Gentlemen

Enjoyed this one much more than I originally anticipated. No personal standouts for me, but the overall vibe was cool and fun. A good shakeup from the typical tyranny of my familiar jams playlists.

Poneeeele Nota: 3.1

Not very good U2 wannabes. The guitar work isn’t on a par with The Edge, and the songs are lamer. Decent drummer, though.

I like this a lot. It reminds me a lot of other bands I listen to, and it's almost timeless at some points. I listened to this three times yesterday. I wish I liked it more.

Fantastic record, an artefact from the peak era of grunge, during which bands like the Whigs added an extra crunchy, angsty guitar layer, in this case, to an already potent dark soul sound. It’s a triumph in moody confessional self-loathing, Greg Dulli’s lyrics and vocal performance have a black shine to them. At times, absolutely extraordinary. 4.5

Man had his heart broken.

There is bad and awful and then there is the Afghan Whigs

Decent music, cringe vocals+lyrics.

I very much liked the first half of this record, but it sadly falls off in the second half. Favourite Track(s): Gentlemen, Fountain and Fairfax Least Favourite Track(s): My Curse, Now You Know

This list has a lot of American alt rock that nobody has ever heard of. Wonder how this one is? Is that a bongo? Oh no that's a bongo. Oh god this album is somehow painful. I don't know exactly what it is but I hate it. It isn't necessarily BAD, I just don't like it.

Algunas canciones medio corny. Con un sonido por momentos interesante y por momentos aburrido. No sabría decir si me gusta o no, pero creo que algunas cosas le bajaron mucho mi puntaje

..

# Album Name: Gentlemen # Artist: The Afghan Whigs # Rating: 2/5 # Comments: No thanks. Trash. # Top Tunes: # Would I listen to it again? No

The closing track bumped it up a star

it's pretty good

i liked it. a band i had heard of but never listened to.

Maybe it's just a product of its time, but I couldn't get excited about this. But I would have never listened to it in 1993 either TBH.

Good album but I've come to review this the day after and I don't really recall any of the songs or any of my points on it. so 3, I guess.

Album #243 The Afghan Whigs: Gentlemen 90s rock is a bit hit or miss for me. On one hand, you have some of the greatest rock albums of all time spurring from the Britpop, Grunge, and alt rock scenes; not to mention the blossoming post-rock and shoegaze genres. But the issue with such a focus on genres and scenes is that bands stop focusing on creating their own sound, and instead try to emulate the prevailing sound. That’s why every shitty American start-up band tried to sound like Nirvana, and across the pond everyone tried to be Oasis. The Afghan Whigs are a band which I had never heard of prior, and after listening to them I think I understand why. Sure, if you were super into the indie and alt rock scenes in the 90s, you probably would have given these guys a listen, but there really isn’t any reason for people today to return to them over any other band of the time. It is simply run-of-the-mill 90s angsty rock, with lyrics that sound like the ramblings of a pre-teen. That’s not to say that it’s bad, and the band is clearly pretty talented; but Gentlemen just feels so devoid of inspiration. The lyrics are really the thing that sets this band behind their contemporaries; not everyone can be a Kurt Cobain and speak to a generation. So many other bands in the 90s tried to have pain painstakingly relatable lyrics, but instead just ended up with dross like “I have a dick for a brain” and “this is what jail must feel like”; I mean, this album is borderline juvenile. I was a lot more annoyed with it when it started, but I can’t lie, halfway through the album I started to buy in. It isn’t my favourite album ever, but it is certainly passable, and they did enough to get by at the time, but not enough to wind up on a list of greatest albums of all time. Also, what was the deal with 90s bands all having kids on their album covers? Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Sebadoh, etc, it must have been a product of the time, but I never can relate to much to an album with a literal toddler on it. Best Songs: My Curse, When We Two Parted, Debonair Worst Song: Be Sweet Score out of 10: 5.5

Umm. Yeah, I thought this one started out interesting enough, some eclectic rock with some funk elements. And as it went on I started liking it less and less, until by the end I was practically hating it. The vocals, man, were just truly painful to get through. Going with 2 stars because I thought the first few songs had promise, but I could easily see this sliding to 1.

Faen det var lame. Han kan jo ikke synge. 🤮 Instrumentalen er tidvis ok. Sterk 1-er. EDIT: Bumper til en svak 2 ene og alene påø grunn av den siste låta som er instrumental og greit kompetent satt sammen. Høres nesten litt post-rock i retningen GY!BE ut.

Tja, høyrte gjennom to gonger. Heilt OK, men ingenting som eg fortset med

Zuhause, Gerstetten, Deutschland. Ganz okay, aber auch ein bisschen öde.

Not for me. The saving grace of this album is the line “I got a dick for a brain/and my brain is gonna sell my ass to you.”

better than i expected. an early hardcore vibe, but still musical

I always thought The Afghan Whigs were an indie-folk band. I'd listened to their last album, but I didn't remember it at all. But this record turned out to be magnificent: sort of grunge, but also something closer to emo and post-hardcore, with a touch of soul and — surprisingly — keyboards. It's a stepping stone between Pearl Jam and Bush, and while the album starts off light and even dreamy, like Lush, it soon takes on the feel of Thrice or early Placebo, with all the lyrics being the self-examination of a man going through a relationship crisis. This is exactly the kind of man depicted in the Nan Goldin's photograph, which became the inspiration for the album cover. And on the cover itself is the innocent boy who lives somewhere deep within every such man. If this work makes such an impression now, I can't even imagine how I would have perceived it at seventeen.

49 minutes of a man singing about how toxic and abusive he is. The problematic lyrics aside, he has a horrible, sleazy voice and style of singing. It’s musically generic as well. I am once again frustrated with the sheer number of mediocre male artists on this list.

Listened to it a while ago and it felt dated to me

Maybe a 4 is a bit high. But it has great range this album, and I really like the the whole sound. I want to listen to this again, and think I could come to love it.

What was that? The music was whatever but the vocals, were they intentionally bad or is that really how that guy sounds? That was some of the worst singing I’ve ever experienced.

Well, it turns out that I like The Afghan Whigs. 90's through and through, with just enough of a Dino Jr. vibe that they were next in the queue. Will be digging in more.

Eh... it's not terrible. At its best, it reminds me of Dinosaur Jr. (although nowhere near as engaging.) At its worst, it's just boring. The tempo and overall sound don't change up enough to keep me interested. Overall, it's definitely not something I'd ever reach for to listen to.

Soul meets nineties crunchy rock. An album of masculine swagger that holds up.

I can buy it was influential - just not the type I want to be under.

One of the better alternative albums from this era 3.6

I enjoyed this album. I haven't heard gentleman in years

I was enjoying it until Be Sweet, then it was downhill

It just does one thing and it gets pretty tiring by the end

Really disliked the vocals

This genre and period of American alternative rock does little to nothing for me, so it’s no great surprise that this album and band is a hard pass for me. Lacking decent tunes, whiny vocals, dull, dull, dull.

ar irtveba arcerti sorry

I kept seeing this album cover pop up for some reason. Well, there we go. Album cover matches the theme well. Sad/darker theme. For some reason it sorta reminded me of Nine Inch Nails. I like Nine Inch Nails a lot more

musically great vocally questionable

I enjoyed this album. Again, probably not something I would have considered listening to before starting the 1001 experience - but that just reveals how blinkered I was previously. It was a nice mixture of rock, grunge and a few other genres. Very listenable. I'm a but surprised/disappointed that I'd never heard of this band before.

So there’s a pretty famous musical from this era called Rent & in it one of the main characters is a failed musician. If you don’t know the show we, the audience, are lead to believe this is due to a downward spiral of tragic circumstances (heroin, dead girlfriend, AIDS) but it’s literally a major plot point that it takes him a year to write the worst song you’ve ever heard. This character could have released this album before his life went to shit.

Good production, band sounds good. Songs and the album as a whole just kind of came and went. Didn’t really feel much of anything.

4/10 I did not know what the Afghan Whigs sounded like - I thought they were a lot folkier, probably a duo. And also Scottish! And almost definitely better than this. I really dislike 90s US grunge rock - I've discovered that now. Dirgy and dirty. Tedious guitar work with so little Inspiration. Glad Britpop came along and blew this crap away.

​Gentlemen doesn't ask you to like its protagonist, but it demands your full attention. It’s dark, theatrical, brilliantly structured, and emotionally raw. Decades later, it remains a gold standard for how to infuse alternative rock with genuine soul and dramatic storytelling.

I gave this album a couple extra tries, and it definitely needed a few listens to appreciate. The first critique I have is the inconsistency of the vocal quality. On some tracks I love the performance given, but on others it sounds simply unpleasant. This seems like an album my Sophomore English teacher would know. Some of the lyrics are pretty bad, but it was a smaller problem than I thought after the first few songs. Gentlemen certainly leans more into the alternative sound of the 90s as an opposition to the grunge movement that was smack dab in the middle of its peak when this album dropped. Each song is equally unique as the other, with some great riffs and progressions varying throughout the whole record. Sure a few skips were here and there, but the closing track is absolutely gorgeous, and it definitely made the whole experience conclude on a perfect note.

I could see college kids having this on cassette in the 90s and being really into it. They're kind of in the tangle of maybe second generation 'alternative' bands. It didn't really do anything for me where I'm at presently in life.

As Arnold Schwarzenegger once said "Stop Whining!" This is the bad side of the 90s Alternative scene, no wonder I never listened to them as a teen.

Nothing crazy

This isnt bad it just isnt for me. I listen to plenty of "shitty" vocalists but this one doesnt do anything for me. Some interesting beats and guitar parts scattered about, eh.

I was previously familiar with The Afghan Whigs but not really any of their material. I thought I had one of their albums come up previously in this exercise but I don't see it in the history. This is an alternative/indie rock album. While there is nothing particularly remarkable about this album, I enjoyed listening to it and would listen again.

really liked it gives the right vibes and a few songs really spoke to me

A bit mediocre and self-indulgent.

Great 90s alt album.

I haven’t heard this before. Afghan Whigs is one of those early-to-mid 90s bands I never got into and I can’t remember if it’s because I slept on them or because I heard them and didn’t like them. Either way it’s beyond time for a reassessment. I recognize a few of these songs from the local alt rock and college radio stations and some remember not liking them. It all sounds ok to me now but there is something missing or something added that I can’t really describe, there is a post-grunge feel to this (in the terms of how it is described as a genre rather than what it should be) that puts me off. I might be able to enjoy or at least appreciate it if I listened to it more and there’s a chance that I’d consider it a classic if I picked it up in high school and spent a lot of time listening to it, but I didn’t so I don’t. Maybe I’ll reassess them again in another few years.

Bog standard 90’s alt album in which most of that genre for me has aged like milk. Some minor decent bits but overall sounded a bit cringe, vocals ruined basically all of it

Pretty good! Early 90’s rock with an edge. There’s a good balance between all instruments and the vocals too. Almost a bit like the Smashing Pumpkins

I think time has passed this album by. Or maybe time caught up to it, and then passed it by. As a character study, it's fucking miserable, and there's so much of this minor key building on that. So a successful foray in that. Of course, it's still fucking miserable. None of these are songs I want to hear again, really, but that's testament to the songwriting hitting the bullseye. As for the sound, this 90s early post-grunge thing, on another day, might hit hard for me, but it doesn't hit hard enough so it's not really getting me anywhere.

eu gostei muito desse, nunca tinha ouvido a banda, achei uma barulheira organizada que costumo me afeiçoar

I enjoyed the sound of this, but I probably need a relisten to better grasp the lyrics/overall songwriting on here. Definitely up my alley, though. Favorites: Gentlemen, Be Sweet, Fountain and Fairfax, My Curse

Nothing wrong with a piece of art trying to get into the mind of a shitty person and holding up a mirror to the worst parts of ourselves. Depiction does not equal endorsement, people. Anywho, never really listened to the Afghan Whigs for whatever reason, even though they were operating in the scene and sound of so many other bands I've taken the time to dig into. It's a pretty good alt/grunge sound, nothing too revelatory, the appeal of this one is really all about the storytelling. If you bounce off it, fine, but let's not pretend you've never been a piece of shit. This is a good album about being a piece of shit.

1993 was a banger of a year. Blur, Auteurs, Grant Lee Buffalo, Pavement, Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Liz Phair, The Breeders...I'll stop because the list is long, especially those of us who love the indie/grungy/post-punk things. And this album is worthy of the year's best and a place on this list whatever its genre. I didn't feel the need to skip any of the tracks. 4 "that was a year and this was a keeper from it" stars.

sounds lif if those middle aged men who stare at you at the beach while they got a whole wife and kids at home decided to form a band

I wasn’t into the Afghan Whigs the first time around, and now I see I was right to avoid them all this time. Not my bag, baby! 1.5⭐️

Don't really know what I can say about this other than it's okay at best

This might be one of those times where I mistake an album's seminality for being generic. I did not dislike this album, if anything I found it pretty pedestrian. Far from my least favorite inclusion on this list, but equally from the music I willingly spend time listening to for fun.

didnt enjoy this, couldnt finish listening to the album

With the exception of My Curse, the instrumentals are far more interesting than the vocals on every track.

I considered giving this a second star because I thought the instrumentals were actually quite good, but holy fuck did those vocals suck shit. I am pretty sure Scott Stapp would tell this dude to tone it down. To make matters worse, unlike other corny 90s vocal performances of this ilk, every dogshit lyric is delivered with excruciating clarity, subjecting the listener to verse after verse of try-hard garbage that I assume was specifically crafted with the intention of attracting underage girls.

3.5 stars. Transported me back to driving around Atlanta listening to 92.9 Dave FM Atlanta’s only alternative station nothing but the nineties weekends

Amazing how much better the music becomes when they let the competent woman sing. Then straight back to the silly little man.

Aaaaaaaveraaaaage

Pained, heartfelt lyrics set over dissonant but well performed tracks. There's a lot of purpose and intent to this album that kept me listening, even if it wasn't exactly my taste. I can see how this record impacted a generation of emotional songwriters and would give this another spin on a rainy day.

I thought based on the divisive reviews of this album I'd either love it or hate it, but I found it completely meh.

It's not bad, but I feel like I've already heard this album thousands of times before. 3 stars.

Better than I remembered. More punk and raw.

This is not a humane album, and it is not emotionally balanced. It is so locked into masculine damage, erotic guilt, and self-inflicted ruin that it can feel claustrophobic. That is part of its power, but also part of its limit.

Some good riffs but for a band that seems lyrically focused the music seemed a bit messy? I like NOFX so I'm not against loud and obnoxiously heavy punk riffs. I just felt like the mix wasn't great for the message on several tracks and it felt a bit samey by the end. With NOFX, for example, I expect a "signature sound" that also includes bizarrely soaring harmony and solo work. Instrumentally this just didn't have enough range to hold my interest. Not a bad album but nothing really stood out.

I'm surprised I'd never heard this before. I liked it more than I expected to

No private session used for Spotify. I have listened to this album a few times previously and listened to it a couple more times today. I like it, it rocks and there is some interesting things going on musically. It's rock from the 90, that is my thang.

Listened Before? N Not a bad album. Unfortunately for them, they were overshadowed by some real monster alt bands in the 90's. This one also drags on too long. This simply isn't as good as much of the rest of the music of the time. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Gentleman

Music good. Vocals a little rough. Didn’t pay much attention to the lyrics (apparently they’re bad).

Middling, melancholic 90s grunge. Excellently crafted, though it didn't do much for me (as someone not recently broken up with)

dude can’t sing ??

OK

A few good songs made up for the screeching

I like a lot of the music on this album. The dynamics, the pumping bass and the interplay between the guitars. I can’t, for some reason, stand the vocals, and they ruin what could be a perfectly good album

DOJEBANY poznalem ich przez album in spades i go uwielbim tez

Debonair What Jail is Like

Debonair My Curse Now You Know

i mean its just rock? I typically don't get swayed by an albums lyricism so that might be why it's up here, but sonically it was ok

Nah. Unmemorable songs. Try hard emoting and boring drums and guitars. I did not like this album.

3.5

Hey, this kind of rocks! It came out at a time when I was raising my kids and mostly just listening to Disney soundtrack albums, so I completely missed these guys in the 90s. I'm happy to have now been introduced to them!

This is a frustrating album because there are parts of it that I genuinely like. Musically and sonically it's excellent, with that classic '90s sound that I love. There are moments where I think it's about to click with me. Then the singers voice comes in, and it completely takes me out of it. His vocal delivery just sounds pretentious to my ears, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get past it. I'd find myself getting invested in a song, only for the vocals to ruin it almost immediately. The lyrics didn't help either. Compared to so many great albums from the '90s, I found the writing surprisingly weak, and there were more than a few lines that made me cringe. Combined with the vocals, it made the album feel more self-important than emotionally compelling. I can appreciate why this album has its fans, and there are flashes of quality throughout, but they're buried under vocals and lyricism that just don't work for me. I wanted to like this far more than I actually did, but in the end it's a 2/5.

This was so boring.

dei uma desassociada enquanto ouvia, não vou mentir, mas achei meio meh, bem ok

Another example of how vocals can really let down an album. Really liked the music on this but christ alive, this guy's voice... Shocking

The music on this list is always either genuinely great or because of the author’s UK centric biases. This one is suspiciously the latter. Angsty late 90s alt rock with no bite.

Musically ok but melodramatic to the point of feeling like a celebration of wallowing in despair.

Not into it.

Not bad. Decent 90’s rock sound. But nothing great.

Meget nice dark alt-rock/post hardcore album. Har ikke hørt det så meget, men kan forstå at det er et meget mørkt koncept-break-up album. Det handler om enden på et usundt forhold med aggression (måske vold) og stodmisbrug. Had og selvhad er kernen i albummet. Skal have hørt det igen, men synes det virker meget nice

90s alt rock.

surprisingly, I liked it more than expected. really nice melodies. I will have to check other stuff by them

voice is VERY grating lol my favorite song was the one where its a different person singing. idk i didnt think any of them had a good effective build for me. very of its time. its competent enough but would not return to this.

Pretty boring, the singer has a rubbish voice

the band sounds great, lead singer is a tool. sounded like a bono rip off but MUCH worse. DNF

What an album and I just got done listening to Foo Fighters

Great record crossing styles to ultimately deliver an emotional gut punch

So boring and far too many songs all sounding the same . 🥱

Almost a 4

Wasn't a huge fan of this, the vocalist wasn't great and the album cover honestly gave me the creeps.

A more poppy grunge band. Decent light album overall with nothing too impressive.

This is an excellent record that takes me back to my time in college. Yeah the singer’s voice isn’t great, but it is unique and it fits the style of the music being played. Also, the band is excellent and there are some bangers on this record, including the title track, What Jail Is Like, and Debonaire. A fun trip down memory lane. Great stuff.

The instrumentals often remind me of 90s bands I know. I mostly enjoy the snarled vocals, the emotion comes through really well. Often feels emo-esque which adds to my enjoyment, maybe it's the mix of personal/confessional angry vocals and punk influences. Occasional weird lyrics and overly-idiosyncratic singing style pull it down a bit.

Liked the instrumental but not the vocals as much. Not my least favorite but the guitar was great

The slow lyrical songs were absolutely awful. The faster paced songs were a bit better.

(Light 8/10) Dark, depressing and thoroughly toxic, this album explores many different angles of bad relationships and the breakups that result. It's a fascinating record with some genius songwriting and especially if you appreciate inventive guitar playing. A rather underrated 90's grunge-adjacent record that got overshadowed by the Seattle scene.

Good album.

Trying to keep an open mind, but the album cover seems in real poor taste. The lyrics seem completely unrelatable. I don't know anyone like these characters. They seem like exaggerated bullshit that only songwriters and auteur filmmakers could come up with. The songwriting arrangements didn't particularly captivate me either. Just kind of meh. Kind of the most beige of 90s rock. Probably won't revisit this Afghan Whigs album.

The Afghan Wigs was the collective noun for 3 of Len Houmous’ wives from the late 70s. 3.1 4/11 Debonair

Hmmm, kinda hard to get into, kinda performative vocals? Not my fav

I don't know, I'm just not a grunge guy, DNF

Really liked the music but couldn’t get past the vocals. Something about the style and sound of the singing wasn’t clicking with me.

JuanLu got me on to this stuff. Not bad at all.

The sound is pretty generic. Sounds like most other early 90’s alt rock bands.

geen slechte plaat, maar elke song is praktisch een doorslag van de vorige

# An In-Depth Review of The Afghan Whigs' *Gentlemen* Released on October 5, 1993, *Gentlemen* is the fourth studio album by Cincinnati rock band The Afghan Whigs and their major-label debut for Elektra Records . In an era saturated with the murky, self-pitying angst of grunge, *Gentlemen* arrived as something far more dangerous: a surgically precise, morally complex, and unflinchingly adult dissection of a toxic relationship. Drenched in soul music and literary self-loathing, it remains a disturbing, brilliant, and timeless masterpiece. ### 1. Themes: The Toxic Masquerade The central theme of *Gentlemen* is the end of a relationship, but not as a simple "boy loses girl" narrative. Instead, frontman Greg Dulli constructs a troubling song cycle that explores the dark psychology of the "90s male"—a character who is equal parts charming predator and pathetic wreck . - **Misogyny vs. Self-Loathing:** Dulli famously opens the album by murmuring, "What should I tell her? She’s going to ask," before immediately disarming the listener with lines like "Ladies, let me tell you about myself—I got a dick for a brain" on "Be Sweet" . Throughout the record, he blurs the line between abuser and victim. He is simultaneously the man who "still wants to fuck" when "she wants love" and the broken soul who "fell apart" on "Debonair" . - **Addiction as Metaphor:** The language of narcotics is woven into the fabric of heartbreak. On "What Jail Is Like," he equates love to imprisonment, confessing, "We shared a needle once or twice," while "Fountain and Fairfax" finds him begging to "drink" and "tie off" to escape the stench of a lover's lies . - **The Catholic Guilt:** There is a heavy, cinematic sense of sin and retribution. On "Debonair," Dulli sings, "Tonight I go to Hell for what I've done to you," suggesting that the physical act of love (or lust) is an act of damnation . Notably, the album avoids redemption. The 1992 cover EP *Uptown Avondale* foreshadowed this sound by covering Al Green and The Supremes, translating Motown’s melodic sweetness into a framework of bitter reality . ### 2. Lyrics: The Unreliable Narrator Dulli’s lyrics are the star of the show. Unlike the abstract imagery of Kurt Cobain or the macho posturing of his hard rock peers, Dulli writes in stark, conversational, and highly cinematic snapshots. - **Brutal Honesty:** Lines like "It’s Tuesday now, I hear him breathing inside of her" on "Fountain and Fairfax" are uncomfortably specific . - **The Female Perspective:** A crucial moment is the song "My Curse," sung not by Dulli but by Scrawl’s Marcy Mays. Shifting the vocalist to a woman provides a devastating counterpoint to Dulli’s male rage, suggesting domestic violence and emotional imprisonment from the other side of the bed . - **Villainy:** Dulli admitted to taking inspiration from Francis Ford Coppola’s *One from the Heart*, specifically the "heel" character you can’t help but empathize with . The listener is left wondering if Dulli is confessing his sins or performing them for an audience. ### 3. Music & Production: Soul Cinema Where *Gentlemen* transcends its peers is in its sonic architecture. Produced by Greg Dulli and recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis, the album is steeped in the lineage of Stax and Hi Records, yet filtered through the noise of alternative rock . - **The "Memphis" Sound:** The rhythm section often swings with a funky, lean groove rather than a plodding grunge thud. Tracks like "Debonair" attempt to fuse The Jackson 5’s "I Want You Back" with the eerie noir jazz of *Twin Peaks* . This results in a "tightly wound R&B punch" that grooves as much as it rocks . - **Dynamics and Texture:** The band masterfully shifts between quiet and loud. "When We Two Parted" utilizes sad, chiming country guitars over a crawling rhythm, while "What Jail Is Like" builds from piano and feedback into an explosive, cathartic chorus . - **The "Cinematic" Approach:** The credits famously note the album was "Shot on Location" at Ardent . Dulli used cocaine binges to record the vocals, resulting in a raw, frayed-edge intensity that mixing engineer Jeff Powell captured perfectly . - **Instrumentation:** Unlike the guitar/bass/drum trio standard, the album uses subtle string arrangements on "Fountain and Fairfax" and prominent piano motifs, giving it a widescreen scope . ### 4. Influence Though it was largely ignored by commercial radio (it never charted on the Billboard 200) , *Gentlemen* became a sacred text for a specific kind of rock fan. It paved the way for the "sad boy" era of indie rock before it existed, specifically influencing bands like The National and contemporaries like Mark Lanegan. By merging hip-hop attitude (the swagger) with alt-rock noise and classic R&B structure, the Whigs predicted the genre-fluid approach that bands like TV on the Radio would later perfect. It has been the subject of a 33⅓ book series volume, cementing its status as an essential text in rock history . ### 5. Pros and Cons | **Pros (The Mastery)** | **Cons (The Friction)** | | :--- | :--- | | **Greg Dulli’s Vocals:** A career-best performance that balances a silky croon with a terrifying snarl . | **Polarizing Lyrical Content:** The unapologetic misogyny (even if self-aware) can be a barrier. Lines like "I got a dick for a brain" might feel sophomoric or genuinely offensive to some listeners . | | **Musical Risk:** The fusion of gritty grunge guitars with smooth, Memphis-style R&B remains unique and defies aging . | **Lack of Hit Singles:** There are no "anthems." The album is designed as a 48-minute slow burn, not a collection of radio-friendly hooks. | | **Emotional Impact:** "My Curse" and "What Jail Is Like" deliver a visceral gut-punch few albums can match. | **The Grimness:** This is not a "fun" listen. The relentless theme of emotional self-evisceration can be exhausting if you are not in the right headspace. | | **Production:** The "cinematic" mixing by Jeff Powell gives the album a dense, atmospheric quality that rewards good headphones . | **Narrative Fatigue:** Some critics argue the character never evolves; you are trapped in the same toxic loop for the entire runtime, which, while intentional, can feel repetitive . | ### Verdict *Gentlemen* is not an album you casually "enjoy"; it is an experience you survive. It is the sound of a man setting fire to his house and locking himself inside just to feel the heat. It is sleazy, literate, violent, and tender all at once. If you are looking for comforting nostalgia, look elsewhere. But if you want a stark, brilliant, and uncomfortable look into the mirror of toxic masculinity and heartbreak, *Gentlemen* remains an unassailable classic.

The premise of this album is really interesting, particularly since I knew nothing of it going in. By the 2nd song I was like, what is this trashy dude music? By the fourth it was clear, but he problem? The subject matter of toxicity has not aged well and the songs are not good lyrically--just full of hatred. The music is pretty good though and unlike others, the singer's voice doesn't really bother me. However, it has no relisten-ability and who is this for, really?

Nothing to see here. Keep it moving.

And now I have listened to an album by The Afghan Whigs, a band with a great name. Generally not a big indie rock guy.

I lasted 3 songs.

Crap

Not my cup of tea. Reminds me of the grunge era of the 90s

Nice indie album, couple good tracks..

Welp…I’ll start off by saying this album had a lot of potential to be good or even great. The instrumentals are fantastic. The closing track perfectly captured the frustration and sad vibes of the entire record. And it was my favorite song off the album because it was the only song that saved my ears from hearing the terrible whiny singer. I’m all for imperfect vocal performances but it has to somewhat go well with the music. For example, Jeff Mangum from Neutral Milk Hotel doesn’t have a good voice, it’s even bad at times. But it goes very well with the raw low quality recording and thrashing acoustic guitar. This band’s singer does not accomplish that at all…His vocal performance is almost as bad as the lyrics. The lyrics makes this guy seem like an incel that’s never gone through a break up before. Don’t get me wrong this is a very listenable record thanks to the great musicianship of the band. However, I would cringe a little bit whenever this guy started flapping his lips and making pitchy noises with his vocal chords.

I had not heard of this band until today’s listening. Not bad. First time through via headphones and second time via speakers. I enjoyed the album more through speakers. I found the band had a good mix of instruments and interesting lyrics.

If I Were Gong - 3/5 Gentlemen - 2/5 Be Sweet - 2.5/5 Debonair - 2.5/5 When We Two Parted - 2/5 Fountain and Fairfax - 1.5/5 What Jail Is Like - 2/5 My Curse - 3.5/5 Now You Know - 2/5 I Keep Coming Back - 2/5 Brother Woodrow / Closing Prayer - 1.5/5

Despite liking a lot of what the band was doing, I found a lot of the vocal lines pretty meh and didn’t like the singing (I found it consistently too pitchy and a bit affected more than raw). With the earnest / often uncomfortable lyrics too, I was pretty happy to get to the end of this. Final track a highlight for the above reasons.

Liked this very much.

A blown vein of emotion, no wonder everyone thinks it's autobiographical

Greg Dulli inventing toxic masculinity. There’s a rawness about this, an honesty about what it means to feel like a selfish, flawed person. It’s more lyrically sophisticated than self-hating grungey contemporaries like Alice In Chains. There’s some dynamic, almost funky riffs, which create a great contrast with the dark subject matter, and a few moments of beauty like in the closing track.

Liked the instrumentals

Nothing special

So bland

Really enjoyable

I had never heard of The Afghan Whigs before today, but I really dug their sound. At times their sound reminded me of the Butthole Surfers, NIN, U2, and REM, all of whose music I really like. I found this a compelling listen and I really enjoyed it. Fours stars.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyuck

музыка хорошая, но вокал местами все очень сильно портит

хз

Matt: noise ordinance. Rose: I’m starting to question the quality of recommendations given by this list

Trash

Wow did not expect the hate on this album. I've never heard of this band before but really dug the whole album. Felt interesting and unique and I enjoyed listening to the whole thing. Tempted to give a 4 but maybe closer to a 3.5.

No. Please. Make it stop.

I liked this. I knew Fountain and Fairfax because it was on the My So Called Life soundtrack back in the day. I enjoyed most of the rest of the songs, several of which had similar sounds to F&F. (4)

I really like this, more than most grunge music -- there's a lot of jangliness and colour in the instrumentation. Fuck the negative reviews, god forbid an incel have a little motion.

Look, I’m a huge fan of 90s rock, but the pulls we’ve had so far have not done it for me. I know there’s a ways to go, but if you’re talking about cornerstones of the 90s alternative scene, we can do way better than this.

Sad 90s music. An indie band, but not one I would listen to. I can see the appeal but there are many, many bands that do the same thing better.

Herrasmiesten musiikki oli vähä mid (teinislangilla). Laulu oli paikoin ärsyttävää, paikoin hyvin ärsyttävää. Muuta en oikeastaan levystä muista.

Ihan kohtalaisen mielenkiintonen levy, voi olla että vaatii lisää kuuntelua. Vähän grungen tyyppistä, hyviä ja huonoja hetkiä. Tarvinnee ehkä makustella toisen kuuntelun merkeissä.

This has a real "deep when you're 15" sound.

Song after song my review was, pretty good instrumentation, but the vocals weren't strong enough. My Curse was a little better with a different vocalist. The last track without vocals is the best. I don't know, this is really solidly between a 2 and 3 for me.

Very Smashing Pumpkins. Meh.

crap.

Half a day later, I've forgotten about it. No really, I don't remember a single note. (Though relistening to the first song, this is not half bad. Or maybe it is, but I should revisit it to make sure.)

This album is as good as it has some bad aspects to consider. I mean, it has some pretty nice ideas, some good songs, but it is also a very grunge record at times in the sense that it does not develop much some ideas and becomes pretty cliché into the genre. And, to be honest, I'm not much of a grunge person, it's not a genre that I usually like. And it's not that the genre cannot impress me, but the music has to be actually outstanding or interesting enough to catch me. And, at the beginning, I thought this album would be of my like. However, half of it is the same kind of paused, depressive and shouty music. Not that it's a bad thing, but sure it becomes very bland when several songs have the same kind of sound. On the other hand, some tracks really are highlights. So, overall, this is an album I've enjoyed listening to, but it's not close to being one I would consider to listen much.

I think I was pleasantly surprised with this album in part to the fact that I misjudged the cover. When I saw it I just immediately assumed it’d be like a artsy fartsy poetic album akin to something like “I am a bird now” by Antony and the Johnsons. And to some extent that was accurate, but what I definitely didn’t anticipate, and was a very pleasant surprise, is that this album is mildly grunge-esque. It has a real attitude about it, and the songs that I liked the most just sounded like a straight up grunge song while also being more original than a typical angsty grunge song. My favorite songs are “Gentlemen”, “debonair” “fountain and Fairfax” and “now you know”. The instrumentals were also very original and inspired. I know I kept comparing it to grunge, but it has a much more diverse and original sound than that. My only issue with the album is it had a few songs that didn’t do anything for me. But as a whole it’s a quality album, and it’s definitely something I’m gunna recommend to the next person that tells me they like grunge.

Sounded too much like that generic rock white noise unfortunately

Agree with the consensus here, cool riffs and music but the singer and his creepy voice and incel lyrics bring it down. Best song is my curse

honestly pretty good. def got a few corny moments tho. i like it but i dont see myself recommending it, let alone remembering it the next day

Fun takes and barzzz

Ook weer, simpel, prima album

Ik hou van dit soort 90s rock en dit is hele toffe 90s rock. Sterke vocals vooral.

I remember seeing this album cover in shops during my early teaching days and it is an album of its time - an alternative grunge influenced album with a bleak set of break up lyrics. There were moments of recognisable musical character which was a reaction to the sheen of the 80s but it was mostly a bit of a dirge and an overall glum listening experience. I was SO pleased that Britpop came along and made this kind of album a thing of the past. Not a poor band but the music's appeal was unlikely to be eternal.

A really good grungey sound that resonated with me a lot.

it's another American alternative rock band from the '90s. The layered guitars are mildly interesting, but on the whole I'm finding there's not enough about it to keep me engaged.

Meh

90’s Rock

I feel like each album needs the reason why it was included when it generates because I once again find myself wondering why I needed to listen to this before I died.

2.5

definitely the most similar to my taste so far, really fantastic album. instrumental wasn't groundbreaking, but it still made it to my playlist (9.3/10)

Generic indie rock

It's no Blood on the Tracks, but who doesn't love a good breakup album?

One of those bands I listened to some back in the 90s and totally forgot about. Not sure why because this album is great. 4/5

It was cool, not a huge impression beyond that

Can’t believe how much Dulli sounds like Tony Parks from Luxury Bucket.

Не так давно вперше прослухав два альбоми цього гурту: цей і камбечний. Камбечний мені не сподобався, здався якимось прісним та місцями дженерік радіо-роком. Цей, навпаки, здався непоганим представником альт.року 90х. Є хіти, подобається гітара тут. Це 4 з нахилом до 3.5.

Один з тих гуртів, в яких камбек період мені подобається більше ніж рання "класична" творчість. Втім Gentlemen це гарний приклад альтернативного року 90х, Грег Дулі звісно ж легенда. 3.5

3.0 - Ok (this is an easy 4 if the singer wasn't fucking terrible)

While I didn't hate this album, there were no memorable moments nor interesting sounds. The singers voice was abysmal and off key. Not my vibe. 2/5

Gear: Focalman Cleardara Artwork: 😒👧🛌 Production (2014 Remaster): 👌😲✊ Music: 🌪️💔🔪 Rating: 🎩🎩🎩(🎩)/5

Mid

All I can conclude is that I won't get my time back. 2.1/5

Listenable.

Heard of these guys (apparently already subbed to them too) but don't think I've listened to much before. So far, tracks 1-3 have all sort of bled into each. It's not terrible by any means, but there's also nothing memorable here. Even as far as "When We Two Parted", it seems like the story is the same. Nothing in this is grabbing me at all. That said, I quite like the scrappy reverbed noise of the repeating guitar riff in "Now You Know", with seemingly improved efforts in the vocals (though this may be due to my biases and the track leaning more towards grunge). Overall, a fine album with nothing to hate, but also nothing to love. Upon reading the reviews, it seems the lyrics themselves totally passed me by. Reading over some of them... yikes.

Edgy 14 jährige nach dem ersten breakup sind die einzigen die die scheiße hören sollten 1/5

Nothing special really. Didn't need to listen before I died, but didn't find it boring.

Seems pretty 90s, which make sense. I actually found myself paying attention to the song where a woman took lead vocals ("My Curse") on both play-throughs.

Eh. Middle of the road for me

Band that I was aware of only because its an interesting name but never listened to them. Kind of a Replacements meets Cursive vibe. Overall a good listen and a band I will dig into.

Not sure why I haven't really listened to this band before. They were around and in the same circles as a lot of the things I was into in the early 90s, I don't think they made much of an impact here in the UK though. I almost like it, some of the music is great, but then I'll accidentally hear what they're singing about and it keeps making me laugh how tacky the lyrics are.

A very pleasant surprise. Yet another band (I’ve discovered so many through this project) that I’d heard of before, but whose albums I’d never actually listened to. Now I’ve had the chance, and they didn’t disappoint I really enjoyed it - 5 stars

If I were going - 3 Gentlemen - 3 Be sweet - 3 Debonair - 3 When we two parted - 2 Fountain and fairfax - 3 What jail is like - 2 My curse - 3 Now you know - 3 I keep coming back - 2 Brother woodrow / closing prayer - 3

I came late to the Afghan Whigs. I guess I might’ve heard tracks from this or Congregation back then and agreed with myself they did not need my attention. I was coerced into giving that attention to Black Love which I believe followed this album. To my surprise, I found myself reluctantly impressed by it, but never felt the need to reach back into their discography (nor to investigate subsequent releases lol). Recently (relatively speaking *cough*, could be 5 years) I came across Gentlemen for practically no money and gave it a shot. I found I was no more enamoured with it than the hints I’d heard all those years back. Listening today, I had a higher tolerance for it than before and I think it might be out of relief, having put up with (doing this 1001 thing) many hideous albums of US alt-metal-masquerading as grunge. Gentlemen isn’t grunge either despite this being their first album having left Subpop. Honestly though, I’m just not buying it. Greg Dulli is not convincing me whatsoever. I’m just not having his “passionate” (annoying) screeching when the song is meant to be get serious. I’m not having his relentless “did you notice I just sang something edgy? Did you? Did you notice the edgy thing?” I’m not buying his “I love soul music. Can you hear the soooooul influence? We really love soul music!” Just nothing about his shtick am I lapping up. Sorry. If I was hearing this average, noisy, alt-rock album and it was just some unpretentious dudes, not trying to sell me a bunch of BS about how they live on the edge of the dark reaches of society or whatever, I might be able to swallow it more easily. But instead I have to call out what I am presented with. It’s probably a 3, but I’ve got myself annoyed now, so 2 it is. I’d better give Black Love a refresher listen and see what allowed me to overlook the baggage.

I felt like this album started with confidence and an interesting, broody vibe. However, the 2nd half moved into a much more dark and angry space that was disturbing. I wasn't tracking the lyrics 100%, but when I was able to discern them, it was't good. Constraint, in art, can often be a good thing.

Contrasting tensions of gentle to destructive in this album make it alluring

Disgusting.

(40/100)

Holy cringy lyrics

Hate the music but appreciated the point of view / concept. Not many artists willing to play the bad guy, in a very not cool way.

We dont encounter too many albums where I dislike the lead vocals so hard

Break enough 90s rock conventions to stay interesting, but also kind of annoying.

Ok

I don't know what this flavor of Alt-Rock is that Mr. 1001 Guy keeps trying to get me into, but it isn't working. This kind of stuff is incredibly boring. It's like a Shadow the Hedgehog monologue spread out across a whole album, set to the same bassline and drum part eleven times. If I were this guy's ex and I came across this album, I'd be like "okay, and?" My Curse was at least an interesting change of pace and there's definitely worse alt-rock on this list, but that second part's mostly because its competition is Incubus and Jane's Addiction.

Masterpiece

A weird album. It’s got that alternative feel to it but the vocals give a sense of classic rock like Aerosmith. It’s a cool album though.

breakup album that doesn't sound as good as radiohead or most alt rock bands in the 90's

I enjoyed this. Pretty good album.

This album is a good example of why I listed to a lot of Classic Rock in the 90s

Yeah not not much to say.

First exposure to the Whigs. A nice blend of grit and melody. Vocals were ok, but did fit the vibe nicely. Feel like I need to give this a closer listen and really pay attention to the lyrics. 3.4/5.

if not being yelled at is never not a good thing this can be avoided

This album was a very dull overall. It tried to be all edgy 90s rock, but ended up feeling kind of generic and, honestly, a bit uncomfortable. While the guitars and drums were good sometimes, it just felt like bad alt rock or some lame grunge copy. The songs weren't catchy, and 50 minutes felt like forever. But the real problem? The lyrics and Greg Dulli's vocals are awful. He goes from screaming to whining, and the lyrics are just toxic and immature. They feel like some entitled, misogynist talking about relationships, making the main character super unlikeable. "My Curse" was cool, and the last song was alright, but the rest? Sounds like someone uncomfortably yelling at their girl in public.

I remember this band from before, but can’t find a song I liked on the album.

Enjoyed it

La escuché enfermo y de malhumor, ni me pregunten qué me pareció.

Maybe one decent song but mostly bad

Music for scumbags

Gonna be hard to give this a 2. Terrible vocals over paint by number instrumentals. At least the second song had a cool burying of the time signature thing going on and my curse sorta had that too. Outro was fine I guess. This album is almost completely void of value. Should absolutely be removed from the list.

Never listened to an album by this band before, but glad I started with this one. Really enjoyed this. It's rocky, but stands apart from the other music of the time. I can hear the influences on bands that came after. I'd like to dig deeper into the lyrics, it seems that there is a lot going on there. 4/5 will definitely explore more.

Eh. It's not terrible, but it ain't great either. I think a straight 2 is the highest I can give it and even that's kind of a stretch.

Never heard of them, enjoyed listening to this. Solid album.

No strong feelings, had it playing in the background while I worked on some reports. Nothing prompted me to look up which song was on or take notice of anything.

It’s ok.

I feel like the only reason this album gained any prominence, is due to the fact it came out in the only window when there was any interest in this kind of music. It feels very bland and generic for its time, with little to no songs standing out on the album. It isn't really bad at all, it just feels like a cheap effort to write according to what is popular. 2/5

solid

Why did no one tell me about The Afghan Wings.

I expected some fey British indie. I did not get it.

Solid alt rock break up album

Giving this an extremely rare 5 star for an album I’ve never heard before because it was exactly what I like

👍🏻

Sounds way ahead of its time, surprised I missed this the first time around

Both raw and complex, sounds incredible and hits deep. Really inspiring.

The singer is insufferable and the good ideas are softened by '90 pop grunge and stupid lyrics. I liked the guitar sometimes, especially in "Be sweet". 1.75 / 5

*Very 90's grunge feel *Liked some of the piano backing some of the songs

Hadn't heard this before, some really good music here, but, as others have said, the lyrics don't sit too well nowadays. Honest though, I guess.

Really great album. Kind of rough, beautiful, melancholic...

2 solide songs on it that I liked and added to my playlist

Ik denk dat ik nog liever naar huilende baby’s luister.

Ik was wel benieuwd naar dit album, voornamelijk door de cover die intrigerend is. The afghan whigs is een band waar ik nog nooit iets van gehoord had. Zelfs de naam had ik nog nooit gehoord. Ik moest wel even over mijn teleurstelling heen stappen toen die man begon te zingen. Het is een breakup album en dat mag best een beetje emotioneel zijn maar je wenst niemand een ex toe als deze zanger. Als je wat beter de teksten leest zit het vol met "red flags" hoe je dat tegenwoordig noemt en blijkbaar was deze term in de jaren 90 nog niet bekend. Aan de andere kant is het ook wel weer interessant wat er gebeurt na deze breakup. Het is toxic, destructief, manipulerend en dominant. Iedereen heeft wel wat recht op verongelukt zijn na een break up maar de vraag is of je hierin zo lang mag blijven hangen en of je er nog steeds zo over denkt. Het nummer my curse wat gezongen is door een vrouw bied misschien wat perspectief maar het blijft wel ongemakkelijk. Toch als je er langer naar luistert en minder op de zanger focust is het best wel goed. Je zou bij dit soort types verwachten dat ze huilend alle basis akkoorden rammen maar dit is totaal niet zo. Met gitaargeluid word er wel een spanning en wrijving opgebouwd wat het een zwaarmoedige sfeer geeft terwijl er ook weer een maffe groove in zit. Het is niet een technisch hoogstandje maar ze creëren wel een interessante sfeer. Ben er niet over uit of de zanger hier nou iets aan toevoegt of er juist afbreuk aan doet. Het is misschien een album waar je bij had moeten zijn toen het uit kwam en nostalgisch op terug kan kijken. Ik kan niet zeggen dat ik er echt van genoten heb maar het heeft mij wel bezig gehouden. Ik denk dat het voor luisteraars vandaag de dag minder relevant is en niet in dezelfde emo sfeer kan komen van de jaren 90.

Ik heb het geluisterd maar ik heb niet echt geluisterd, maar t klonk een beetje als een aanstellerige versie van de Foo Fighters. (Ik vind Foo Fighters niet vet)

3.5 Very representative of 90s college rock. I hear Superchunk, I hear Knapsack. I generally dig it all but nothing really stands out to me, and it starts to all muddle together, which is the vibe of a lot of these bands. It’s not bad - it’s just not exemplary.

Never heard the Afghan Whigs before, based on this they deserve a fast bigger billing than they get (unless I'm just out the loop). Very 90s American alt rock at face value but much more interesting than that. The album has a dark, repetitive, claustrophobic feeling and must be a blueprint for Cursive's Domestica which has a very similar theme. I thought the first three quarters was definitely a 5, gentleman, debonair, fountain and Fairfax all great. Last part eased off a bit but this is still a 4.5. Need to hear more Afghan Whigs.

Miserable, hypnotic, enthralling. If I Were Going, Gentlemen, Debonair, and Fountain and Fairfax were my favourite tracks. Sometimes, quite a lot of the time, I'm really into miserable music. Well-constructed, just downbeat. Horrible album cover though.

I found this really hard to rate. Pretty sure I've heard of them but never heard anything by them. I like the sound, and I like downbeat themes usually, but this was kinda angrily or aggressively miserable, self destructive, and I didn't need it currently. I listened twice to this and I agree with my initial impression, although Wikipedia tells me this was not autobiographical, he still wrote it. I think I preferred the latter half of the album. The first was too angry and aggressive. I think "what jail is like" might've been my favourite 3 for now

Generic 90s rock. Wooo....

I had never heard of this band before now, definitely not what I expected. Some of these songs are really good, really catchy and nice basslines! Fav song is ‘Gentlemen’.

Some good tracks, 3rd listen and the tail end of the album lags and suffers.

Gentlemen sounds strong and emotional, but too similar songs make it harder to stay interested all the way through.

Messy in a very intentional way. It leans into its darker themes without smoothing them out, which makes it more compelling than comfortable.

Unpleasant.

Musically exactly my jam. Unfortunately the unimpressive or even sometimes annoying vocals on most of the songs cost it the four stars for me. 3,5

Overall this is a pretty solid alt rock album with pretty good vocals. Some songs lack memorable hooks and song progressions. However, oftentimes pretty, and consistently enjoyable rock album.

Good but unexeceptional

Ehh, one star

Aside from the stupid name I quite enjoyed this though like a lot of albums on this list I ask myself will I listen to it again? The answer is no!

Wow this sucks. Inexcusably unlistenable. Bar for bar might be my least favorite album on this list so far, 750 something albums in. The singers voice sits in the infamous Smashing Pumpkins register, but instead of whimsical melancholy nonsense it’s often lyrics that are hard to listen to. Songs about breathing in another girls mouth, whining about getting hammered and needing to sleep with a girl he’s encountered. I held out some level of hope that things could change course through the first few songs until “Be Sweet” came on. No, this isn’t self-aware track about a bad man and a relationship. It’s just annoying, it’s trite, it’s awful. The rest of the album was dull at best but often times grating on the ears. Thank god there’s an interesting new Underscores album to cleanse away this mess. 1/5 from the bottom of my heart

Best Song: Debonair. Very stock standard 90s rock. Worst Song: I Keep Coming Back. Ooh boy those vocals were not hitting for me. Overall: If you ask me tomorrow what I thought of this album, I won't be able to tell you. Truly in the category of "well, it wasn't bad". Absolutely ordinary 90s alt-rock.

Interesting sound, switching between grunge and hard rock. Emotionally driven with an interesting delivery. The relentless guitar and drumming add to that heaviness of topic. Definitely of its time.

Enjoyable and unique, the style has many different influences. I enjoyed this one, might throw it on again

eh, ima okej momenata, ali dosta neujednačeno, neke pjesme su jako slabe, neke okej, neke dobre

90’s rock n roll just sounds meh to me thus this album fall short to my ears

This album just drips with regret, from the unsettling cover to the songs which are littered with tales of bad decisions, bad drugs and unhealthy relationships. Musically it’s kind of post punk spidery rock but imbued with Greg Duilis thwarted ambition as a soul singer. Never got it at the time, too young, too naive. Makes an awful lot of sense now

Good

Should rename this band the Hoovers. Because they really SUCK

Favorite Track: Debonair

Canta pero bien culei ese bro jsjajaj, neta ni pude escucharlo completo por eso

I’ve gotta revisit this one. Didn’t love it, but I also didn’t hate it. There were lots of musical moments that perked my ears up.

I went into this album blind having never heard heard of the band. Overall the album wasn't amazing. There were some good songs but I can't see why this was an album I needed to hear

Solid album and concept. Just no wow factor for me personally. Feel like some of the songs drag on a little. Maybe that's intentional to for with the majority of the musical themes, of wallowing and lingering on?

Dollar store NIN

Ok

Proto douche rock. Did these guys influence Creed and Nickelback?

I was unfamiliar with this band but I feel like they are the type of band that would play at Tric in One Tree Hill

Meh

Day790 - its indie bands like the afghan whigs that inspire other bands but i wouldn’t say it belongs on any must listen to list

Jangly guitars, dodgy singing on I keep coming back, I probably won't. Lucky to get 2 on this.

Not bad, not so special. I enjoyed the slow ones more

The music of this was cool in places but the singing wasn’t at the same level. Some of the sounds are reflected in later work by other bands that I like. Overall, not enough to make me come back to this one though.

Mopey white not music from the 90’s. A less charming or melodic (and commercial) Third Eye Blind. Struggling to understand its place on this list!

I dunno about this one. I don't really have anything to say about it. 5/10

Was looking forward but it didn't hit for me unfortunately.

I actually really enjoyed this

I remember these guys were indie darlings in the early 90s and this was THE album, some people compared it to DooLittle in its potential impact. I got it expecting something life changing and got the most mediocre music imaginable and felt insulted that it was ever mentioned in the same breath as DooLittle. Listening to it again it has aged poorly with incelish lyrics

first listen not bad

Might have got into it, but the singer's voice is annoying after two songs.