Gentlemen

Some fun riffs in Be Sweet and Debonair, nice production, but most of the rest stuff is pretty bad. Vocals are annoying, most song are aimless.

I did not enjoy this at all. Singer ruins it. Awful. No vocals on last track

I liked the closing track.

I remember a time when I kinda liked this style, but I just can't with these lyrics. I almost had to back up a few times because I should I must have misheard it.

2.5

Had some nice moments, musically - but over all left a sour note. Cock rock?

High 2 I like this kind of sound but this got very boring. I blame the vocalist. Its not very melodic, he just sings. Fails to keep it interesting.

I dont get it just sounds like some misogynistic post-grunge 5/10 Favourite: Gentlemen Least Favourite: Brother Woodrow / Closing Prayer

Too unintelligible to stick to the narrative thread. 2

9/2/25. Will need to listen again in the future. I liked a couple of the tracks, but felt bored by this one for no particular reason. Maybe it felt predictable, but my rating reflects how I felt about it on this day.

Album 877 of 1089 The Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen (1993) Rating : 2 / 5 Today’s album was Gentlemen by The Afghan Whigs. To be honest, once it ended I couldn’t recall much of anything I had just listened to. Nothing really grabbed me or stood out. Out of curiosity, I went to the artist’s Spotify page and replayed the two top tracks from this album. Debonair was okay - I even saved it to my liked songs list - but beyond that, the album as a whole just didn’t connect. Maybe giving the lyrics a closer look would change my perspective, though from what I’ve read, it might not. Either way, this one just didn’t do much for me.

Instrumentals were great and total typical 90s grunge and angst, but I couldn’t do the whiny vocals for the whole album.

Pretty sludgy alternative but with a few interesting grooves. I didn't really pick up on the soul influences but I probably won't be back for many repeat plays on this one.

Was expecting a more indie affair rather than another grunge band. Not bad as far as quiet/load grunge goes although let down by terrible vocals - favourite tracks being My Curse/ Brother Woodrow when he doesn't sing.

Aside from the title track, this is an utter dronefest. Lyrically, a heavy serving of self-pity becomes the order of the day and acts as a sinkhole, dragging down the album. There is some salvation with 'I Keep Coming Back' which draws on their soul influences, albeit he skirts round the edge of being in tune. The album's capped with 'Brother Woodrow/Closing Prayer' which is a very cinematic number, backed by strings. Finally they are clambering out the sinkhole and introducing some real feelings (notably when no lyrics are involved). Alas, it's too late.

This is something, for sure. It's not terrible 90s rock. Much like the subjects of the lyrics, the album is a bit self-destructive. Like, it's actually pretty close to being a good album, but then (usually) the singer does something stupid with his voice. Nothing on this album is good on the same song. The instruments are killer on a couple songs, and then the lyrics or singing style kills them. Or, when there aren't vocals or they're actually pretty solid, the instrumentation is a tough listen. I want to like this. I actually really want to like this, but it feels like it never really gives me an opportunity to. Favorite Song(s): Fountain and Fairfax, I Keep Coming Back

I didn't read anything about this and I've never listened to it before. Made it through the whole thing without feeling like I needed to skip anything, but I also didn't really feel like anything stood out to me. 2/5

I feel guilty panning things sometimes. Like, this is probably some guy's favorite record right? Maybe even a few guys? But this is just such dull Gen X Man Rock to me. The Replacements were more fun and Pavement was cooler. It's not offensive but I doubt I'll ever play this record again.

I didnt get this at all.not terrible but not for me.

Rock alternativo de los 90. Un álbum de un grupo que no había escuchado antes y que sirve de puente entre el grunge clásico y ese post-grunge comercial que tan poca gracia me hace. Los temas son, por lo general, muy buenos. Guitarras interesantes, con muchos cambios dinámicos y de efectos, al igual que el bajo. Por otra parte, la voz no me termina de convencer: ronca y chulesca a ratos y a otros gimiente, pero que se me hace quejica y sin personalidad. Y hablando de quejarse, las letras no pueden ser más lloronas. Entiendo que se trata de un álbum de ruptura, pero no sé, echo en falta algo de sensibilidad en lugar una frustración tan explícita. Dos estrellas por las composiciones, que son más complejas de lo que hubiera esperado en un principio. Otra por la solidez del álbum en general y porque me ha sorprendido. Y le resto una por las letras y porque tampoco creo que sea un álbum imprescindible. Dos estrellitas en total.

90s alternative rock/grunge, there was nothing really memorable about this album, it was ok, not unlistenable but not particularly good either.

Wasn't really big on this. It wasn't bad but didn't really appeal to me.

It’s grungy. I love 80s/ early alternative, I love 2000s-10s alt. I don’t love 90s alternative the same way. This was whiny angry-sadboy music. I didn’t *hate* it, but found it forgettable and not up my alley

Music was fine at the time but is utterly forgettable apparently since I don’t remember any of the songs today. Won’t be listening to this again.

Found this to be fairly uninspiring. Not a bad album, just nothing that makes it standout. 2/5 Won't listen again

Never was impressed with the Afghan Whigs.

Inoffensive.

Na nie devo ghört, aber de Name vu de Band hed mi easy ghyped. Denkt ez chund chli was alternativs, freshes. Aber: nei, no, non, njet Fehlalarm. düdadüda, schlepped das Album ab, ** für das. nöd mega schlimm gsi aber doch zwenig oke gsi für 3puntos

Was sure I would know a song or two but feel like I’ve never heard any of that before. Largely forgettable. Not awful. But largely forgettable. 2.5

Indie rock with a voice I couldn't stand

A bit generic for my taste. Weirdly I loved the one instrumental track more than any of the other songs that had lyrics. 2/5

Ну такое, мне не очень заходит

Hated it until the last track.

Im not super into the grunge sound. I enjoyed the music much more than the vocal melodies. Very heavy on bass. Last song on the album(has no vocals) was my favorite.

Couldn’t get into it. Debonair was okay.

I mostly did not like this album. It had a few interesting moments that kinda reminded me of Fugazi, which gains them a point.

2 out of 5. The vocals made this a hard listen, but oddly enough I enjoyed the drumming on this one.

Didn’t really get into this band back in my youth, and listening to this album I see why. I just didn’t find anything here that stood out amongst all the bands I loved back then. The lead singer especially just turned me off. With a better lead singer, I could have seen this being much better than it was.

I didn’t really get much enjoyment out of this one.

Kind of meh.

Alt-rock with nothing special about it to me. Its not bad but no song pulled me in and made me want to listen again.

Nothing notable.

wa isch etz da gsi? oke de zweit song tönt noch öpisem. okaaay da isch rhythmisch no geil. be sweet isch etz seeehr repetitiv und denn luut und denn wieder s glich. ich check d textur vo grossi kick trochne bass ehner weiche gsang aber s tönt noch me mues für mich irgendwie. bin etz bi now you know und es isch seeeehr afoch 90er rock aber es blibt mer gad absolut nüüüüüüt s letdte isch instrumental und ich glaub es gfallt mer besser wenns nöd si ged haha

Heard of the band before. Subpar grunge-adjacent music with bad lyrics and bad vocals. Its only saving grace are the instrumentals 2/5

has a Radiohead but good vibe 3 songs in debonair has a fun walking line in it very period production and tones

2/10. Didn’t enjoy

Vraipent pas fou mais pas maivais.

good music, vocals kinda irritating

sure. 2.5

Bits of this were giving kind of Trent Reznor depression vocals (positive) but most of it was wandering guitar and made me feel sleepy.

decent album, just wasn’t the most interesting

First off, I do not like that album cover. I was also not in the mood for a dreary grunge record with basically no discernible pop hooks. Apparently this is a cult classic, which I can see. It sounds like something that would be personal to some listeners and would’ve influenced much better albums. But I didn’t enjoy spending time in the headspace of this narrator and his fucked up relationship. If the goal was to reflect the mood of the a toxic breakup, then mission accomplished. I did however lol at the lyric “I got a dick for a brain / and my brain is gonna sell my ass to you” Songs I didn’t mind were: -Be Sweet (featuring the aforementioned lyrics) - especially the refrain over the outro -My Curse -I Keep Coming Back (just realized this is a cover which is why the lyrics are more straightforward and it sounds more timeless than the rest of the album) -Brother Woodrow/ Closing Prayer - instrumental closing track was fine In general I preferred the back half. Maybe I would enjoy individual songs more if I heard them in isolation but as an album listening experience this gets a thumbs down from me.

I like this album in theory, but not in practice. A mash up of grunge, indie, alternative rock and emo from the 90s with 2 singers, that's my fuckin' jam... on paper. Yet when i listen to this album i feel a mixture of boredom and annoyance. It's a real conundrum. I'm a big Pixies fan and this album is like the Pixies but shitty, shallow, boring and uninspired, but hornier and grungy-er.... ultimately not much like the pixies past a broad description. I regret even mentioning their name in this review alongside the Whigs. I just feel like this album should work... but it doesn't... and that frustrates me. Other bands have just done this mix of sounds better. I even have a hunch this band has done this mix of sounds better at some point in their career... but I don't care enough to listen to the rest of their discography. I really don't like the main singers voice, especially on the more aggressive tracks. On ballads his voice is definitely better. But overall, it's at best generic, at worst annoying. I prefer the single track where the other singer takes the lead, her voice is much better. I wish there was more of an interplay between their vocals throughout the record. Woulda been a big improvement. Some highlights from the record: Be sweet - the catchy "be sweet" outro is quite nice - the lyrics "i have a dick for a brain" did make me laugh... i appreciate the honesty What is Jail Like - I dig the moody piano driven instrumental and the escalation in the back third My Curse - the lead singer isn't on this track... which i'm sad to say is a plus. I like her vocals more. I like the drama of the track in general. Strange side note: the main chord progression reminds me of tears in heaven... but that doesn't ruin the track for me Now you know - it makes me think of a different, better band... but i just can't place it. Maybe the song Black by Pearl jam (when Vedder starts screaming/singing/yodelling in the outro)? but i'm not certain Brother Woodrow/Closing Prayer - I enjoyed the string kissed instrumental outro Note: i wrote this review a few deep after the leafs won game 3. If there are any typos, i apologize in advance. Go leafs go.

I wanted to enjoy this more. The lyrics made me cringe, and the tempo just pushed and pulled throughout

I tried my hardest to like this record because, on paper, it’s right up my alley (90’s, “grunge”-ey, big guitars, etc). In reality, the valleys outweigh the peaks, and around the midpoint this record becomes a slog. The heavier songs sound like bad Smashing Pumpkins, and the more ballad-like ones are everything that people roll their eyes at when you say “the 90s were my favourite decade for music”. I get that this is a cult classic and whatever… but for me, this record feels almost like the beginning of the unfortunate post-grunge era filled with weird ballads with super shallow lyrics and heavy songs that sound like knockoffs. 2 stars.

I get a bit of light in my eyes when I see the album is American 90s alt rock. Unfortunately this was the bad kind. It doesn’t sound anything like Sugar Ray but somehow it feels a lot closer to Sugar Ray than it does to something I would like.

The first few songs reminded me of British Sea Power, particularly the singer’s vocals.

Didn’t hate it. Very 90s won’t come back to it

This was hard to listen to. Every song felt like it had potential but missed the mark. My brain kept trying to fix everything but it never worked.

Meh

Lyrically interesting at times, but musically it was more of a dull Smashing Pumpkins. I can see the appeal, but not for me.

I am usually a fan of 90s alternative and this did nothing for me.

not my thing

Another one where the singer doesn't always care about hitting the notes but it musically rocks harder so sometimes it really works? Usually it really doesn't though.

3/10

As shallow as the cover. Forgettable 90s songs with “edgy” themes that end up sounding washed out and juvenile

++: When We Two Parted, Fountain and Fairfax, Brother Woodrow/Closing Prayer +: If I Were Going, Gentlemen +-: Be Sweet, Debonair, Now You Know -: What Jail Is Like, My Curse, I Keep Coming Back 4,6/10

It was ok, but the singer's voice bothers me.

Another reviewer here said that this band is sort of the link between grunge and MTV rock bands like Bush. Musically, the band is pretty tight. The sound is right down the middle of the road. Good enough for 90s frat boys. Would be much better as an instrumental.

This sounds like an improv act doing a skit of a really cringy emo-ish band every actor is just prompting the others to escalate their cringe comedy. I did kinda like the closing track but it was too little too late. 4/10

Too sad for me

Between a one and a two. I can’t get past the vocals 🥴

A lot of alt rock is hit or miss for me. This one was a miss. Some songs were enjoyable. But overall the album was dull

Decent grunge rock vibes.

It always excites me to find some 90s alt-rock that I wasn't already familiar with. It also always bums me out when it ends up being pretty uninteresting to listen to.

Seemed like a pretty average 90s alt rock band. Not my fav at all from the genre

Bastante aburrido en general, pese a tener cositas en algunas canciones no me ha hecho especial gracia. Canción destacada: Gentlemen

It wasn’t anything special - 90s rock.

This was like a 2.5, mayyyyybe 3?Pretty good instrumentation at points, lyrics and vocals not quite landing for me. I would've put some other 2nd wave emo into this slot. Leaning on the low end on first pass, it's not something I see going back to much if ever.

So so

Honestly, didn't finish it. I don't know what mood I'll have to be in to finish it, but i honestly don't really care to anyway.

90's grunge have been favorites our group but this one falls flat for me. I'd never heard of them or these songs before. Is it nostalgia alone that is propping up the others? The songs didn't stick with me and I found the vocal quality pretty bad. I think they may have been trying to emulate the sound of the time rather than being a part of it.

This one wasn't for me. Kinda glad I didn't listen to the lyrics, based on the reviews I would've rated it even lower had I.

What you get when you mix whiskey, red bull, & misogyny in an angry & maybe not-so-nice “bro”? This gets a 2 (“Did not need to hear this but I got all the way through”). There are a few good grooves, and some interesting lyrics. And the album clearly inspired a decade+ of imitators. But, most of the tracks sound similar — guitars layered over a sinister bass drone (which never achieves the dark vibe of, say, Deep Purple) with gravelly-voiced dude belting out his anger/pain/wounding. They do a good job doing what they do— i can understand why this is an influential album — but it’s overwrought, humorless, and repetitive.

Meh... not really my jam.

Kinda hard to make it when your lead singer can't sing; I imagine these guys SUCK live. 4/10.

Just so boring and lame and annoying. Terrible lyrics. Whiney.... I'm not a fan

The music is ok but the vocals are so annoying

Started off feeling like I was enjoying this album but around the 3rd/4th song it really started to grate on me for some reason.

middle ground between grunge and corny 90s bands

Not entirely to my taste

God what a slog. Instrumentally good but fuck that boring ass vocalist

never listened to them tbh. seems like a loud, frazzled forerunner of Grunge mixed in with a dose of Iggy and The Stooges, a pinch of Mc5 and a dollop of early Aerosmith. if you like that kind of thing...

kind of mid

That was so hard to get through, I’m only giving it an extra star for the instrumental track and one with the female vocals

1. going - 0 2. gentleman - 0 3. zuueet - 1 4. debonair - 0 5. parted - 0 6. fountain - 1 7. jail - 0 8. curze - 1 9. knouu - 1.5 10. coming - 1 11. brother - 2

Just felt like second teir Grunge, and left me wondering wondering "why is this on the list?" despite my affection for the genre.

Finds that line between disaffected, grungey angst, and annoying, entitled whininess, and falls into whiny just about every time. As a bonus, 'Be Sweet' is particularly juvenile, and 'When We Two Parted' makes me glad 'Drain You' by Nirvana and 'Hey' by the Pixies exist. Much better takes on toxic relationships.

some good stuff in the instrumental part but by god that voice and those lyrics........ he's like trent reznor if he was an incel who can't really sing

A 90s blindspot for me - might have resonated more with an angstier listener back then - but, alas, lyrics like "Be Sweet" are a bit too 90s to take. I guess it's supposed to be self-abasing and not based on personal experience, but the "I behave like a d#%k, but I'm like so complicated and deep," schtick really hasn't aged well. It's not all that bad, but: "Oh baby, I realise I treated you wrong But I'm so sorry, let me come back were I belong You see I'm your fool, I lost my cool." Just isn't the the type of lyrical genius I'm in the market for. The music is fine, very much of its time, but the vocalist's extremely limited range and lack of melody gets to be quite grating after a few songs.

not terrible, but no really my cup of tea

Pound shop smashing pumpkins

Angry man rejected by lady.

Meh.

Serious loser energy.

boh

Nä, det här var ju inte så kul.

pior que a guitarrada do álbum é boa, mas no geral achei bem genérico. as letras são mto boas se tiverem sido escritas por um jovem de 18 anos que acabou de lidar com um término bem bosta e tem tendências incel fortíssimas (homem de 18 anos médio)

tem umas guitarrada bacana, mas pô, falta algo. mas é bom? não achei não. achei bem meia boca na verdade

Ei kovin kummousta kovin Afhaania soittelua tässä albumissa enemmännin dumb western idiot westenr type kinda beat..

Good. Very nice

Meh. There are better examples of languishing alt rock from the era.

Not for me

There are 20 90s alternative bands I'd rather listen too than this

Not that bad, but I wouldn’t say I really liked it.

was not feeling charitable today

I don't think this is a bad album. But what is great about it? Maybe because I'm not a musician. It was fine. I'll never think of it again.

90's noise

Tegelijkertijd zeiknummers en geschreeuw, is niet echt wat.

Good Lord what's singing this? A drunken vampire?

Not for me

Hård rock, ikke ligefrem muntert, lidt glembart

Bad, whiny but out of tune whining. Apparently bit incel-like but tbh I wasn't listening to the lyrics and if I was I probably couldn't have made them out anyway

I'd heard of this band before, but never listened to them until now. Musically I really like this, and the lyrics do very well at representing the point of view of a very unsavoury character. But the vocal delivery is pretty grating. I appreciate what they were trying to do, and get the significance of the album. But don't think I'll be listening to this one again.

I didn't love the opening song, but it's growing on me. This album was pretty mid, I didn't love it. I don't have a ton to say, I don't think I'd listen to it again? I don't like the vocals, but I did like a fair bit of the instrumentals. 4/10

Nogle enkelte kreative numre på, men ikke nok til at få den over “meh” for mig. Sangeren fungerede ok på numrene med meget energi, men så snart tempoet faldt lød det decideret falsk :/ det instrumentale nummer til sidst var fedt nok

Wildly inconsistent musically and woeful lyrically.

I did not like this. There were a couple of good moments, but otherwise its a pass

This is awful. Like some shitty, watered down Nine Inch Nails. Whatever influences came from soul are completely lost.

Nothing really special on here. Gave me smashing pumpkin vibes

Wasn’t really feeling this one.

I just got back to back albums with grating vocals, but good instrumentals (Meat Puppets was the other one). The lyrics are questionable... I wasn't paying close attention until someone mentioned it in the reviews and now I can't stop cringing. The album is supposed to be about a toxic relationship but still comes off very problematic.

The music is decent but ooof, those lyrics 😅

Some interesting moments.

Uninspired. Not at all interesting. 2 stars.

This just didn't do it for me.

Not very good. Didn’t like the music, vocals or arrangement.

Hey everybody! 😎😎😎It's the feel-bad album of the summer!🌞🌞🌞🤩🤩🤩 It's an artistic statement like Type-O Negative doing Summer Breeze. It surprises me whenever ideas like this get the careful, even superb execution that they do. Maybe they just sat down and said: "Let's write an album that will be critically acclaimed™," and that was the only parameter. It's really pretty bad. The concept is derivative if not ill-conceived. The playing is fine, but I feel like they're pushing my face into something I simply don't want (and never asked ) to look at. The singing, while true to whatever disturbed and unlikable character this is supposed to be, is obnoxious with no real redeeming quality. I'm not sure where this type of music comes from, just exploring the darkest places. It's just that there's no hope, it never let's up. It's not even like metal, where you get actual visceral anger. It's just the soundtrack of people being assholes to themselves and each other. Pretty lame. The effort that went into making this surprises me, because what do you think about yourself or your audience when you do something like this? I guess it's just going hard on your complaints, really really hard. Narcissistic. It's (again, this turns up a lot in the Critically Acclaimed® albums) like bad high-school poetry.

Really wanted to like this.

Average

Een nieuwe dag, een nieuw standaard rock album. Dit word echt een beetje genant. De afgelopen week zou als je het mij vraagt allemaal in 1 album passen. Het is allemaal nietszeggende rock. Ik denk dat The Afghan Whigs best wel eens heel erg pech kunnen hebben, want na 4 albums die vrijwel hetzelfde klinken ben ik er ook wel goed klaar mee. We snappen het: Rock is een belangrijk genre. Houden we dan nu alsjeblieft op met elke scheet van een rock band in deze lijst te zetten? Alsjeblieft? FAVO:

i like "Gentleman" too but jesus christ, enough with the singers who don't really try to be on key

Ey

I didn't really f with this

Il y avait des passages musicaux vraiment intéressant à certains moments. Du rock typique 90s mais vraiment bien exécuté. Par contre à d'autres moments, ça devenait vraiment ininspiré et cliché. Mais le plus gros problème de cet album est la partie chant. Autant la voix que le contenu des paroles. Je ne pense pas que le chanteur a une voix si terrible que ça, c'est plus comment il l'utilise que ça fait tellement énnervant à tout le temps chialer. Aussi comme plusieurs ont mentionné, les paroles sont vraiment problématiques, le chanteur passe pour quelqu'un de toxique. 4/10

Hmmm, interesting one. Between a 2 and a 3 but going to go with 2 because none of the songs really grabbed my attention.

When this album came up I thought to myself "This is a band I always saw the name of but I can't think of one song they do." I was excited to fill out a cultural gap, as they were right in the zone of what I listened to when they were popular. When I heard the album, I understood the Wikipedia comment that they were always "almost famous". I wanted to like them, but angsty vocals, muddy playing between the guitar and bass, generally lacked the hooks of a good pop song, they were close, but just not quite there. Sort of like what AI would produce if prompted to create a guitar oriented power pop band from the 90s. It just lacked a soul.

Listened to this earlier but kept losing interest, then listened to this all the way through in the car. Seems like a lot of emotions went into the songs. Some of the lyrics didn’t really hit though. There was a female singer at one point? Middle of the road 3. Edit -- this wasn't that great bumping down to 2.

4/10 - I was not a huge fan of the singing most of the time. It was kind of unsettling. The last song wasn’t so bad and neither was the third song. But overall not great

Utterly forgettable. Here's a band name I knew, but could not name nor identify one song. Listening to this album did not change this. Not awful, but just....blah.

Wasn’t really a fan of them

Nontemarkable

Another album of angsty, 90s alternative, if you've heard one, etc etc.

Þetta fannst mér nú ekki neitt sérlega merkilegt band og skil ekki af hverju það er á þessum lista. Þetta er ekki beint leiðinlegt og textarnir stundum skemmtilegir en mér fannst þeir heldur ekki góðir. Væbið sem ég fékk var að þetta væri svona bílskúrspabbaband sem verður aldrei meira en það.

Muy normalito...

01) If I Were Going - 6,0 02) Gentlemen - 6,0 03) Be Sweet - 6,0 04) Debonair - 6,0 05) When We Two Parted - 5,5 06) Fountain and Fairfax - 5,0 07) What Jail Is Like - 5,5 08) My Curse - 6,0 09) Now You Know - 5,0 10) I Keep Coming Back - 6,0 11) Brother Woodrow/Closing Prayer - 6,0 TOTAL: 5,73 (57/100) Here's another band I never heard of. Looking through their discography I can see they had literally no album or singles chart success. They sound just like any other rock band of the era so I don't really get it what is it that is so worthy to be included on this list? Lyrics like "I got a dick for brain" are really groundbreaking.

Sounds like No Vacancy from School of Rock, but more cringe

This album was just there, only a day after listening I can’t really remember anything about it, nothing about it was memorable. It wasn’t a bad album, but it also wasn’t good enough to be remembered.

4/10. Not my thing but it got more palatable as it went on. Some instrumental pieces I did like in the middle and the album felt well connected song to song which was cool.

Decent music, but the lyrics are plain awful

boring post-grunge midtempo 90s alt rock that never made it to the radio. Imagine a really muddy recording of stone temple pilots' filler tracks with the hooks taken out. A real dirge. Some good guitar parts here and there, and when the vocals veer into screamo territory it's more compelling, same when it slows down and spaces out into a more shoegaze sound. Favorites: be sweet, when we two parted

Afghan Whigs are a band whose name I’ve heard a lot, but never really checked them out. After this listen, I think I’m good. Honestly, there’s nothing wrong with the music, but it really doesn’t move me. They sound like pretty much all the other 90s alt-rock bands. Nothing objectionable but nothing inspiring either.

Ooof. Like a lot of the reviews on here, this band has always been on my periphery, but I’ve never checked them out. It wasn’t what I was expecting. I was expecting a band that I’ve always thought I’d like if I checked them out. I got a whiney guy that didn’t sound fun.

I remember hearing about the Afghan Whigs. Now I know I wasn't missing anything.

On this album, I primarily like the energetic vocals. It was nearly something I was very excited about, but fell just a bit short on creativity.

There is an erraticism here. The Afghan Whigs alter between chaotic noise and a tight sound. Unfortunately this is all fronted by subpar vocals.

Not a big fan of the vocals on this.

Too loud; did not enjoy.

Inte lyssnat mycket på Afghan Wigs. Kanske borde ha gjort det på 90-talet. Det är ok och ganska meningslöst. Inget fastnar. Teflonrock. Fountain and Fairfax är hygglig.

2.5 stars

Not good. The vocals were really bad on this one.

Not a big fan of the AFghan Whigs. This solidifies that fact.

Bitter break up man songs full of entitled indie angst.

The thing about dub is getting lost in its bouncy, offbeat rhythm and going along for the ride. The cutting of sounds and samples gives a homemade quality. The deep base groove is like a relaxing heartbeat. The sway of reggae takes me away and the electro wooshing on old synths is like a sprinkling of hundreds and thousands. What a shame this isn't dub.

The vocals really ruined this for me. A “holy shit” breakup album. This was intense, lyrically. And it’s musically very different than the other Sub Pop grunge bands of the era. But I couldn’t get past the voice.

Didn’t really like it. Maybe it’s just the guys voice, but not for your boy.

Reminded me of The Wallflowers in a way but also kind of boring

not for me

Okay, but not something I'd listen to again.

ok

Ermmm, it was kinda good? I think? Some parts were good and others sounded like a demo. I think this one is a two but the good bits alone could be a 3

Instrumentals are fairly good but that front man is a tosser. Rather listen to afghan dan. 2/5

Not for me

2.5/5 Annoying voice and mixed like shit

def gave off the 90s vibes. wouldn't skip it if it came on randomly, but also wouldn't go out of my way to listen to the whole album again.

ehhh some of the music itself was fun but I could not stand the lyrics or the vocals. I ended up ending it a couple songs early sorry not sorry 🙈

A bit downbeat for my tastes

No convence, grunge? indie?. Flojo

4.5/10 Mid grungy alt rock. Starting to think that the author of this list is really basic with a huge bias towards bland, competent guitar rock Musically fine but the rhythm (especially drums) are just “there” not really doing much beyond chugging basics Works better as a consistent album than individual songs Not a fan of the male vocals nor the lyrics, feels like a spurned guy formed a band with his friends and now play pubs Best: My Curse

Meh

One of those albums that is very American rock, and another one that doesn't hold much on interest to me, with not US Rock tastes. The lyrics, as others have said, are rather trite but the music is trite too. Nothing interesting, nothing discovered. It hardly sold even in the US, and there might just be a reason for that.

Very angry. Some dark lyrics and broody songs.

I was listening to a lot of music in the 90's. I did not listen to this. Now I have and I understand why. Average 90s rock, shitty vocals, no thanks. The only song that stood out for me was My Curse (no surprise, alternate lead singer).

Not a great listen. I’ve never heard of the band and will likely never listen to them again. I’m going to reserve scoring a 1 for albums I can’t face listening to the whole way through. But this isn’t far off.

No idea who the artist was, sounded very 90s. Generally found it to pretty meh and left feeling there was a reason I hadn’t heard of them if this is a key album.

Hm, da gibt's mMn deutlich bessere Alternative-Bands aus der Zeit.

I didn't find much in this beyond middle of the road early indie.

Ehhh... didn't really like it. Not a fan of that 90s sound on this album. Plus the lyrics are ughhh which brings it down 2.5/5

Laulajalla häiritsevä ääni. Itse biisien sanoitukset on kyllä jotenkin korneja... Kaippa ne liittyy tähän ironiseen levyn nimeen? Ei tämäkään ole mun juttu. Musa itsessään ois ehkä kolmosen arvoinen, laulu tiputtaa kakkoseen.

2.5 Ok. Couple of decent tracks. Sounds like a Trent Reznor impersonator backed by the Ataris playing 90s rock covers

Run of the mill, unspectacular American rock zzzzzzzzzzzzz

the music is okay but the lyrics and whiney singing is representative of a man in a hard place. we've all been there, some of us crywank whilst binge watching peep show, others release this album

Felt weirdly uncomfortable listening to this for some reason? I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it, would need to listen to it again

I really wanted to like this but I just couldn't form any sort of emotional connection to the music. I feel like its more my own fault that I couldn't appreciate it though, I don't have an objective issue with it. Just so at odds with the styles and general chord movements that I grew up on that the listening experience felt like a chore, so maybe its an exposure thing.

holy hell this guy down baaaddddd. Lyrics are too sobby which drags it down, but musically it's not too bad it has a garage rock feel to it. Last track the guitar + cello sound great together to get an ominous but big sound.

Not a ton to say about this one... very 90s guitar sounds that I fojnd pretty enjoyable on a few tracks, but all around the lyrics made this a pretty tough listen..

Angsty, muddy and kind of dull

Wow, veldig uinspirerende. "I got a dick for a brain", ok takk for info. Rent instrumentalt er det helt ålreit grungy 90-tallsrock. Vokalen er ikke min smak. Tekstene er dølle. Hvorfor vil man høre på dette når man heller kan høre på Nirvana?

Also no

Ну вообще нет.

Can’t really remember this album,what I can remember is that it was not very good,slow and boring with mediocore lyrics.

This sounds like a Nine Inch Nails album if you took out everything that makes NIN interesting. Not a fan of the singer and that one song with female vocals was the highlight by a long shot. Just really forgettable. Not much to say.

Some decent moody rock. Didn't land for me. Felt longer than it was. Guy sounds like he's trying to do a rock star impression.

Shouldve been called "The Afghan Whines" instead. Man, I can only take so much moaning about everything.

Not for me, kind of sad I listened to it, I ended up skipping a bunch about halfway through. Just very uninspired alt rock

Generic 90s. Not bad, but I don’t think I have a desire to relisten

A bit on the rough side of vocals for mine. Not adding this to my library.

This album is boring, and the main singer sucks at his job. His voice isn't bad in an interesting way, it's just straight up bad, and it doesn't help that his voice is so bad it distracts from pretty decent guitar playing, with a few good riffs, and when the album featured an actually good singer for one song, I could see an alternate reality where I liked this a lot more. The last song having no words was a godsend that saved my my mental state and this album from getting the lowest of low scores. Still not good.

Nope.

Wow, you know how sometimes you just immediately click with a band or a singer? This was the exact opposite of that. The opening riff of the album was cool, and I was starting to get excited, and then this dude started singing, and I just hated it immediately. I don't even know what it is. Yes, I do, it's everything. I hate his voice, I hate the way he chooses to use his voice, and I hate the words that he is singing. It just feels so weirdly generic. Blech. Weirdly, I kinda like the music 2/5, though

Kimuranttia Jon Bon Jovi meininkiä. Mun mielikuva tästä bändistä oli jotain eteerista hönkimistä, mutta täähän on tällästä jotenkin grungehtavaa rokettia. Täytyy ehkä tutustua tarkemmin, joskaan ei tämäkään liikaa koukuuttanut. 2/5

The band was super tight, and I like the music but I just couldn’t handle the singing.

It was okay

Dull

I absolutely adore the instrumentation on this album. There's some fantastic '90s grunge and alt-rock vibes throughout. However, the lyrics and vocals are so far off the mark for me that it mars the entire experience. When the female vocalist performs I love it, top-tier stuff, but the main vocalist lets down the side.

angsty 90's horseshit

this is not good

If I Were Going- Already sounds like the most 90s album ever 👍 Gentlemen- Vocals aren’t doing much for me here, just feels a bit put on Be Sweet- the way this is quite charming except the first part LOL 👍 Debonair- this is whatever, my guy seems quite unhinged When We Two Parted- prefer the Byron poem Fountain and Fairfax- I do like instrumental, wish this guy would stop singing tho 👍 What Jail Is Like- this song just kinda sucks My Curse- yay a woman 👍 Now you Know- boring and slightly disgusting metaphor I Keep Coming Back- least convincing take me back song ever?? Brother Woodrow/Closing Prayer- inspiration study type music Whew we got through it in one go 2/5

2/5 Why and how do singers like this get famous and on a must listen to before you die list? The music sounds ok, but then he starts screeching. When we two parted had kind of interesting lyrics that gave me the impression of a codependent/toxic relationship. I liked the rhythms in Fountain and Fairfax. I really liked Brother Woodrow, but maybe that's cause it was instrumental? Overall, not my bag.

Meh. I was excited because of the song by The National, but it’s kind of generic alt rock or maybe it’s not. 2/5

Exuberant, but largely uninteresting. Or maybe I’m uninterested.

A little too sad for me today.

This album falls well into a space of music that I don't mind, but really doesn't do anything for me. Only thing that really stood out was how terrible the vocals were on I Keep Coming Back. For me this is a very forgettable album. Part of that could be the fact that I was focused more on work than the music, but I think a lot of this just ran together and it played a lot longer than I would have preferred. 2 / 5

En osaa päättää, häiritsikö grunge vai tekikö se tästä paremman. Harmillisesti b-puoli meni hönkäilyvalitukseksi, alkupuolella oli parempaa raskautta

Kuulostaa orgaanisen ysärirockin luomien puitteiden vuoksi paremmalta kuin soundimusiikki yleensä. Mikä ei muuta sitä tosiasiaa, että tämä on soundimusiikkia.

Could not hear any groundbreaking performance or even a few sounds/notes...

Bleak and depressing. Not bad per se, but I did not like it.

The music is pleasant enough, but the lyrics. Ugh.

Meh this album disappointed me, just felt like another generic 90’s alt rock record with cringe lyrics, not sure how it’s made this list.

Ja feelar att de sku ha kunna vari bra om de va bra, några coola trumdelar dock

Koola instrumental delar förstörs av en ass vocalist och att låtarna inte är särskilt catchy/intressanta. Låten var en kvinna sjöng va bättre.

This is just ok. Not my fav.

I am so conflicted here. On one note, I feel like I've found a missing link. I can hear the Replacements, and even some 90s emo in here. I can also here where basically every post-grunge band got their sound from, and even The Gaslight Anthem, who are my absolute favorite band. That being said... I like emo, and I'm usually pretty talented at ignoring vocalists who just *go for it*. But this guy just *goes for it* so frequently, and... I really don't think he can sing. He's pitchy, and when he tries to hit those highs, he rarely comes close. The lyrics are another problem, I realized, when he bluntly said he had a dick instead of a brain. Just... very weird, overall. Favorite track: "Debonair"

Instrumentals were solid but singer was subpar at best

Yeah, thought I was going to like this, but got bored quiclly

Intrumenten doen me denken aan metal, dat beetje rauwe vervormde geluid. Zang is erg onstabiel en klinkt niet lekker. Niet zo'n fijn album voor mij. **

I usually like this kind of music, but this was not good. Or maybe I'm not in the mood for it

also pussy repellant music but not too bad

Still ten times more interesting than Pearl Jam, in a somewhat close nineties "alternative" genre. Yet still awkward and/or hackneyed in many places. A lot of the vocal melodies in the livelier tracks sound the same, Greg Dulli's attempts to infuse soul/r'n'b inflexions in his performance sometimes miss the mark, and the lyrics are, well, an acquired taste. I won't make the mistake many listeners did in this group when they confused author and narrator so as to label Dulli as an "incel"--*Gentlemen* is close to a concept album after all, and it's not because the story it tells has disturbing moments that Dulli should automatically be considered as a problematic figure. A few words about the artwork: I really like it. It tells the exact same story this album does with a picture that's beautifully shot and staged. People who find it "gross" lack subtlety. The point of the picture is NOT to place children in "adult" situations. The point is to express how immature, fragile and lost many adults are when it comes to sound relationship. And how their inner children get hurt as a result. Interestingly, I've also listened to Afghan Whigs' last LP, *How Do You Burn?*, released in 2022, and I thought it was far better than this supposed landmark of theirs. The thing is, this is not the nineties anymore, so very few people noticed that other record. Context and zeitgeist are often important to understand the artistic success that an album is. But sometimes, I wonder if those things are not blurring the picture somehow, at least when you want to assess a band's discography. As a conclusion, *Gentlemen* is not utterly bad, but I don't really see why it should be considered as an "essential' album. 2/5 for the purposes of this list (which means 7/5 for more general purposes: 5+2). Next, please. Number of albums left to review: 595 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 193 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 90 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 122 (including this one)

Serviceable 90s rock, but ultimately forgettable and kind of annoying. Also, this album cover is gross.

2.5

Murky grungy guitar rock on a breakup theme...bought this 19 years ago because of its acclaim but didn't get it then either.

Скучная каша, вначале чёт относительно прикольно, середина бяка и ласт трек только приятный

Nothing has really stood out at all across the whole album. It all seems to have melded into one giant murky thing, with no particular standout riffs or moments, and no real changes in tone or mood. It's completely ordinary. I'm not getting a lot from it.

meh.

I keep wanting to get into the music, but the lyrics and the vocalist break the immersion each time. The prose lands as sophomoric and the lead singer's performance comes off as over the top. It's not a horrible album, I just can't see what makes it all that great.

I can already tell I'm, not going to like this. I don't like the guitars, it's a boolgy racket. Even the sifter ones are horrid. Pushed all of them to the end. No melodies just twanging. Bloody awful.

Found that super generic tbh. Might listen to it again with more focus as I should like it but didn't really feel anything.

I enjoyed this, but it's a bit harsh to have it follow that Pixies album. The sound is a bit cleaner (though still has a bit of filth), the singing is often even more tuneless, but the lyrics are just a bit painful. Sort of thing that I'd have loved when I was 13 (and would still be fond of now if I'd have listened to it then), but I've mostly grown out of now.

Generic and forgettable. Sounds like an amalgam of the shit bands that came out around the same time. Reminded me of the made up band that Adrianna was trying to get signed in “The Sopranos” Not impressed at all

the instrumentation was fine, the lyrics were super weird though??

Not my thing, glimpses of good but too rare. 2

American indie doing generic American indie things with guitars. It almost sounds like Manic Street Preachers but not to my taste. A lot of this genre has aged appallingly. It's almost unlistenably fine.

This was like a really shit version of candlebox. Most of it sounded unfinished but still went far too long. Also, I listened to it on Spotify on my TV and the whole time the (I'm assuming) singer's face was close up on the screen and I hated that. 2/5.

I couldn’t even finish this. Partly I was too busy, but I just wasn’t that impressed. D+

It’s just not good

The music is not bad but the record is quite cringe overall

Not a lot here for me either. This band has always been just beyond my reach and has been recommended to me by a number of people over the years. I just do not find this interesting at all.

I did like the instrumentation for the most part, however the vocals are pretty offputting. The overall vibe of the album is just not really doing it for me. A few moments stood out, but not enough to make this worthwhile.

Very emotional lyrics with a hard rock and grunge sound. Couldn’t hear the talked about influence of classic soul music, but agree that Gregg sings from the soul. Just a bit too noisy, although it did remind me of Bob Mould’s, Husker Du front man’s, Sugar.

Not that good at all. It’s why we can’t remember it.

This just bothered me for some reason. The singer sometimes sounded like an uncool Trent Reznor, the music sounded like a 90s pastiche, and some of the lyrics are hilariously bad (see: opening line to Be Sweet).

Alright, that's about it

I want to like it, kind of, but not totally.

Very 90s. I don’t remember much else about it, so it must not have been that good.

Something about that wailing rock guitar in Be Sweet literally hurts my ears. In fact there were a number of times on this album I had to check my volume because my head hurt. While the volume wasn't loud, the tonal frequency of this album was a serious problem. I thought I was acting a little fragile about this until I found an article from Science magazine about how certain frequencies can indeed hurt (and damage) your ears. Combine the aural pressure with an album about a breakup and -- from me -- you get a 2.

This album was neither appealing nor interesting to me. It is not a 1 because it didn’t cause pain to my earholes, and when it is playing I can just tune it out.

When I first moved to Toronto in 1985, CFNY played Alternative and it was good Alternative. A couple of years later they abandoned Alternative in favour of drivel. Around 5 years after that, they decided to embrace Alternative again but by that time Alternative had become mainstream drivel. That would be around the time this Afghan Whigs album was released. 

I like some of the moody guitar riffs but the vocals drag me down, though the guest vocalist on The Curse is a nice change up. I may have given it another point with another listen but it's a busy day (even for a retiree).

This is fairly typical mid 90s grunge, as most reviewers have mentioned, the lead vocalist's voice is somewhat off putting. So much that the most interesting song for me was the instrumental Brother Woodrow. The album cover is a bit unsettling also, and I see in Wiki that it was influenced by a photo by controversial photographer Nan Goldin.

90s music with an 80s vibe. Interesting but not captivating

The music itself is bland sounding alt rock and I'm not a fan of the singer's voice or vocal style. Not something I'd probably listen to again.

Terrible. Don't like the drumming in particular - or the vocals, or the mix but most importantly the songs are poor.

No thanks.

Ekki týpísk grunge leiðindi, þannig sé nokkuð fjölbreytt lög og útsetningar ekki alveg einsleitar, en samt voða lítið eftirminnilegt, og söngurinn bleh. Næsta plata.

It's ok.

Not bad but not very entertained by it.

Giving me strong sonic similarity to Soul Asylum. It was fine, but I can see why these guys never made it truly big and are an obscure unheard group. It's not their fault they were eclipsed by the most major grunge and alt rock bands of all time. They just don't have the presence to go toe to toe with Kurt, Eddie, Chris, Layne, Gavin, Billy, Anthony, Dave, Rivers, or even Thurston and Frank Black. They know how to rock, but they ain't got that secret star power sauce.

Great breakup album lmao

I would have rated this album higher but I really didn't like the singer's voice. I found his inflection SO grating that I barely made it through the whole album. The only reason I'm not giving it a 1 is because I actually quite liked the instrumentation. 2/5 stars

Anxiety inducing stuff. An interesting sound tho?

Ehh not memorable

The album was about an hour long. None of the songs were memorable or really that good. I tolerated it and did not skip any songs.

The poor fella doesn't seem to be in a happy place. I don't want to particularly be in this place with him either. The track where the other half in the break up gets to have her say just drags it out further. I played Shaky and Bonnie's Rockin' Good Way to cheer me up.

Poewee. Ik vind het niet per se slecht, maar wel ontzettend jankerig.

I don't like his voice.

Bit boring

I'm surprised at this one - not at all how I thought The Afghan Whigs would sound. Nothing grabbed me here, but I believed it at least, so I mean that's at least 2 stars.

Starts off strong with powerful guitar leads and riveting vocals, but quickly dates itself back to the 90s on the back half with schmaltzy arrangements and questionable vocal delivery.

Prva pjesma mi se nije svidila. Druga je krenula dobro i onda su krenuli pjevat i više mi nije bilo dobro. Treća pjesma me nasmijala jer "I got a dick for a brain and my brain is gonna sell my ass to you"?? i "cause she wants to love and I still wanna fuck". Himna za Tinder. Četvrta isto ko druga. Petu preskočila i onda se u šestoj kreno derat i tu sam rekla e neš više! Usprkos svemu nije mi za jedinicu.