is not good music.
Punk, grunge, garage, metal, sensitive, heartfelt, raging, killer bass. What’s not to like?
You stole my pick
Always a fave!!!!!!
This is one of those albums I don‘t put on when I want to have a good time. Masterful instrumentation, amazing atmosphere, it‘s just not really a fun time.
I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t really find it good or interesting. An album that felt like it’s potential was never realized and comes off more like a dud. 2.5 / 5
Not for me
Kinda dirgey, kinda bleah... Nothing to really note, its short but feels like it lasts forever.
wasn't too keen on this. i'm sure it's appreciated elsewhere, just not here.
I’ve tried a few times to get into this album and it’s just never stuck.
Another cool find!
Broody, atonal, muttering. If this is what inspired math-rock and post-rock, I'm glad someone got something out of it. This felt like kids who have some musical talent wasting it under the wings of someone who didn't realize what they could do. This isn't musical. My rating: 2/5
Lots of acoustics and guys muttering vague lyrics.
You know, I quite liked this. I would listen to it on a regular basis. I really thought, based on the description, that it was going to be too conceptual/experimental for my taste, but I think that its vocal strangeness is well balanced by how atmospheric and oftentimes (but not always) melodic it is.
This album flew completely below my radar. I could see really getting into this back when it came out, had I known about it. For some, the second half could drag on, but I think I see where they were going with it. The extremely minimal instrumentation is what gave it that brooding, melancholic, even eerie vibe.
Mouais...
Thinking about time again, after yesterday's review. Nevermind came out in 1991, a moment that arrived fully formed, even if it had been a few years in gestation. Grunge was a last hurrah for rock as mass culture: major labels, MTV, guitars all over the radio. To me, Nirvana looked like adults: troubled, damaged, wives, children. Loud, scary, not for kids. And yet five months before Nevermind, Spiderland appeared. Not on a major label, not heralded as a generational shift, but as something obscure, subterranean. A record that felt like it belonged to another temporality altogether: slow to spread, slow to be recognised, slow to be understood. By the time I first heard it, the authors of Spiderland looked like children to me - I must have been five years older than they had been then! Britt Walford was twenty; David Pajo twenty-two, barely older than Dave Grohl. To think of Nevermind and Spiderland as coeval is difficult, as if they occupy parallel timelines: one of adulthood magnified and one of juvenile distance. How can post-rock exist during rock's big blowout? Yes, it’s impossible to think of Nevermind and Spiderland as contemporaneous without tearing a hole in history. Nevermind was all immediacy: verse-chorus-verse, melody, beat, a voice that sounded like everyone's feelings all at once. Spiderland was delay, suspension, guitars staggering into compound time, music that seemed perpetually on the verge of collapse. Both are records of guitars and drums, but the distinction is one of ontology. Nevermind’s songs were designed to be absorbed instantly, to circulate endlessly on MTV. Slint’s were unassimilable: badly recorded, awkwardly timed, too strange to be broadcast. Creepy rather than scary. But the networks overlapped - Albini recorded both bands - but the separation between Nirvana’s mainstream eruption and Slint’s cult marginality reveals how many worlds can exist simultaneously, how culture is never one story but many, divided by qualities of ambition, distribution, luck. Bleach is more mainstream than Spiderland because of Nevermind; In Utero for much the same reason, even though they got Albini in to indie it up. Of course, Cobain and company could have made Spiderland had they wanted to. But they didn’t. Or maybe there was something in both Cobain and Grohl that couldn't. They chose the path of mass resonance, and briefly succeeded in detonating the mainstream from within. Endless Nameless and Gallons of Rubbing Alchol… are hidden tracks on their multi-million unit shifters. Could the lads in Slint have made Nevermind? Britt Walford played on Pod, but didn't stick around for The Last Splash. Pajo was in Zwan. So I guess not. At their most effective, they built something smaller, stranger, but enduring. To discover Spiderland years later, through the ruins of grunge, is to glimpse the parallel culture that was always there underneath, a hidden continuity that suggests other futures for guitar music—futures that were never realised, but which continue to haunt and count awkwardly. 3 “Ooooooooooo look at us we can count to 7 and play guitar quiet…seriously though, don’t look at us.“ (Slint) I appreciate that Math Rock and Post-Grunge are entirely different genres but honestly I was getting Badnose vibes from some of this. Lame. 1.7/5
Not my tea. Might have enjoyed more at a different time though.
I remember liking this album more when it came out. Today's listening left me feeling much more "meh".
Cool whispery poems, muddy. Prob won't listen again, tho.
I have made it through 429 albums, including 4 of the 5 worst rated, without skipping a track. This is the closest I’ve been to breaking. Rambly nonsense lyrics mumbled over a dude apparently tuning up his guitar for the entire duration of the album. No skill is displayed, and nothing interesting occurs for 39 pointless minutes before the album ends.
This was okay.
Sounds very familiar though I've never heard it before. It seems like a lot of bands were inspired by them.
Breadcrumb Trail // Nosferatu Man // Washer // Good Morning, Captain
I get that they have their own interesting identity and style, and are up for pushing the boundaries of rock and punk. But unlistenable to me.
I can't get the sense of this kind of music
Spiderland! This record has been recommended to me numerous times but I've never checked it out before now. Yes. This is my bag. Math-rock, a bit jangly with some excellent heavy sections. I can't believe this was made a) in 1991 and b) by teenagers. There is a sophistication to the arrangements that really belies their age. And you can hear so much of Slint in other people's work from the 90s and into the 2000s. FOUR STARS
Weezer meets Alice in chains
I can definitely here the influences of mewithoutyou and other bands here.
Not for me
No
Some spooky vibes and some spooky mixing (negatively so). Feels like BBNG2 energy but for 1991. Adore this album cover. I have to side with my cousins, but not my favorite. Still! Strong technically and i can see eg influence on Hotelier. The quarry track is fun but skippable. Clppng vibes. THREE!
Terrible
I think I enjoy bands probably influenced by this much more than the album itself. Love the proto-emo guitars, hate the spoken word verses.
is it totally crazy and out-of-pocket for me to think music should generally sound good?
never heard of this band or album before, and it took me three listens to really make heads or tails of it. i THINK i like it overall, but it's a tough nut to crack. not sure i'd listen to any of these songs individually but the album as a whole is powerful, moody, unsettling, and emotional. deeply uncomfortable and at times creepy, yes, but hey, it's always nice when an album on this list stands out and makes you feel something. favorites: breadcrumb trail, don aman, washer, good morning captain
I can hear how this band influenced a lot of other music-mostly bands I find mildly interesting but not grabbing for very much. There’s some cool rhythmic stuff going on here. All the instrumental / spoken song stuff on here is a bit soporific, so it can be hard to appreciate the nuances in the music. But overall not bad.
Never heard of this lot or this album so read the Wiki entry before I listened. I saw there that their style of music is math rock! What the heck is that? Did I need to get my logarithm tables out to understand what was going on? Well that was not far from the truth because their music is complex characterised by multiple key changes, tempo and sound levels. This apparently is where the musical boffins get the term math rock from. Very much in the style of King Crimson they say which pricked my interest more as someone into KC and prog in general. So I did enjoy this album. The band were really trying something new. I’d say the style is still rarely heard let alone 25 years ago. I’d be surprised if there is anything similar to this in the whole of the list so deserves high praise. 4/5 20/9/25
This is #day407 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… it's good to see this record on the list. I discovered the band about ten years ago, when I was dipping my toes into post-rock, slowcore, sadcore, and some post-hardcore. Spiderland is a gem that sits somewhere in between all of these. The music is dark, unsettling, and, well, like a spider creeping. It goes without saying that this is one of the most essential records of the early '90s, and of modern rock in general. "Washer" is my favorite piece here. This is a 5 out of 5. Looking forward to #day408.
Great Songs: Don, Aman Good Songs: Nosferatu Man, Washer, Good Morning, Captain Mid Songs: Breadcrumb Trail, For Dinner... Bad Songs:
While listening to this today (a hot early September day) it started pouring rain out of nowhere. That’s kind of how this album feels: unsettling, tense, and nostalgic like deja vu. Everything is in its precise place to evoke a mood of not-quite-right. Ahead of it’s time by about 8 years, but not something I’d just put on to listen to. Sounds like a more concentrated brew of Stratosphere, OK Computer, or Lift Your Skinny Fists, which I think balance that spooky sound a bit better than the crunchy punk spots do on this record. It’s interesting stuff!
Murky, moody noir album. Bass does a lot of heavy lifting in this album, liked the mood but can’t say I enjoyed the music.
Did not get it, and it's probably my fault. All the things I didn't like about the album are opinion based. I do not think the sounds are bad, the setlist is cohesive and the album feels like a whole. That being said, I just didn't like it. I think I understand the genre, but it's not my cup of tea. The spoken word, the simplistic riffs and the "droning effect" of some parts turned me off. It has some highlights and some good parts, but it's just not my style, and I don't see myself playing this because I want to. Probably will give it some listens in the future, but still...
Non so che dire... Per me zero
I understand this album is incredibly influential, especially on music that I adore like all of the windmill scene. But it still has never fully clicked for me. I def enjoy it more than I used to but I have yet to have my moment with it
Slint walked so BCNR could do the same thing but with more instruments. Jk but this is cool stuff im a fan. Don’t always know what they’re saying is my only gripe its like not mixed quite right.
No idea what I just listened to. I am clearly not the target audience for whatever this is.
Wonderful postrock album, probably loved it
The sub-3.0 average rating on this album reveals yet again the bias of the average user of this site. This album has an atmosphere like no other. At times heavy and menacing at times, and at others unnervingly quiet. I love the playing on here; the dissonant, jarring guitar riffs and the textured and provocative drumming. Many people think heaviness in rock or metal comes simply from volume or speed, but this album displays a powerful heaviness that is also very intricate. "Nosferatu Man" is excitingly aggressive, while "Washer" is among the most immersively depressing songs I have ever heard. "Good Morning, Captain" perfectly realizes its thoroughly unsettling, forbidding mood. Fantastic album. Wish the band had made more albums after this one.
Very thick athmosphere. I can see why Albini loved it.
Cool probably like a 3.5 maybe a little higher
Not a fan of death metal sounds
Good alt-rock
I had never heard of Slint, ever. So I approached this with a totally open mind not knowing what to expect. It opens with Breadcrumbs Trail with is somewhat apt as it slowly leads us into the fold of the rest of the album. It’s dark and churning, pulling up unsettled feelings from the brackish water you wade through. It’s wonderfully raw, very glad to have found this even if it is way too late to feed my teen angst. I feel like this is the Nirvana that never made it, but had I found this album in its time I would been one of the cool kids, for sure.
Slint’s music took its sweet time to register with me, but nowadays this is one of my go-to albums when I'm feeling down in the dumps. Considered as early purveyors of post rock, Slint’s approach to songwriting differs somewhat to the “crescendo-core” style which would become the dominant force of post rock in the 00s and beyond, whilst also providing a clear blueprint for what was to come. Slint (and others such as June of 44 and Tortoise) walked with the idea of building from quieter, shimmery passages into agonistic releases of tension so that the likes of Explosions in the Sky and Mogwai could run, however Slint’s music has a distinctly more angular, volatile and abrasive nature to it as opposed to the largely linear, grandiose and hopeful approach of later acts. Their climaxes are shorter lived and significantly less easy on the ear, best showcased on “Don, Aman”, “Washer” and “Good Morning Captain”, with throes of optimism very much at a premium throughout Spiderland. The overriding mood is one of disharmony, alienation, longing and existential dread, particularly as you advance into the second half of the album where an air of resignation begins to set in, following a comparatively raucous first half. Brian McMahan’s vocals are often spoken or even whispered, but also share a commonality with the exploits of earlier emo and post hardcore frontmen of the time when he goes for that wailing, desperate louder style. His lyrics come from a place of loneliness, but also of social anxiety, his narrative writing laying bare his struggles of tussling between the two conflicting predicaments. The sum total of Spiderland makes for an uncomfortable, yet strangely sentimental listen for me, and one which I have really gravitated towards in recent years.
Some interesting bits with echoes of Velvet Underground. Overall quite simple musicianship although scattered with less used chords and atmosphere.
This album is "interesting" like it's not bad but it's somewhere in the middle of being mid and really good. It's just good. To be fair there are some cool moments in there but there's really wasn't enough that really scratched my itch. At the very least it was intriguing enough that it felt digestible from start to finish. Overall, it was a GOOD album. Top 3: Breadcrumb Trail, Washer, and Good Morning, Captain 3.25-3.50/5
Good Morning, Captain
LETS GO it’s so peak
Pretty different sound but not enough going on
Meh
Затрудняюсь поставить оценку. Вроде и без раздражения слушается, но не понятно, в каком настроении можно слушать такую мрачную музыку. 5 из 10.
Meh. Nothing remarkable here
Ahead of it's time and completely holds up today.
Really amazing album, a very good listen very atmospheric and it brings out all the pent up emotions when listening to it.
disappointed at yet another 1990's "classic" It was as expected crap. Saving grace was a decent bit of guitar now and then, but really they should have bought a drum kit.
Yeah, it's okay. It's the sort of music that comes on through random recommendations on Spotify while I'm busy doing something, and doesn't quite catch me enough to give my attention to nor turn it off. It's fine, nothing special, nothing I'd go out of my way to hear again.
I expected a lot more out of these with it being on my radar even before this list and I’m sorta disappointed. It’s hard to say what they did wrong but it was just very underwhelming. My favourite song was For Dinner which was amazing. This record was just like rock but a bit different😂. Overall I’m not angry I’m just disappointed (I alr know all the ratings on this are going to be 5/5) but I’m giving this a 6.8/10 3.4/5
you know, i've never quite gotten the hype for this album.
Personally, I really dislike spoken word lyrics in music. This album is somewhere between a 2 and 3, but I'm not feeling generous today.
9/4/25. Was a little bit familiar with this band, and glad I got to dive into this one. Hearing this, I hear a lot of current bands I like drawing a similar sound, notably English Teacher. Love the different time signatures but at a slower tempo.
Prijemny grundžík
Some interesting music, but somewhat repetitive in my opinion. Don't understand the hype. Maybe just not my cup of tea.
Ne znam šta bih rekla na ovo, naporno, nezanimljivo. 1/5, 1/10
Never heard of asking, but I really enjoyed this album. The mix, the lyrics just pulled me in.
Chatinho. Nada de mais. 6 músicas e 44 minutos.
This was a real surprise. Really loved it. What a mood. Very modern for the early 90s. Went out and bought this
Chats a lot
Pfoe, dit voelt heel erg als een album geschreven door een gast of een groep gasten die zichzelf ontzettend slim vinden. Elk nummer duurt en duurt en duurt en duurt en gaat eigenlijk nergens echt heen. De muziek op Washer klinkt interessant, maar de zang is eigenlijk precies wat ik niet vet vind aan sommige indie. Dat hele trage, zeikerige zingen. Unsettling, was eigenlijk het eerste woord waar ik aan dacht bij het luisteren van dit album, alles voelt en gaat ontzettend traag en gaat eigenlijk nergens heen terwijl je dat wel een beetje verwacht. Nee, ik kom eigenlijk toch weer terug op mn initiele beoordeling. Dit voelt als een album van gasten die zichzelf zo veel te slim vinden en dat hoor je in de muziek. Van die gasten die, als je vraagt waarom hun muziek nergens heen gaat, een beetje hun neus voor je ophalen en vertellen dat je duidelijk niet begrijpt dat dit teruggrijpt naar een 5/8 keychange van F# naar G minor of zoiets. Misschien ligt het aan mij, misschien ben ik hier niet intelligent genoeg voor. Maar ik vind de muziek maar matig. 100% van overtuigd dat deze gasten nu crypto bro's zijn ofzo. FAVO: Washer,
6/10
These guys were new to me, but they found a groove in my brain and were really working for me. I just hope he wasn't saying anything important, cuz the vocals were not easy to hear.
I lowkey hate this album, but also every now and then I hear it and think it’s a work of genius.
Very much storytellers. Long low riffs with some lead up to high points in the songs. Favourite song of the album would have to be good morning, captain.
It started off not really to my liking but by thrn end I was jamming. I could see this album growing on me. 3 for now but I bet if I listened to it again I'd rate it higher
What a cool album. It made me feel like I was walking around a post apocalyptic world. Who ever was on the guitar played it well. I would listen to this again
Legendary post rock album, so good it hurts. I have listened to this album at least 50 times over the years. No skips. Good Morning, Captain, and Don, Aman are among the best post rock songs I have ever heard. Fucking insane that Laughing Stock by Talk Talk came out the same year. I feel like this is one that kinda grows on you, and really benefits from being revisited every year.
My wife says this album sounds like someone practicing guitar. (She would know what that sounds like.) There are a couple cool moments. A couple.
I know this album is for someone. I just don't think I am that person.
Started off sounding a bit like King Missile. Kinda droning but fine.
It was interesting and it tried things, for which I’m grateful. But, the final product did not get me excited.
Wow, I didn't know this was the album that started the whole post-rock movement. It's dark and uncomfortable.
Some instrumental noodling around with occasional spoken word poetry or some kind of story I didn't understand nor care about. Eventually they get off their asses and a cacophony of sound hits in one of the last two tracks. "Utica Quarry, Nighttime" was listed as a digital bonus track. I wasn't about to waste another 15+ minutes on an optional assignment I wasn't enjoying.
Sad dudes mumbling over weak riffs and a man narrating a grocery list recorded in a walk-in freezer. Critics call it a classic, I call it nap fuel.
Boring overall. Lyrics were washed out and nonsense. Music wasn't interesting
En delvis intressant skiva. Diggar soundet tillslut. Men det räcker inte. För det är exakt ingen variation. Och pratandet, hela tiden. Är inte så lattjo i längden. Svårt. Vill egentligen inte sätta tre. Men två känns för lite.
Kul lyssning. De har ju verkligen ett eget uttryck som ändå har något (framförallt Breadcrumb trail och Good morning, captain gillar jag), men som samtidigt inte riktigt håller över en hel skiva och med de låtlängderna. Glad att jag lyssnade på denna, men förmodligen inget jag kommer att återvända till.
5/5. I remember listening to this a lot in high school but just enjoying the vibes, as a depressed teenager. Now as a depressed adult, I can see the inspiration this took from along with the influence it provided to future post rock albums. The guitar work is chilling and effective and although the vocals can easily be a turn off, they work very well with this music, culminating in a unsettling walk through a dark forest, or floating in a black lake, unable to see the bottom not knowing if you should move or stay still. It's an effective piece of art and well worth its legacy. Best Song: Breadcrumb Trail, Good Morning Captain, Nosferatu Man
Emo guitar rock band sets a mood
I remember listening to this album for the first time back when covid locked all of us in our homes. Believe it or not, my first thoughts were that the record was kind of sweet, specially thanks to the main riff of 'Breadcrumb Trail', which is very pleasent to hear to. Since then, I keep on listening to it, but not very frequently, so I never had a strong opinion about it, until today. How ignorant of me to think that this record was charming. When giving it a more deep listening, I started to notice that this album can be very eerie and dark. The intricate melodies and rhythms combined with the changes of volumes and the lyrics create this tense atmosphere and make it feel very dynamic. The best example would be the song 'Don,Aman', which starts with this melancholic guitar melody which transitions into a crescendo which gets and gets more intense, until it reaches the climax with the guitar getting louder and distorted. Then they quickly slow things down back to the original guitar motive, but in a very smooth way. I also want to mention that the lyrics are incredible well placed. While the initial guitar melody is playing, they start describing how a guy, 'Don', is taking a break while standing outside of a recreational place. Then, the guy decides to enter again, and that's when the crescendo starts building up. My interpretation of this would be that his social anxiety is also kicking in, to the point that he can't take it anymore, to which he decides to go back home to sleep. Is at this moment when the music returns to the slower part. I do believe that the composition behind of this song is just pure genius. Speaking of lyrics, I did appreciate a lot how well they describe different scenes: 'Breadcrumb Trail' talks about a man meeting a fortune teller at a carnival and taking her to the rollercoster, which can be considered an allegory of sex, considering how everything is meticulously everything is described, like them reaching their climax at the top of the rollercoster. 'Nosferatu Man' is about a vampire who kills their partner after discovering they lied. 'Don, Aman' I already described, so next would be 'Washer' a track which address the situation of a couple dealing with the burden of one of them having to leave. Finally, 'Good Morning, Captain', as 'For Dinner...' is an instrumental track, describes how a captain of a ship lost everyone after a storm. It could also be interpreted as the man mourning and missing his youthful days. In conclusion, this is a very unique album with a very distinct sound and dark atmosphere.
Crazy album! It's difficult to make such discordance sound so enjoyable. Truly a culturally significant album.
extremely interesting. very eerie album, and the atmosphere throughout is filled with this tense darkness. Also very cool music theory.
i admire the instrumentation and the insane time signatures as a musician myself but this I couldn't seem to get into it for some reason
Mumbly and pretentious. 1.5/5
I can appreciate this, but just not my cup of tea.
Sounds like the worst bits of Sonic Youth and Pavement stretched out over a whole album. Lots of guitar noodling and mumbling, I found it a slog
Very sonically interesting rock album. Songs tend to start slow before exploding into grungy dissonance. The vocals mirror this by being softly spoken word on the quieter parts and loud singing on the louder parts.
Ok. Nothing to write home about this album. First time to listen to this album. Not really sure what to think about it. I like some of the music but not necessarily a fan of the vocals.
Hadn't heard of them before, but I definitely recognize their influence in others.
Remek djelo od početka do kraja
Quarry at nighttime get real
Not for me. Hard to see the appeal
Nice album
Kinda interesting, kinda weird, kinda liked it, kinda didn't.
Grunge elements Narration Ominous Anatomy (game) vibes Lynchian
A little crazy I have not heard of these guys. Definitely like this one. 4 Stars
Rock album as art. I'm with Albini: "ten fucking stars"
Interesting album, that i've not heard before! Great guitar riffing and really like the guitar sound on this record. Definitely sounds like a grower too, that might get even better after few spins. I did listen to this twice and will probably listen more times in the future.
I think this would even better album listened while being little drunk.
I remember listening to Slint after watching the movie Kids. Back then, the whole album felt a bit too slow for my taste, but now it sounds great. I really enjoyed it — and it wasn’t too long, either.
I was very hopeful to start listening, I've know the band by name for ages and knew it was important to post- and "math"-rock scene, but found it merely cursorily inspirational to said genres. I can see why, but it was still very... slim. Mostly I felt like the music had too much "empty air between the notes", which left a lot of room for the vocals, which I found mediocre at best. Acquired taste I'm sure, but one I am interested in pursuing at this point, I'd rather just put on some Helmet.
didn’t like
Didn’t feel like finishing but didn’t mind. 2.5
Hard to pigeon hole this one but it didn't do much for me
Incredibly cool record with a lot of lore.
Bom álbum! Curti. TRIxHBB Kai.
5/10… rock
Mom, can we get My Bloody Valentine? No, we have My Bloody Valentine at home. MBV at home is this. Tuneless drivel. They wish they had all the pedals and effects that their contemporaries have.
Not bad
Grave, urgent et tendu, hypnotique
This was new to me and I like it
p670. 1991. 1 star. Early 90s Nirvana wannabees without talent or songs. Every song is 5+ minutes long. The "vocalist" doesn't sing, he talks or mutters or screeches. This didn't sell at the time, and you can hear why. WTF thought this was essential listening?
Not really a fan of spiders, so 1 star lost. Listened to the album and not really a fan of it, so 2 stars lost. So, this album gets 2 stars.
This album is a force. The closing track especially.
Has a very unique sound - ethereal rock? Favorite track: Washers other picks: breadcrumb trail, good morning captain, nosferatu
Awesome deep sounds that are kinda grunge but more clear. I see this a a potential soundtrack for a neo-western movie.
The post rock I like and the post hardcore I like both have much more in the way of production than this. It's like sitting in a room with a bunch of boring miserable men having a moan while a just-ok band practices next door. 2*
I was primed to enjoy this from “For the First Time” but something seems to be missing… I think he needs to speak up a bit more.
So I’m about 60 albums into this project and this is the ~3rd time I’ve been pleasantly surprised by an album - the first time by a band I knew nothing about. There are notes of Radiohead, Nada Surf, Smashing Pumpkins, Ben Gibbard and am too lazy tonight to figure out if before, contemporaries, or after. Favorable feelings became stronger on 2nd listen. Not a big fan of the quiet narrative style of lyrics but love the pace and conflict in the music. Washer and Good Morning Captain are immediate Spotify favorites. I’m going to call it a 4 and preserve right to listen later and move to 5. 4/5
Strong beginning. Don't go in the album for at least 30 minutes after eating. Or you will become obsessed, as I did. Gets math rocky, but math rocky with screeching and talking when you need some. I just love this.
I kept trying to listen to this and was distracted at least four times. Felt pretty underwhelmed when I finally played it through. But I’m not sure if that’s because I wasn’t concentrating. But then I think if it was good I wouldn’t have switched off/tuned out and forgotten it so quickly. Maybe one day when I have the time I’ll try again.
When the bio starts with "Though largely overlooked during their brief lifespan..." take that for a coded way of saying no one really wanted to listen to this band when they were making music. Certainly sums up my experience.
Incredible, intense, daring, unique. There's a whole world on this album. No wonder it inspired so many to explore its riches.
Banal. Boring. Boys.
experimental punk?? primus adjacent?
Nah.
Post-rock progenitors or post-adolescent pretenders? In six lugubrious tracks, these Louisville lads noodle their way toward atmosphere like Sonic Youth with a migraine—atonal guitar clatter, monotone mutters, and that oh-so-serious sense of importance. “Washer” floats on watery dynamics and could pass for a Wall-era Floyd outtake if Roger Waters outsourced the vocals to a dead-serious Weird Al. “Good Morning, Captain” earns its cult status by actually going somewhere—slowly, sure, but with purpose. That said, I’ve heard funeral processions with more bounce. For fans of dread, dirge, and deliberate tedium. Not my idea of a good time, but I suppose someone’s gotta brood.
Clinical and intense, ferociously avant-garde guitar music. A true magnum opus.
Pretty boring. A great deal of repetition of songs. Same formula. Soft section with mumbling, followed by distorted 8 bars back to mumble and soft passages.
Within the first minute I was ready to switch off, but repeated listens I got a lot more from it & whilst it won't be staying on repeat I wouldn't mind coming back in the future
I had never heard of this but I was surprised how good it was.
I absolutely love this album.
Post rock perfection. Never tire of this album
Art for arts sake? The last track is ok
Never heard them before, but wow there's a lot of bands I like that built on this.
Weird, dark, Fugazi vibes. Yea I can come back to this well.
Interesting, but not sure I enjoyed it.
mfers never taken a drunk piss on a tree and it shows (top 25 OaT probably one of my most listened albums)
I hardly know’er land
I like this!! What is it about the 90s that has such a distinct sound/feel to it. Never heard of these guys but I'm digging it so far. Interesting, the first couple of songs were kida fast paced, but the rest of the album was slow and kind of mysterious. I liked it but not more than 3 stars.
Slutty vampire voice
I guess.
(sorry for getting personal and cheesy) I'm not sure how to explain why this is possibly my favourite album I've heard so far in 18 years. It feels quite cheesy to say that this album takes you to its own land, given that its called spiderLAND, but that's all I can say really. The land it takes you to for me is partially a fantasy world with funfairs, rollercoasters, castles, princes and lonely people, which the lyrics are mostly talking about, which I like A LOT. But I feel like you are also taken to the real world of the band members and their lives, as they are a similar age to me when they made this, and deep down, the things they were singing about and playing are a result of very personal circumstances, and a lot of musical development. (I partially arrived at this opinion on my own, but also from watching the documentary and reading the booklet in the record). Instrumentally, this album is totally unique from every single piece of music ever recorded, and it feels like the perfect combination of factors made this album exist. The hardcore punk scene which inspired bands which these members were previously in, and also probably inspired some of the heavier parts on here. I've heard that the Minutemen were a big influence on playing clean parts, which I can hear to an extent, but I think largely its just mostly talent and innovation. I think the 'playing a chord and moving the bottom note down or up one semitone', which is the main discernable 'style' adds to the 'spooky mysterious fantasy land' to me, which makes this album feel quite a lot like a book to me, I suppose I have made up what the 'Spiderland' is. Britt Walford has to be one of if not my favourite drummer, just mostly for not following ANY conventional drum rules, so it seems. The guitar parts are the highlight for me, obviously, the way that both of the parts often play a very similar line, but with slight harmonic differences to set them appart. Also David Pajo's strange and simple 'solos' like the one note bending solo at the end of Washer, or the harmonics at the end of Good morning captain. I was listening out for the bass parts, and they are generally quite minimal I found, but I think that works so well when you have very complicated guitar parts over the top of it. Favourite songs: all - totally equally as well. Overall I think its a perfect melting pot of circumstances personally and total uniqueness musically. Overall around 10/10
This album, in places, was like a big spiky honey flavoured jobby. In others, not as good.
This sounds like a late-night garage jam session gone wrong, with some guy mumbling through muffled screams. I’ll pass on this one!
I personally have not heard Slint's music although I know "Spiderland" is a Rate Your Music classic. — Slint has a super sparse, fractured, atmospheric sound, that reminds me of Black Country, New Road, even though they arrived first. I couldn't hear a word from the vocalist, as his vocals oscillate b/w seamless mumbles and hoarse screams, but the instrumentation is fantastic. The songs themselves are long, moody and shift in tempo and tone. I've noticed people calling "Spiderland" pretentious, but the album is too imperfect to be deliberately trying too hard. It has an almost cultish demeanour. Although I probably won't return to Slint in the future, listening to this album was an enjoyable experience.
In a nutshell: emo post-rock. Nice guitar loops and riffs. Brian's mostly spoken word delivery is creepy. It was more of a bummer to listen to rather than an introspective experience. Personally, I'd recommend Mclusky and other bands over Slint as an introduction to post-rock. But other notable post rock musicians have sung Slint's praises (members of Mogwai, Pavement, Sebadoh to name a few). Overall: 4/10
un peu trop criant
me gusto el estilo pero nada demasiado especial si.
I knew nothing about Slint before today, however, there are countless bands still making music that sounds like this and I've seen many of them over the years in small bars and DIY spaces. I wish I had found this when I was younger. I think the hardest part of trying to make music as a teenager was figuring out where the music in my head fit into the broader music landscape, and that challenge drove me to force different styles on myself so I could fit in better. I'm not sure I even knew post-rock was a thing at the time, which is pretty unfortunate. This feels much closer to the music I would have made naturally than the metal-based music I ended up trying to make. My blues roots gave me a love for jamming and letting the groove slowly build, but my only point of reference for that type of music was classic rock and actual jam bands (Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, Phish, etc) and that wasn't a sound I was interested in creating. Realizing there was a whole genre where people did that with heavier distortion would have been a revelation for me, and would have helped me share that vision with potential band mates. Sadly, the 2005 reunion was just barely too late for me to notice; one or two years earlier might have changed my life. Or not, who knows. "Breadcrumb Trail" "Washer" (even if the vocals aren't quite in key) "Good Morning, Captain"
When I first listened to this one, I didn't know what to make of it. Then I listened to it more, and I started to like it, until suddenly I decided I didn't. I didn't listen to it for a while after that, until one day I suddenly got the urge to revisit it, and I like it again! At least for now... I think I've always liked the quieter bits, with the guitar sounding like walking around a deserted city, but haven't always been convinced by the parts where they get loud, which don't really fit in with what I always think of the album as doing. Of course, I'm wrong, because if it didn't fit in with what they were going for, then they wouldn't do it quite so much! Generally, I still think the distorted guitar sounds a bit weak and disappointing, and still love how glassy the cleaner guitar sounds.
no se porque se me estaba haciendo repetitivo. hay canciones que he disfrutado y otras que se me han hecho muy pesadas y que he tenido que pasar.
Rating (1-5): ✩ Higlighted songs: Ehmmmm what the actual fuck After summoning Satan listenin- to these tracks, I had to call Huntrix to hunt down the demons that were crawling out of my hears. After that I decided to listen to it again and now I'm cursed. The stories are interesting in song form, but it's so boring as an album -_-
Spiderland surprised me with its quality. At first, it might come across as a collection of incoherent sounds, but the more I listened, the more I found a melancholic and strangely captivating atmosphere beneath the surface. Some tracks did feel a bit repetitive and wore me out, but overall, I enjoyed the experience. Not amazing, but definitely interesting.
very dark and moody post rock, very influential, very interesting, i enjoyed it
Spiderland offers some of the most discordant and jagged loud-rock riffs put to tape. On the other side of the same coin, it’s an album that utilizes space, silence, mood, and dynamics unlike perhaps any rock record to come before it, and remains an influence for those that came after. Of course this is a dark album without question, but it goes beyond that.. this is a masterclass in harnessing the feeling of unsettledness. From the first note, insecurity.. before the first note even, look at the album’s cover. It’s so ominous. There’s something bubbling under the surface over the course of this album’s runtime. Like a horror movie in which you never actually see the monster and the setting is the scariest part, a silent scream in human form starring at you through a one-way mirror trying to shatter the glass in front of it.. Spiderland is a short film that leaves you on the edge of your seat.
There's something enigmatic hidden in here. Didn't find it, but maybe I will later.
turpa vittu kii pliiis............ ▄▄ ▄ no ei kyllä albumin loppua kohden kun rauhotetaan ja istahdetaan ja vähän niinkun annetaan ilmaa ja aikaa prosessoida niin tämäkin vaikuttaa kuuntelemisen arvoiselta albumilta. incredible post rock.. rokin jälkeinen.. jaahas. rautaa vai rokkia?? sanoisin että rokin jälkeinen.. tai siis roskaa.. mutta ensimmäinen lausahdukseni kuitenkin relevanttia: turpa vittu turpa vittu ole vittu hiljaa turpa vituuk iiinni ja pidä se leipäläpi tukossa ennen kuin tulee nyrkkiä vitty lärviin.!!! tämä on ''influentiaialinen´´ koska huorailu on tuottoisaa ja instrumentaaliosiot kuulemma ... ööö.. erikoisia? vaikka 60-luvulta lähtien saatana ymmärretty nämä ilmeiset asiat jota iso kiho arvostelijat jankkaavat.. washer
it's great. Can't explain why, but it just clicked right from when the drums came in on breadcrumb trail. The lyrics are fantastic, the atmosphere is fantastic. Slow burn, melancholy. A whole song about Nosferatu? that deserves it's own star added to the album. Perhaps a star removed for being very "young-person" angsty?
based on the cover and time period i was expecting something whiny, maybe smashing pumpkins-adjacent, so the general inventiveness and atypical rhythms and structure were a very pleasant surprise, although i can't help but think I'd enjoy it much more as a purely instrumental album
I'd never heard of this band, nor this album before. It was surprisingly good. I think the mix could have been a bit better, especially the vocal mix, but overall it was a good listen.
An interesting listening experience. Very raw, which I liked about it. But it just wasn’t the style of music I’d typically listen to. It’s definitely possible that it could grow on me, but first listening experience, I’d give it a 2.
Not my first listen, but certainly my most impactful one. Never really clicked until now, and it’s damn innovative as hell, clearly inspirational to many, and has a compelling story behind it with its anxious feelings of growing up.
Slint: Spiderland: This is so fucking boring oh my god. Spoken word over really whatever riffs that repeat over and over and over. I hate this. Contender for the most boring thing I've listened to, 39 minutes felt like hours. 1/10
I don't like this style of music. Can't hear a word the guy is speaking, not sure if that's intentional or bad early 90s mixing. The mixing is just bad. The volume differences between songs is crazy. Almost went dead when it got to Look a Ghost.
Lo escuché cuando me recomendaron este rollo de los 1001 discos. No entendí nada.
Another record I am familiar with, this is very influential on lots of stuff I love but as a listening experience in and of itself it's not my absolute favourite. Still a classic though, and very justified inclusion
I did not enjoy this very much
# Playlist Track - Breadcrumb Trail # Notes - Not my cup of tea.
Their second and final album. Rock / Experimental Rock. A tense, foreboding and anxiety ridden album. Spoken word lyrics and sung vocals. Changes in tone mid song throughout. Let's face it this is weird yet strangely cool at times. I quite like Nosferatu Man. Each song is maybe a minute too long though. A strange one this.
Spiderland has that distinct '90s underground, pretentious vibe. It's moody, minimalist, and a little off-center. It’s not terrible, and there are moments that you think the payoff is coming, but it never really goes anywhere.
Kinda meh for me. Nothing really stood out
Score: 4/10 | Favorite Song: Breadcrumb Trail I know Spiderland is widely hailed as a landmark album that shaped the post-rock genre, but for me, it was more of a tough listen than a rewarding one. The spoken-word delivery, minimalism, and tension-building structures often felt more draining than immersive. I appreciate the ambition and the eerie atmosphere they create, especially on “Breadcrumb Trail,” which actually pulled me in with its surreal storytelling and shifting dynamics. That track shows what the band could do when their experimental tendencies click. Unfortunately, the rest of the album rarely met that mark for me. A lot of the songs just didn’t land emotionally or musically. The stripped-down guitars, slow builds, and jarring transitions felt more like exercises in restraint than fully-formed ideas. There’s a certain coldness to the album’s tone that left me disconnected, and the lack of melodic payoff or rhythmic momentum made the experience feel more like a chore than an adventure. I get why this is a cult classic, but personally, I struggled to find much I’d want to return to beyond the opener.
mjög gott póstrokk. mögulega ofmet ég þá vegna hæpsins. en aðra, meira.
Dreary
54/1001. I had no idea what this band or music is about. First few bars remind me of Tortoise, then after the distortion kicks in it feels like a missing link between hard-core and grunge and the American post- rock a la Tortoise et al. And sure enough, reading the band's history, the breadcrumb trail leads from hc to Tortoise. I didn't know this missing link but am glad that it popped up here. There is always new to learn about artists and albums around one's favourite artists, one reason I am doing this project. Meditative, raw, surprising, beautiful, simple, complex, well tuned guitars with new strings creating interesting intervals and harmonies with the bass, Pärt of pop suddenly torn to shreds... I love it when music is all these at the same time. Millions of people claiming this is simple and "I could do it without trying" have no clue (and I'm sure they wet their pants over a Nirvana or Ramones record).
pas fan du style de chant sur certaines tracks, un peu lent parfois. j'aurais pu aimer plus, mais c'est déjà pas mal !
Грустно что то стало - прям заебца
The whole album revolves around one melody, the omnipresent doo doo doodododo do do that is played on every instrument. You can't call the album catchy, but it has a way of sticking to your brain and corrupting your thoughts.
One of the top reviews here mentions the sense of tension that hangs over this album. I was struggling to figure out why I liked the album and I think it’s because that tension creates such a strong atmosphere and feeling.
A somehow moodier Radiohead with a lot of talking
Unexpected gem
Screeching music isn’t for me
Really enjoyed the sound on this one. Love that fuzzy poetic thing they have going. Solid 4 ⭐️
DNFed it--probably a good album, just wasn't in the mood for the genre.
Felt like it was trying to be artsy but came off very shallow
How in the world did this even make it on this list? It's barely music, more like spoken word poetry. And bad poetry at that.
So uninteresting I forgot I was listening to them while they were still on. Moments where they almost sounded like Smashing Pumpkins were ok. Just, I dunno. Spoken word is not my bag.
I could have recorded this with my 3 guitar chords I can play and reading some words.
I don’t know how to put into words how this album portrays so much emotion with such simple repetitive riffs and sounds. But it feels like my
Tøffe rytmiske grep, fine atmosfærer
this requires a state of mind that I’m usually never in, but they sound good
The music here kind of gave Indie version of Nirvana vibes (these guys are not near the same stratosphere as Nirvana for the record), especially on Washer. But almost every song ran on too long and was super boring, mostly during the spoken word portions. This honestly was pretty depressing. Low 2.
Another album I've already vowed my love for before it showed up on the list... I can certainly see this not being everyone's jam, but there is something about this that just feels right in my bones. The song structures, while atypical, are satisfying and the production perfectly balances cleanliness with crust in a way that ultimately feels satisfying. I can see the vocals (a mixture of spoken word and *yells*) being a bit polarizing, but I think they work well against the instrumental backdrops. Love the quick changes in direction throughout Breadcrumb Trail, and the build-in pent-up energy of Nosferatu Man (my personal favorite here). At other points, I just enjoy the atmosphere created. Don, Aman serving as a percussion-less detour that feels like it is set to explode at any moment, but only results in a small bit of fuzz before fizzling out. And For Dinner... an instrumental interlude of sorts. No misses here for me. I'm on the boundary between high 4 and low 5. Going the latter because I think I could listen to this just about any time.
Best part was the breakdown toward the end of Washer. However, 30 seconds of good doesn't outweigh the rest of the bore. Grungy snoozefest.
That was more like a book on tape with instruments added in. Really didn't like the lip smacking talking on Don, Aman. Whole album was way too angsty for me
Goodbye to the GROUND! A little bit too much of the spoken word but the instrumentals are intriguing so far. Super dark though. This started as a 2 and has worked its way up to a 4 after Washer. That song ruled. Going back down to a low 3 after that waste of time last song.
Man, definitely potential here, but it is tough to ever really get into it with all the whispering and slow burn. Nosferatu was a solid track. If they'd stuck closer to that formula, this would probably be an album we would have all heard of, instead of an obscurity.
I didn’t like this. I’m still glad I listened, since now I at least tried something new.