Reviews (page 5 of 8)
I have no idea what this was but it wasn't good. DNF, wouldn't relisten
Has it's moments, but is too long to be consistently good. 60/100
Without the singer this would be pretty good. It felt super cringy at first, but it grew on me once I got used to his voice. Really tough to rate
Decent post punk album, had some nice tracks
I get it, just not really my thing
An album where you never know what you're gonna next once the next song rolls around. Kind of interesting.
Cool mix of styles, with alot of nice buildups. Don’t know if this counts as prog but noticed some elements of it. Almost a 4.5 I’d say
I actually liked this??? but girl she was LONGG
Going into this, I was excited—it was labeled under Neo-Psychedelia, psychedelic rock, space rock, and alternative rock, which all sounded amazing. But instead, I felt like I was left with musical blue balls—just one long, drawn-out tease that never delivered. This album had all the right elements to be great, and it was constantly on the verge, but it never quite got there. And that made it more aggravating than outright bad.
I'm conflicted about this one. On the one hand it had two songs I really liked, on the other one, it had like 6 that were garbage and it took me ages to go through the whole thing :(
Nope.
Not as bad as I thought another obscure band from the 90s would be.
Blah.
Muy bueno, inclusive sorprendente a ratos. Considerablemente largo, pero vale la pena entrarle. Yo no conocía a Cope y lo disfruté mucho.
Eh
this is way too long but it has some good stuff on it
2.5
It’s perfectly fine for what it sets out to be. A dramatic Brit Pop album with a side of darkness. Do i want to listen to 18 five minute plus songs with this in mind? No… no not really. 5/10
Surprisingly good
This is alright, but not super notable
Did not expect to like this as much as I did. Plenty of lyricism, unique instrumentation, groovy beats, and pleasant vocals.
3. reminds me of a bad lounge singer. Pretty inoffensive though.
ok.. ik had al van die man gehoord... maar nog niks ván gehoord... verraste mij toch... beetje van alles maar vooral van alles goeds.... net ietsje te lang voor de volle vijf
"Peggy Suicide" is the seventh album and a double album at that by English musician and author Julian Cope. The Wiki-listed genres are art rock and pyschedelic rock. Anytime art rock is listed that means anything under the sun. Critics cite this as the beginning of Cope's trademark sound and approach and as a turning point into a mature artist. The album "laid bare many of his convictions including hatred of organized religion, increasing public interest in women's rights, the occult, alternative spirituality (paganism, Goddess worship), animal rights and ecology. The album was produced by Cope and Ronald Ross Skinner. With Cope as lead singer, Skinner and him played multiple instruments and the album includes a whole host of other musicians. Commercially, it hit #23 in the UK. "Pristeen" opens the album. A stark song with acoustic guitar and background keyboards. The song builds as a wobbly electric guitar comes in. It's a song about a young female lover and Mother Earth. Cope is screaming by the end. Hey, "East Easy Rider" has a groovy, funky beat with a wah-wah distorted guitar. It's song about the duality of riding a motorcycle which he can't deny the fun and freedom of yet the pollution is going to kill us. Cope goes full on punk in "Hanging Out & Hung Upon a Line." Frenetic, a screeching guitar, the band in full charge mode. It's another song about ecology. A long instrumental with a droning guitar, drumbeat and organ open "Safesurfer." Cope keeps repeating to his darling that he's safe. A song obviously about STD's, more specifically AIDS. It is 1991 and in the height of the AIDS' fear as I remember. The song ends with a haunting piano and chaotic guitar. "Beautiful Love" actually has a danceable beat, sounding quite similar to the Soup Dragons at that time. A simple love song with a piano, Moog synth and even a trumpet. Quite lovely. This is a very good album with a lot of well-constructed and varied songs. I suppose the album could have been trimmed down from its 18-song length but I'm not complaining. A lot song build with intensity (seems to be the theme this week) and I heard snippets of post-punk, blues, jazz, funky, industrial and dance. I also picked up on most of his themes mentioned in the opening paragraph. I'm not sure I caught any paganism or Goddess worship thoughts but I honestly don't know what those thoughts would entail. Anyway, a worthy listen and I will check out his post-1991 albums which include "Jehovahkill" and "Autogeddon" which complete a trilogy.
Reminded me of Dave Graney sometimes
1. prizteen - 1.5 2. vegetation - 1 3. rider - 1.5 4. land - 1.5 5. line - 1.5 6. zurfer - 1.5 7. loved - 1.5 8. drive - 1.5 9. zoldier - 1 10. you - 0 11. drouuning - 1 12. head - 1 13. zkin - 1 14. love - 1 15. uueztern - 1.5 16. dry - 1.5 17. american - 1 18. bazement - 1.5 19. rizin - 0 20. ztonez - 1 21. love - 1.5 22. dragonfly - 0 23. heed - 0 24. douun - 0 25. zafe - 1.5 26. all - 0 27. butterfly - 0 28. dogz - 1 29. anyuuay - 0
experimental with that early 90s rock sound. was very suprised by this and liked it a lot more than i thought i would.
I was not familiar with Julian Cope before this, but the album was pretty good. Nothing really catching my ears but not making them want to shut either.
This is another album where I can't understand why it needed to be included on this list. It was not a memorable album. I liked the hard rock sound on a few tracks, but overall it was neither bad nor good.
Started off with a bit of a Velvet Underground/Lou Reed kind of thing; then pushed to 80s alt akin to The The; next track was funk rock and if they added a horn section it would have fit right in. Each track seemed to explore a new space and I have to give props for the diversity and quality for each track within those many styles. My comments are just on the tracks from the original album. The extra hour on the Spotify "Deluxe Edition" of remixes and whatnot might have knocked it down a star as that got a bit redundant and monotonous.
bruv... nah
A lot of effort when into this album. Ambitious in scope. It’s fine. Quite ambling for me. Studio rawness doesn’t do it for me.
Most average list album
Bored me a little. Nothing currently stuck in my memory.
So weird... sounds a lot older than early 90s, and has such an eclectic range of styles. I really enjoyed it though. High 3*
Not bad at all. Could have scored higher if it had been a bit shorter. Kinda zoned out towards the end
All competent and fine but just not very engaging. It's a bit scattering in styles almost like an indie compilation of b sides.
Meh. Started out kind of catchy but I got very bored. WAY too long.
A little too drug induced for my taste
This album was a bit of a grower for me. It started off a little uninteresting, but as it progressed I found myself enjoying all of its oddities more and more. It definitely seems more wacky than what I remember from The Teardrop Explodes (it’s the same feller). I guess having a solo career as well allows you to let your imagination run away and try more experimental things. I’m not sure what genre I’d even class this as. Art rock, maybe?
This wasn’t half bad
couldn't get into it... way too long of an album. 1/5
The first song hasn’t started yet and I’m bored. And it doesn’t improve. Childish melodies. Awful rhyming. Rinse and repeat. Pfui. 1 star.
I find Julian Cope the media identity a lot more interesting than many of his records actually play out. Julian Cope's voice is OK, but he really only sings the same basic tune over and over again (and it wasn't that great the first time). Given his interest in krautrock (he literally wrote the book), this is much less krautrock-y than I would expect. Not very motorik,. Not very interesting, or psychedelic. The tinny early 90s production grates on my ears. And so fucking long... this album is twice as long as it needed to be. This album made very little impression on me, other than to test my patience.
pretentious wank
3/10. I'm starting to think that the people who chose these are quite pretentious. I genuinely enjoyed myself for all of like 2/3 songs which were nice rock tunes, until this album descended into to madness. Not the good kind of madness, the kind of madness that really had me questioning what I was listening to. Some of the remixes on the B side were alright but seriously there is an 11 minute track of just drums and random noises. Its weirdness for the sake of weirdness imo and that will surely leave it among some of the worst on this list.
Een ietwat lange plaat die wel echt een beetje voelt als een reis door alle alternative rock stijlen die zijn oorsprong vonden in de UK over de jaren 70 en 80. Ik ken deze gozer van de post-punk band The Teardrop Explodes, die echt wel leuke dingen maakte. Nogal een vreemde gozer, en creativiteit die daar bij past. Maar zoals ik al zei, het meandert wel een beetje van stijl naar stijl, maar zonder ooit echt raak te schieten. Het is 'mediocre at best'. De opener 'Pristeen' en 'Safesurfer' zijn aardig, voor de rest maakt het weinig indruk. Maar wel een goed moment om The Teardrop Explodes weer eens aan te zetten! 5,5/10 Highlights: Pristeen Safesurfer
Deze gast en dit album kan ik met alleen een luisterbeurt totaal niet plaatsen. Dat verdient eigenlijk een goeie deepdive. Daar heb je overigens genoeg tijd voor tijdens dit album. Was die lengte nou nodig? Er zit wel energie in Julian, die is aanstekelijk. Toch vraag ik me af waar de nominering voor deze lijst nu vandaan komt. Het voegt alles samen wat in de drie decennia daarvoor reeds is verschenen. Het is een mix van te veel, en daardoor lijkt het niks te zijn geworden. 5/10
Just fuck right off. 1.67
It's really something.
A pretty interesting album. Felt in some ways like a precursor to the Brian Jonestown massacre.
5/10…neo psychedelic
I've never heard of this guy. Not sure if he's trying to be Jim Morrison or that's just a coincidence. The first song is kind of bad. The rest of the music OK, it has good variety. It just falls short for me of making a lasting impression.
This guy is like if Leonard cohen, the stooges and beta band accidentally all fell into the transporter from the fly. 4 is probably overrating but I was very much thrown by how much travelling of styles was here and it did interest me.
This is a collection of sometimes groovy, sometimes weird, sometimes kinda beautiful music that I don't know if I like. At least I don't dislike it.
The first album is great but man, I do not enjoy a musical interlude, which is basically the second half. That said, one can hear a great deal of the next ten years of music in one album.
Happy to have heard this album--I had only ever heard his song World Shut Your Mouth and it's a cool song. This album is solid pop/rock songwriting and every song is well crafted. But ... there is a bit of a sheen to everything and this album is TOO LONG. I'll probably seek out more of Julian's stuff. Would go 3.5, but docking for length.
Not necessarily bad, just boring to me. There were some good moments, but nothing really worth returning to for me. 2/5
По мнению А: 3/5 По мнению С: 3/5 ИТОГОВАЯ ОЦЕНКА: 3/5 (26.01.2025)
This album was number 242 for me. I've never heard of Julian and this is the first album I've decided to add to my personal collection after listening here - loved it.
I have to assume that when the list maker wrote the book, he didn't think anyone would actually listen to all the albums. Probably figured he could put whatever pretentious BS he wanted and no one would slog through the whole thing to call him out on it. This album isn't good and it's 2.5 hours long. I'll admit I did like "If You Loved Me At All" but otherwise this was completely skippable.
прикольно.напомнило боуи и lcd soundsystem
Encore empreint des années 1980, avec un pied dans les 1990. La voix me fait penser à Morrissey à l’occasion
Didn’t do much for me
Liked a couple of tracks. That’s it though.
This record grew on me. Had to listen through a couple of times. Cope's guitar and vocals are appealing - slightly aggressive with quite a bit of "I don't care what you think" attitude. Seems he had relationship problems, and I'm not getting the political and environmental themes I read about. "Beautiful Love" is brilliant.
Some of the most self-indulgent non-sense I've ever heard. Some of it shows promise, but it's longer than a movie.
I loved this album way more than I expected to
Decent
Not my jam
Julian has always struck me as someone who wants to be known as An Artist, but he just grates on me.
I couldn't possibly give this album as many stars as Julian Cope thinks it's worth. This is both a statement of how far up himself he is, and on how much I disliked this. Somehow it manages to feel poorly thought out in several different genres, all being cut through with a sense of "look how amazing I am at songs" like a stick of rock. Go do one, Julian - this wasn't worth the list by any stretch.
maybe the most boring album i've ever listened to.
я хоть и не пегги, но суицид под это мог бы сделать
I’m not listening to 2.5 hours sorry
Awful
My first thought was that the vocals on the first track were abrasive and offkey and his repeated command to "tell me how much you can take" at the end sounded like he was daring me to get through the whole album. I ended up really enjoying the funk of "East Easy Rider," and "The American Lite" also stood out to me. Overall, I enjoyed the album a lot more than I thought I would based on the first track, even though it did sometimes veer into that British new wave territory I've learned I hate (especially in the vocal production). I was surprised by the end by my thought that I might listen to this again.
I saw this was 2.5 hours and almost skipped it. While I didn't know anything about this band, I listened to it and some of the songs were pretty solid! Rating higher so I can return to it in the future. Nice surprise!
“Now, how much does it take to go down on someone - someone that you hate?” is a line that will be living rent free in my head for a while. Overall: 2/10
A sinister sounding rave up at the end of the world whilst indulging in rather innovative approaches to the increasingly morphing sounds of techno indebted rock and roll. Julian Cope was only born to entertain and there he goes... the kind of music made for BC and AD times. Favorites: Pristeen, Double Vegetation, East Easy Rider, Promised Land, Hanging Out and Hung Up on the Line, If You Loved Me at All, Drive, She Said, Not Raving But Drowning, Beautiful Love, Western Front 1992 C.E., Hanging Out and Hung Up to Dry, Las Vegas Basement.
The author’s bias continues to make this whole thing a lot more difficult than I wish it was. I’ve already had to deal with more than one double album today. And thankfully they’ve both been really solid. This one not so much. This is the worst kind of double LP. One that, in my mind, doesn’t even remotely justify its own length. Getting through this is a serious slog. If you wanted to perform a case study on every thing regrettable and unappealing that was going on in the 90s, this would be a very good pick. This is supposedly split into four “phases”. Except they don’t do much to separate the album into chunks, because the music on all four quarters is relatively similar. And equally boring. Think of every annoying trait you can take out of alternative and psychedelic rock, and put it all into one. This is “art rock” if the art was that stupid banana taped to a wall that sold for a bunch of money. The real question I have is who does this appeal to? Are there people who actually like this? It’s somehow totally out there and completely unoriginal at the same time. Eccentric, but totally derivative. Of course, it’s always impressive if the majority of the album is played by one person. I won’t take that away from him, because I probably couldn’t do it. But it also doesn’t matter very much to me if the music isn’t enjoyable. I see no reason for anyone to spend their time with this, seeing as there is so little of value to take away. Rating: 5/10
more like Peggy SucksAss
Alright Julian. I’m really not happy about a 75 minute album here. This better be a groundbreaker. I know nothing about this and therefore have nothing to say, except I’m sure that I’ll make about six jokes about me being the one who has to “Cope” with this album. The mouth clicks are already insufferable. Well. They’re not that bad. I think I’ve listened to too many in a row. To then dive into an hour and 15 minutes of weird indie shit from 1991 was ambitious, if not completely bereft of thought. I would like to sort your mistakes from first to most major and then repeat that for no less than 3.5 minutes. The worst part is, the song is alright. A decent swell to an impassioned finish. I have no idea what the passion is about, but here we are. You feel overrated? Hmm. Interesting. List maker, the floor is yours. Ah you included it anyway. Makes sense. Bah this one is a good song. It is a little dramatic, but what the problem with that when accompanied by a high energy song with a good melody and vocal pattern. Reminiscent of the Tragically Hip. Now for non-Canadians! I won’t hold that against it. Listen here Julian. You were dragging me into your game. Do NOT give me a white mom who wears Bali Pants version of a reggae song. Don’t do it. He didn’t, but this backing track is pretty rancid. Hell let’s just write this one off. You have like a thousand more minutes to redeem this puppy. Turn this easy rider around Jules. What did I do to deserve this flavourless song? Was it because I didn’t like Easy Rider? Well maybe the next one. I believe in you. Here we go. This makes me want to buy a Verizon plan. Get into it. Rockabilly Idol. Is that better? I’m leaning more towards that. The riff is decent albeit a little whiny. Not a bad return; but still haven’t found what we’re looking for. NO BONO NO. Sorry. I have PU2SD. Got myself a Joshua Tree flashback. A lot of the group calls them “Bono Blasts.” Happens to the best of us. Be kind, we’re getting the help we need. A solid 8 minutes for the next one to get its point across. My headphones are running out of steam and this mediocre three minute guitar solo feels like a genuine waste of battery. Julian IS a safe surfer though. He always has that Safe Search on. Never clicks “I’m feeling Lucky.” You have to commend that commitment to cyber safety. He wrote a song about it. I like that. I think I like this song ironically. I have a lot of time for actual weirdos. Not performative “quirky” people. I feel like Julian is just weird at this point. And something is charming about it. I could be wrong and find out he killed somebody or is a massive predator or something but for right now. I’ll give it to the freak. Is this a reference to “Shut up and Drive” by that blonde girl? I literally can’t remember who did the song, therefore the joke remains incomplete. Who cares. I have like 12% headphone battery and I’m listening to this weirdo deliver me songs that I hate myself for kind of liking. I’m just trying to make bad jokes. It’s my calling. Another surprisingly decent song. “If you believe in me, you believe in human sacrifice.” Beautifully insane. Crazy closing riff too. This feels like I’ve had a poison dart thrown at me and I’ve awoken in a mysterious jungle OR “lungle” as my brother’s classmate insisted on writing for the duration of a jungle themed story that he wrote. When you mix up your verbal l’s and j’s, grade 1 English is going to be a struggle. Or should I say, a “luggle.” Great Big Sea singing “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours.” Weird police sampling. This guy is nuts. Not a great song, but I have a smile on my face. What the sweet hell is happening? I’m in love now. One can be either raving or drowning, but not both. I don’t make the rules. The Cope Man does. We are in his domain. Is this an ad for a ferry service in the Bahamas called “SeaLink”? Because I want in. Although maybe not best to include “downing” in said advertisement, but we have room to grow. Oh yeah buddy. You can bet I’m cutting a mean rug in my seat. Julian is going OFF with head explosion song. Is this funk preset B on GarageBand 2009 edition? This is the greatest. Funk Preset C follows swiftly on. Leper skin reminds me that we’ll never get death metal on this list which still burns me. MAYBE Symbolic or something. Anyway. This goofy soundalike intro to Eye on Springfield rolls on and remains entertaining. Let the good times roll. Now THIS is a love song. It’s insane. This is straitjacket music. It’s what’s playing behind the eyes of institutionalized murderers on laudanum. In that way, it’s metal as hell. In another way, it’s terrible reggae, but I give this freak a pass. Keep the bizarre coming Jules. Yeah, you know what this needed? Alien sound effects and a choral swell fit for Pennywise. Is this the sequel to the other song about hanging out or whatever. A storyteller! Bravo dear Julian. A maraca and some cymbals chiming in an empty space followed by schizophrenic repetition of the title over an orchestral swell. I don’t remember the American, so I’m surprised it has a lite version. Or is it life? Who cares. Will it sell more than the boss? If you’re talking about Springsteen, I’d buy this a 1000 times over before I even thought the name “Bruce Springsteen”. Ha Ha Hee Hee. There is a grown man next to me on the plane laughing with delight while watching “A Bug’s Life.” Maybe they’re shooting nitrous into this plane. Either way, I’m even gleeful at Julian saying he’s born to entertain. You might be right Big C. You might be right. Yeah, this guy is the German Wesley Willis. It has to be said. This album has a permanent theme of being completely insane, yet without any sense of irony. I couldn’t detect the wink or the tongue in the cheek. Not even a nudge. I think this was an album delivered with full sincerity. While the music went from terrible to pretty good, it all has this odd sheen that made it INTERESTING. This is what so many of these albums lack. I’m not looking for everything to have songwriting like the best Beatles albums, as long as your work produces some element of emotion or intrigue . Peggy Suicide would normally be a cry for help but for better or for worse, I think ol’ JC is in full control and brother, grab your popcorn, because Peggy Suicide 2 may be three hours of kazoo solos over poems about trains. Enter the sewer system of your mind and pass me my human sacrifice shovel; we’re about to get messy. Onward to a slip and slide slick with the organs of alien life forms that chutes into a celestial airport bar serving only human hair staffed by a centaur dressed as the 16th pope. Rejoice. We’re eternal. 3.5 HIGHLIGHTS: Double Vegetation, Drive She Said, You…, Western Front 1992 C.E., Hung up and Hanging Out to Dry
, Seethe, Dilate Some of these songs are marginally less bad than the others and are technically the standouts. E.g. Safesurfer
Only liked one song
Couldn't get thru a single song.....maybe stopped trying after 3 or 4
Stopped at the first remix, since it seems to go on forever. Julian is definitely talented, and the album has a very unique sound, but I just didn't find myself getting even remotely excited about it.
Onko brittejä oikeasti olemassa? Tarkoitan, että niiden täytyy olla meemejä, niissä ei ole yhtään mitään. Ja tarkoitan sitä. Käydään todisteet läpi: Mistä ne ovat kotoisin? Yhtään maata maailmassa ei ole nimeltään Britannia. Jotkut sanovat tulleensa Englannista ja Englanti on Britannian sisällä, mutta jos näin olisi, he olisivat brittejä, he olisivat englantilaisia. Mitä he syövät? Jokaisessa maassa on ainakin yksi pääruoka. Jopa Yhdysvalloissa on hampurilaisia. Mutta mitä nämä britit syövät? Kuulin joidenkin ihmisten yhdistävän ne teehen, mutta kaikki tietävät, että se on aasialaista. Eikö niiden pitäisi tulla Euroopasta? Mitä kieltä he puhuvat? Haastan sinut, laitan kaikki rahani ja perseeni tänne, etsimään oletettu "brittiläinen" henkilö, joka puhuu äidinkieltään. Suurin osa sitten puhuu vain rikkinäistä ENGLANTIA. Kyllä, englanti. Todella epäilyttävää, vai mitä? Katsoin "brittiläisen sanakirjan googlesta" ja se mitä löysin oli järkyttävää: jokainen sana oli AMERIKAN. Minä huijasin sinua. Mitä tämä voisi tarkoittaa, on yli kykyni. safesurfer
honestly... didn't love it. this was a weird one.
Pretty boring. I had a good analogy for this when I was listening to it but it’s been a few days now. 2 stars.
I feel like I’m supposed to know who Julian Cope is. I liked the variety between songs, seemed like there was a wide range of influences that went into this album. The length probably should put it into the twos, but I’ll hop up to a three because I was vining here and there.
I hate his voice, I hate the lyrics, and I the length of this album. That being said, I love the actual music. Get a new lead singer and a producer to cut some songs down and you would have a 4 star album.
I was familiar with Julian Cope because I liked The Teardrop Explodes, but the musical style of this album is varied and completely different. Overall I really liked the album, and preferred the instrumentals on disc two, "Ravebury Stones" for example.
Weird stuff, not terrible but I couldn't really vibe with it
I’m not convinced that Julian Cope isn’t just Nick Cave in a wig, figuring out what works and getting the worst of his Birthday Party impulses out of his system.
Pristeen is not a song you would want to have as an album opener. The lyrics and vocals aren't good. The instrumentals on the other hand are good. Some grunge influences combined with psychedelic organs and guitar effects. These really save the album for me. 3/5 its alright
I actually quite like this but just like most albums from the 90s it's way too long
A long album but a good one. I liked Dragonfly and Butterfly E the most.
Nothing stands out in this album. Just there. 2.5/5
2.5
I went back and forth on this one as I listened to the album. I loved the music, and was less interested in the lyrics and vocal.
Plus one for trying to do something different. Another one for touching very different genres and styles. That's it. 3/10
3 til 4
I can't decide whether to give this a 4 or a high 3. I liked it, though.
Really unique album that bends genres from psychedelic rock to jazz to pop.
The two most important things I can tell you: 1. Do not listen to the over 2 1/2 hours contained on the Deluxe Edition. That includes a bonus disc from 2009. (Always) use Wikipedia to find the original track listing. When the album first came out the last song was Las Vegas Basement, so stop there (if you get that far). 2. Despite what even Julian Cope himself has said, his previous major release - My Nation Underground - is a much more enjoyable album and ages just fine. The opening track to that album covers two different 60s songs and then infuses them with 80s Cold War angst - amazing. Yet the music here is strong… favorite songs “If You Loved Me At All” and “Beautiful Love” (don’t miss that one…maybe even spin that first). Many other masterful moments. But even the original release is long, and the whole feels a little less than the parts.
Now I'm just getting pissed off. Another 2 hour slog of crap.
Nothing noteworthy or revolutionary present here... 1991 was an important year for music, and this feels like a remnant of the past.
This was pleasant surprise. Not sure what I was expecting but was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. Only had chance for a couple of listens as its a bit long - but plenty to like and very little to dislike. Will add it to list of albums to return to.
It was ok
An album with interesting ideas, but it felt a bit todo long
S'okay. Good instrumentals, but vocal work I didn't care for. 'Soldier Blue' was my fave.
Bit difficult to get into. Reminds me a bit of Phish. Probably not rushing to listen again
Another I've never heard of. One listen doesn't justify me to decide whether an album was influential or not if I’ve never heard of them. Who did he influence? Who did he make an impact on? Some niche group? Music critics? I don't mind the voice but again, is his music more different to his contemporaries? Pass
Æi, ég er kannski of dómharður, því hér voru alveg ágætir sprettir inn á milli, en Jesús hvað þetta er langt og alltof oft boring, bæði rödd og drón. Það er góð 40 mínútna plata þar grafin í 90 mínútum af leiðindum.
A reluctant 3 stars. This guy Julian showed up and ruined just about every track. But in-between cringe spoken word segments was some musical genius
Couple of OK moments, but this is pretentious, long and boring. Pass.
That was kind of all over the map. I recognized some singles from back in the day that I enjoyed. Version that I got had a bunch of remixes at the end that was very cool overall I liked it and I'll keep it in the shuffle. Its been a year since my original post. A week after I original review my girlfriend and I went away for her birthday to a cottage with an outdoor hot tub on the shore of Lake Superior in January. We ate some things and drink some things and did some other things with some other things and spend a lot of Time naked in the hot tub in the minus 15 degrees snowstorm on the coast of the icy waters and the bed with the bay window. This album got put on and played all the way through while we fooled around. Since then I've probably listened to the album three or four times. It's a weird one, I admit it's a weird one, but it grows on you through repeated listenings. You find layering and Nuance to it that you don't get the first pass through.
Once he dropped the Nick Cave impression from the first few tracks, I started to quite like this one.
Decent, kinda boring after awhile as it sounds the same
Favorite Song: If You Loved Me At All
2.5
Another one for my never-ending baffling inclusion of quite-niche "not that great really" UK artists from the 70s/80s list
finally i have defeated this 2.5 hour king album
Some reasonable tunes. Never clicked with me though
I remember this being released. I didn't buy it. I'd never listened to it. Boy do I regret that now!
I like some stuff with similar elements, and there's particular songs I like, but the longer this album went, the less I cared for it.
Not into this. It had its moments musically, but not a lot of them, and the vocals were just terrible.
It started so well with the first two tracks but then it went downhill horribly and never recovered. Believe me, I wanted to like it, I gave it a fare shot, but it wasn't good beyond Double Vegetation.
I feel bad for the people who thought they had to slog through the deluxe edition; the original album is hard enough at 76 minutes.
Es una mezcla de Iggy Pop y Lou Reed... así punk-rock.
Me recuerdan a James, Divine Comedy...
Too long, overly pretentious. Its fine, nothing bad overall, but don't see it being some amazing thing.
Started out promising but turned into repetitive riffs and drum solos. Could have been so much better
3.5
Ok... Julian Cope... I like this album a hell of a lot better than I thought I was going to. Especially after reading the comments left here yesterday. This album does really have a bad case of doublealbumitis. But unlike most bloated I know exactly what I cut and that would be exactly where the first album ends, "Drive She Said" ends side 2. The first half was looking like a light 4½ star album for me. I love the instrumentions and some of the elongated vamps that would let the guitar take over. I was actually wondering what you all were talking about. The second half is a big old mixed bag. Though I didn't dislike anything on it, and there are a handful of tracks on that I really enjoyed as well. I just didn't feel invested in the second half as much as I did the first, definitely in the 3½ star range. I think overall it feels like a very light four for the whole album. But I really did love that first half of the album. (8.1) ★★★★
A really strange album! I loved parts of it, but it is just all over the place and lacks a cohesive sound. 3.5 stars
There were some parts I liked. Sometimes he gets into this Iggy Pop/Nick Cave sort of sound I like, like on "Hanging Out and Hung Up On The Line". Other times, it's kind of almost like INXS or something, like slightly funky pop rock which is okay, but not the greatest. Then there's some instrumentals that are sort of pointless. I normally like eclectic double albums, but this just feels too disjointed. 3 stars.
A challenging album to get into. Julian Cope’s deep, often tuneless voice does grate quite often and even though there’s so many different styles swirling around here there’s just not much in the way of quality songwriting so this act of throwing a hundred things against a wall and trampling over it in monotone boots comes off as super indulgent and messy. And crushingly long. 2.5 stars.
First few songs were a little bit tedious. The middle of the album is pretty decent - you could improve this one by cutting out the first few tracks and making this a bit tighter. I quite like Safesurfer, nice guitar solo that goes interesting places. Follows a progression I usually like that feels like you're spiralling out of control. If You Loved Me at All was quite nice as well. Soldier Blue has a good groove. Third part starts to drag again. Beautiful Love sounds A LOT like the Happy Mondays. I liked the American Lite. The whole album is on average a 3, with the middle section being a solid 4. I'll probably revisit the tracks I liked.
Good, nothing noteworthy.
Gives bargain bin Nick Cave
So so weird, he just kept moaning
Well I cannot criticise this for not being varied. It was a bit all over the place! Found it too cooky for my liking. But interesting listen..
I really like that. It surprised me. At first I thought it was just some random blokes saying random stuff and messing about with sounds and a guitar. And it was. But I liked it. It just kind of clicked for.
The songs on this album are all very different. None of them are really bad. Some of them are good, some of them are boring. Most of them are too long. And there's too many of them. It has elements of almost every popular alternative rock style of the late 80s. I hear paisley underground, madchester, bands like the Mission, the Doors, Neil Young... And somehow it's not exciting at all. I don't understand the emotion of this album. Favorite song: hanging out
Too long, obviously, but excellent. Annoyingly so, because I was ready to bail on it when I saw the play length, but ended up listening to and enjoying the whole damn thing.
Another one of those "what are we doing heres"
Hideous
🎧The sonic equivalent of scrambled eggs mixed with horseshit. Favorite track: If You Loved Me At All
Didn’t do much for me.
This was my introduction to Julian Cope. Conflicted memories over this one, but it's still got some good stuff.
Pretty good
We are on a pretty great run of albums. This keeps you guessing where it’s gonna go and definitely seems in its own realm. This is taking from so many little genres but making its own. It’s a little long being a Double Album but it’s the kinda music I really love. It’s Experimental but still has stand out Songwriting and Melody . It treads that fine line well. “Safesurfer” is the definitive stand out 4/5
This isn't bad at all. It just isn't exceptional in any way either. Definitely didn't need to hear it. 1001 may be more albums than are really needed.
And if you read Wiki article it shows what sh**s Led Zeppelin are!
Never heard of this guy. This doesn't hit for me even though I feel like it should. Cannot put my finger on it - wait, it came to me on track 3: if Rusted Root discovered U2. Also: Deluxe edition? 2 fucking hours long? I got stuff to do, man.
This was ok, but nothing stood out enough to listen to again
- Boah ich will ehrlich sein, ich hab mir das Album nicht komplett von vorne bis hinten durchgehört. 2,5 Std. - da müsste es schon meine Lieblingsband sein, damit ich mir so ein Album in einer Session einfach mal reinziehe und selbst da würde es mir wahrscheinlich irgendwann schwer fallen. - Aber ich habe trotzdem in jeden reingehört (manche Songs komplett aber immer min. 30 sek.-1 min.) und ich erlaube mir nun trotzdem ein Urteil - Ich finde es ganz schwer, dieses Album zu bewerten, denn ich finde es musikalisch gar nicht mal so schlecht. Irgendwie hat der Stil was echt cooles. Aber leider ist das Album und die Songs selber so minimalistisch und dadurch leider größtenteils sehr eintönig. - Also zwischen den Songs kann man durchaus unterscheiden, viele der Songs selber sind aber seeehr unabwechslungsreich, teilweise nur 2 Akkorde, die sich durch ganze Songs ziehen. - Finde ich an sich auch nicht schlimm. Komme dann aber doch wieder darauf zurück, dass das Album zweieinhalb Stunden geht und dann wird es doch leider recht zäh. - That beeing said, ich fand viele Songs auch absolut cool und kreativ. - Und dann waren da auch noch Songs, die zwar nicht eintönig, waren aber mir dafür wiederum zu experimentell - Und jetzt weiß ich nicht, was ich vergeben soll. Hätte ich einzelne Songs bewertet, wären wahrscheinlich die meisten so 3/5. Durch diese unnötige epische Breite ist das Album aber als ganzes dann doch gesunken. Rating: 2,5
Temu Jim Morrison
3-4
General impression: another British self-styled iconoclastic rocker, but one who might be the real deal Detailed review: This album is pretty cool. It’s got a deeply committed rock n’ roll vibe. It feels pretty comfortably at home in each of the types of song it trades in. Lyrically, nothing has stuck out to me, other than the charmingness of “Pristeen.” Overall, it doesn’t sound that different or revolutionary. I’m probably less likely to return to it than the Super Furry Animals debut. But I still will keep it in my library and return to it at some point. Deeper thoughts (context): Was all British music of the ‘90s just a course correction from the ‘80s back to ‘70s style? Soooo much British music I’ve come across on this list just sounds like it’s trying desperately to hold on to ‘70s rock conventions, as if that era held all the possible “true” ideals of rock. Whatever. Score: 3.4 (3 for this list. It almost got to 4 level.) Number of albums left to review: 973 Number of albums from the list I’d consider “must-listens”: 15 Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 13 (including this one)
Nie najgorsze ale nie do zapamiętania. I bardzo długie. 2/5
I only listened to disk 1. This album was okay. Most of it blended together and it was a bit too long for me. Not much to say. Standouts: Safesurfer, Soldier Blue, Head, and Hung Up And Hanging Out To Dry.
Almost half the songs are too slow
I know he isfamous for reinventing himself, but if every song is different from the next, and they all are terrible..
This is so extremely early 90s. The era where hair metal was fading and “alternative” was catching on but was also so loosely defined that labels didn’t know what to do so they just kinda started signing every weirdo they came across hoping something would stick. Thanks to that era for making a hit out of Jesus Built My Hotrod. It’s probably for the best that this one was allowed to fade into obscurity.
Did not enjoy
Surprisingly enjoyed this album so much that I went back for a second listen! Doesn’t seem to be popular on Spotify so perhaps it’s a sort of hidden gem (or undeserving of being on this list, who knows).
Sooo long and not energizing or inspiring. A lot of it was ambient dance track sounding things. Like Moby
Had some highs and some lows. Pretty weird listen overall. Probably would have liked it better if it was an hour shorter.
Mjög sæka mjög delic. Flottur han Cope. Smá steikt týpa, en fíla hvað hann er andkristinn.
Margt áhugavert og ágætt. Diskur 2 hefði alveg mátt missa sín.
Meh. Lost in the obscurity that was the 90s.
2nd half is the best. Beautiful Love of The American Lite is the best song. Still too long overall but low 4.
Often bad but some gems in here
Nah
Great album, I never heard it before. It must have just been overshadowed by the likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, etc which were all huge at the time.
I liked the first few songs and then lost interest. I may give it another try, but it is not on the favorite list at this point.
Wow garbage
This was borderline unlistenable
There is some interesting things here. but it's all over the place, and I really don't like the vocals but I do like weird music. I'm not sure how to rate this one yet, but I might be a 2
This is like a less-interesting, less-dark Nick Cave. 2 stars.
This is a profoundly mediocre album with a rather disturbing album cover. It's decent. The opening, and closing tracks on the album are the best, and the rest is just cannon fodder. Favorite Track: "Las Vegas Basement"
Sigh
Un bon album, assez original, mais je ne vois pas pourquoi il mérite plus une place ici qu'un autre du même genre. 7/10
Some real cool stuff but gets overwhelming towards the end.
After the first two songs, I wondered, how much more I can take? It was a struggle, but then starting with East Easy Rider, it became an easier listen. The album seems (and is!) too long, but I rewarded with some decent songs that at least kept it interesting enough to get through it. It's never a good sign when I kept peeking ahead to see how many more songs were left. Overall, some nice tracks, but unfortunately sometimes quantity over quality isn't a good thing.
Starts really bad. Pristeen sounds like a kids song. Gets a little better after a few songs. The guitar work is great, especially in Safesurfer. Too bad the lyrics suck. Most of his songs, he just repeats the same thing over and over. Some decent stuff, but oh so repetitive. Best song: Safesurfer
Cool album.
On the first track, I hear a touch of Lou Reed. On the second, a little R.E.M. And on the third, there’s a pretty clear Doors influence. Later, “Hanging Out and Hung Up On the Line” is a hybrid of a surf rock riff with warped-sounding 90s alt-rock. So there’s a lot of different strains of rock coming together for this album. Wow, “If You Loved Me At All” is great. Catchy pop song with some wild, screamed vocals in the refrain. This is an ambitious album with lots of slow-building, epic songs. And the style only gets more varied as the album goes on. Not all of the songs are ones I’d want to return to often but overall the album is very impressive.
I really like how cacophanous the first track got towards the end. It droned for a bit (specially for an intro to an album), but I liked where it ended up. I was hoping for more to grab me after that but I didn't end up really feeling this album. Maybe it's not a bad album per se but another inclusion on the list that doesn't really feel too incredible or inspired to me. There's some cool grooves in there and some interesting structures but I feel like I'm reaching to find things to compliment rather than hearing an album and then hurrying to this review input field to make sure I capture all of my excited reactions. 2/5.
Syd Barrett meets Iggy Pop.
I was not looking forward to this when it came up, but it turned out to be a rather interesting one. It starts a bit generic, but builds up to a meaty middle and ends well too. It might feel a bit too long, but it weaves in and out of genres and is rather eclectic. It's an album that needs to be unpeeled and savoured to get the best out of it - and it's worth revisiting in the future.
I wasn’t sitting through two hours on a Saturday. I listened to most of it though and it was a decent sounding album. I honestly didn’t hate it, I actually loved parts of it but ultimately, it just wasn’t that special.
I did not know what to expect, and checking the reviews I feared the worst. Went on to Spotify and saw it clocked in at 2.5 hours and my arsehole nearly dropped out. I checked Wikipedia and saw the original release was 'only' 1 hour 16 minutes, and found that one instead. I wish I'd gone for the two and a half hour deluxe edition, because this is a great album.
I couldn't cope.
Eclectic!
What an utterly pointless and bloated album. A few songs do the trick, but when you include 18 tracks on an album, you better have a damn good reason.
I didn’t really care for Cope when he was with the Teardrop Explodes. I don’t much care for him as a solo artist either. With this many skippable songs it’s almost a crime to include 18 of them.
bad.
I liked the guy's experimental outfit but it wasn't enough to grip my attention.
Peggy Suicide I love World Shut Your Mouth, but despite liking it, it has never made me want to delve into Julian Cope’s discography. I always get crusty Glasto canal boat vibes, and I don’t want another Levellers on my hands. However I enjoyed this, particularly on repeat listens. I’d definitely question whether it needs to be 18 songs and an hour and fifteen minutes but I found myself liking the slightly idiosyncratic and trippy folky, baggy, new wave-ness of it. I can hear a bit of Velvet Underground, Inspiral Carpets, Can, Echo & the Bunnymen, early Verve, The Clash, Happy Mondays in it, all good stuff. Pristine’s folky intro is very nice and I like the build into a slightly psychedelic guitar and organ track. Double Vegetation is a good too, I like the triplets on the acoustic in the back half. East Easy Rider is great, a nice groove going on with a great vocal. Promised Land has a slightly haunting feel, which I also like. Hanging Out and Hung Up On the Line is a fine punky thrash, but the riff definitely elevates it. Safesurfer’s guitar pyrotechnics may not be fully successful, but it's a great song with a pretty progressive message for 1991. Lovely groove on If You Loved Me At All, and a great song. Drive She Said is ok, really reminds me of something, but not one of the stronger tracks. Soldier Blue has a great hypnotic feel, but I prefer the instrumental parts to the verses with the guitar underneath. You…is also just ok, these three songs being a bit of a dip before picking back up with Not Raving But Drowning with it’s great spacey groove. Head is another great little track, the organ and bass working nicely together. Leperskin is another nice groove, despite the first few bars sounding like the What’s Mr Chips Doing music from Catchphrase. Apostolic Hag is a great insult too. Not entirely convinced by the calypso of Beautiful Love but I did find myself starting to enjoy it, as there is a bit of joyful carefreeness to it. Not sure there’s a great deal going for Western Front 1992 CE. Can feel quite a lot of Can influence on Hung Up & Hanging Out to Dry, love the drum pattern and the snare sound. I like a lot of The American Lite, but not the spoken word parts so much, they’re bit poetry slam. Quite catchy though. Las Vegas Basement doesn’t start promisingly but it settles down into a sweetly bit darkly melancholic tune with a pleasing, gentle vocal. Great track. A bit of a surprise overall how much I liked this. Despite there being a couple of possibly redundant songs I really enjoyed its vibes. It's a real grower, and definitely something I will come back to. 4. 🌍🌍🌍🌍 Playlist submission: Las Vegas Basement
Notable tracks: Hanging Out and Hung Up On the Line, If You Loved Me at All
I don’t know why this is on here. Truly flabbergasted, as I was with that one echo and the bunnymen album.
Vissa bra låtar, mycket filler.
Another entry on this list that can round out your understanding of music, but really isn't even faintly essential to anyone. Especially as an album. Julian Cope is one of those that DJs, Reviewers and commentators generally persist with. They persist in making out he's a true original and the world is a more fascinating place with his music in it. But when I listen I just hear some fairly ordinary rock and pop with a few odd production choices thrown in. It is fine I suppose but really had enough by track 13. For those of you complaining this is self-indulgent or too arty or pretentious, you need to keep working your way through this list cos this barely registers in terms of poncery.
i actually quite liked many of the songs, but it seems that with most of them he just doesn’t know when to end them. according to wikipedia, this album is 75:44, but it would be a lot better in my opinion if it was about 50 minutes or so.
It’s ok. I guess.
Good in places but is too long
Hit or miss songs, and not a big fan of the singing. There is some nice guitar work on a couple of the songs. Mood and tempo seem to change a bit around 2/3rds of the way through. Overall underwhelmed.
Pretty meh and too long.
If The Cult, Morphine, and Frank Zappa had a love child. Really a serious effort and well worth listening to. This has been one of those albums where I'm listening along and thing yep, that should be on the list. In fact, I thought this project would have a lot more of this kind of album and a lot less Christina Aguilera.
Benign. With a title like "Peggy Suicide" I assumed this would be far darker than it was... It performed like an opening band for the opening band for a band your friend dragged you out to on a Wednesday night. All I could think about was 'why does this have to be so long... and also who can I blame except myself...?' That's fine. I'll just stand agains the wall and look at my phone...
There’s so much amazing rock music from 1991 that Julian Cope doesn’t really measure up. It started to get a bit more interesting, if not necessarily better, with “Hanging Out and Hung Up On The Line” and the overlong “Safesurfer.” Went back to largely less interesting after that though. “Peggy Suicide” is better than Cope’s other appearance on the list as lead singer of The Teardrop Explodes, but even that isn’t enough to get up to 3-star range. At least I got something out of this - I learned about the 1990 poll tax riots in England in response to Margaret Thatcher and the Conservatives’ attempt to put in place a ridiculous flat tax. (Cope joined the protests and his political views were pushed further by them.) The spot on the list would be better used by non-rock entries that were overlooked in ‘91, such as Boyz II Men’s “Cooleyhighharmony.”
I did not like this at all and don’t understand why someone would suggest that anyone else listen to it
There are some worthy nuggets sprinkled throughout this album. My main issue is that there is too much other drab stuff the part through in order to find it.
Nope
This is the best 3 star album I've played from this list so far. It's as close to being a 4 star album as possible. Everything is perfectly slightly above average.
I quite liked this album. A lot of interesting songs to hear. "Safesurfer" has to be my favourite track. But there isn't anything on this album close to that song. I guess it's better than the last two albums I've reviewed. 3 stars for "Peggy Suicide".
I can only describe this album as taking so much acid during a Dave Matthew’s band concert that your mind starts to go insane and fill it in with actually good music- overall a fan.
“Safesurfer” +1, who in the world is this guy, underrated
Had never heard of this guy but totally got into the album. Solid four stars.
I listened to some and it was fine but I'm sorry, 2 and a half hours is unforgivable
I was sceptical. Especially based by a double hour and special edition recording. I immediately suspected that the double album was result of the special edition rather than the original, to be honest I didn’t bother researching more. The end pleasantly surprised not all brilliant, but it’s better than the bad week I’ve been having so I’m gonna give them four stars even though really it’s a tree.
I like the themes this album touches on like environmentalism and antitheism. Instrumentally it's a bit monotonous over it's hour+ runtime but it's pleasant enough.
Not too familiar with this artist so wasn't expecting much. It was a great surprise. Some really good indie rock and roll along with a few slower songs. Guitar parts are excellent. a few songs reminded me a bit of Nick Cave (not his morbid, morose stuff). Already downloaded so I can listen again.
The guitar tone on here was really great. For some reason Apple music has this labeled as "pop" and I did not think that made sense until I got to the second half of the album. The whole album created a vibe and I would listen again.
I was bought up listening to Julian Cope so this isn't a big shift for me, but this is the most Jim Morrison I've heard him sound. Overall the album feels like it wants another mix/master.
Well, not boring. Songs are very different. I appreciate all the variation. I'll probably never return to this album or ever think of it again.
Having never heard of this person before, this was a cool and funky surprise. The music was easy to groove to and had a great sound that was very enjoyable to listen to, even though the drums sounded like a machine most of the time. The basslines were great and the singing was excellent. Four stars.
I'm always a little daunted starting an album that's 2 and half hours long by someone I've never heard of. Seems like I should have heard of him before now, though. This is a good album. Some of the songs have a sort of not-quite-as-dark Nick Cave feel to them. Some are more folksy. Some are straightforward rock and borderline punk. Some get a little avant garde. Even a couple that edge into country. It's a very unique album and although I don't think anything really stands out as something I couldn't live without hearing again, it's all pretty decent and I'm glad to have heard it. I'll echo what others have said - it's too long. I found myself being ready for something else about halfway through although I did really enjoy the second half, particularly the (mostly) instrumentals. And I feel like with a really great record, even given the length, I shouldn't want to listen to something different before it's over. This is another tough one to rate for me. I did really like it but don't think I'll ever listen again. Maybe a few songs here and there. But it is a great work and I'll definitely look up more of his music because of this album so I think it's 3.5/5 and I’ll round up.
I found the first song a bit... tedious. But what was weird is that album got better and better as it went on. The songs and styles varied, which I think helped me like the album more. I will say a couple of songs had lyrics that were a bit repetitive. (Looking at you, "Pristeen" and "If You Loved Me At All"). Even so, I still enjoyed it. There were some pretty interesting ideas in most of the songs. And I'm all for interesting. Top tracks: "East Easy Rider", "Safesurfer," "Leperskin"
Um, strange. Sort of melodic and definitely quirky lyrics. This can easily be played in the background without being disruptive. I didn't hate it, just didn't gravitate toward much. Average at best.
4/5. This is a hard one to grade because on the one hand, I appreciate experimentation and trying new things but also some of these songs are just not good and hard to listen to. From most of the album, especially after the first song, it does pick up and there are definitely some highlights. There is some Frank Zappa influence for sure along with some other alt-rock/pop from the 80's. Each song brings a different style and it's weird at first but slowly grows on you. I still can't get over some of them but it was a much better than album by the end. Best Song: East Easy Rider, Safesurfer, If You Loved Me At All
Great album
Very interesting.
I enjoyed a lot of this but bloody hell it does go on a bit. Could have split this into 3 seperate great albums.
First of all, WOW! In a bad way - this was over 2 hours long with two Discs and took forever to go through, as it was also painfully annoying at times. The reason why I am giving the album such a high rating is because of this one song - Safesrufer, that gave off good vibes during the guitar solo but then the dude started singing again. Basically, if you were to listen to the instrumental only, you would rate this 3-4 stars, but because there is singing involved, which ruins the whole vibes, this is getting only 2. It would be 1 but this one song was alright. "If You Loved Me At All" was a song that you could only (maybe) enjoy while on drugs, but I guess there is a market for this kind of music, it's just not my kind of music.
this had some good tracks, a bit long though
Its really good, pero largo de cojones. 7/10
7/10
First, the instrumentation is very well done. The album's overall vibe is weird but not bad. This album had no business being 76 minutes long; I had to lock in to finish listening to it. There are a few standouts here and there, but the album itself was good. That 76-minute runtime is almost unforgivable. Best - Double Vegetation, Safesurfer (MPF), Not Raving But Drowning, and Las Vegas Basement Worst - no bad songs 3.25-3.50/5
Meh. There was some good stuff in here. But mostly it was long and dragged out blah for me.
Brilliant in parts, a bit scattered 3.8
Unusually, especially for a double album, my rating increased the deeper I got. All different kinds of cool.
I remember the DJs on the radio going nuts for this when it came out. Never understood the fuss. Still don’t. How exactly is this special? It’s fine. There’s range, but this needed editing. Stopping after 13 songs. That’s enough of this. 3/5
Didn’t listen to the whole album, just the first four songs. The repetition in the first song started to hug me until it began to build. Then I thoroughly enjoyed it. The rest didn’t stay with me. I’m giving what I listened to a 2.
Start wasn't great, but after two songs it became a little more interesting. All in all quite mediocre.
Meh
Chore to get through
Have on vinyl. Fantastic album, great lyrics and fresh sound across 4 sides. Can hear the influence in lots of successive artists
Wow I really enjoyed this album. It’s hilarious that the “about the artist” bio on Spotify talks about his post-punk background and heavy hallucinogenic usage, and then this album is tight bluesy/singer-songwriter, a little experimental. Great variety, which I so much appreciate after listening to albums where every track has the same energy. The guitar/piano interplay on Safesurfer is beautiful. Other favorite tracks are Drive, She Said and If You Loved Me at All. But there are lots of good ones. Great discovery!
Reminded me of the doors. Liked it but not crazy about it
Fav: Safesurfer Least Fav: Hung Up And Hanging Out To Dry
Well this is a completely unexpected 5⭐️ album Yes it’s a bit too long and unfocused but there are some absolutely stunning songs in there as well
very interesting sound and album, would like to listen more, would rate 4.5.
Used to listen a lot to early Julian Cope, up to around 1985-86, where I went in other directions. So this one was an interesting revisit, and an ok one..
RAHHHH! This was fun as hell, and if you’ve got the time I recommend looking into Julien Cope because he’s really interesting lmao!
Mildly there.
Underwhelmed.
Enjoyed "Safesurfer" despite the terrible title, "If You Loved Me at All," and "Beautiful Love." Otherwise, seemed artificial and pretentious.
The first song was just weird. It got better but not great.
Some songs were cool, some were a jumbled mess
woof
weird album. took me hours to finish this album.
I thought it would never end. I liked bits of it.
I liked Safesurfer. There's some other decent stuff here too, but this wore out its welcome long before the end of its 1hr 16 running time. The single Beautiful Love is one of the weakest on the album IMO.
#284. This is in no way, shape, or form something that anyone needs to hear before they die. Every track on this album is skipable. 2/5: uninteresting. Song added to playlist: Double Vegetation I've created a playlist on Spotify that consists of the best and/or my favorite song from each of the albums in this book. This list can be found here if you are interested: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7MAXDGLWlwLkFLb8veGfkA?si=FqkQQPgZTFWG0jAUJXLFZA&utm_source=copy-link
Can’t get into his voice
Pretty cool rock songs
I will personally give you $5 if you can tell me where on earth I have heard Soldier Blue before, so much so that it was etched on the wrinkles of my brain and activated like a sleeper agent. Great album. Dragged a bit in places, but overall great.
Trust me to get a double album of complete crap. Didn't find one song I enjoyed. How does crap like this earn someone a living? Can't they can just stick to writing it in their bedroom and playing it to a few unfortunate mates!
A really cool art rock album with sonority that I found on recent indie lp
First time listening to this artist. I dig the instrumental variety.
2.5 hours long… are you kidding me. Playing catch up is all fun and games til you hit yet another long and extremely mid British album. I keep getting baited into a false sense of enjoyment trying to catch up and then something like this pops up. In all honesty the music is fine but the runtime pissed me off because how can I have been listening for 45 minutes and still only be 1/3 of the way through. I had to listen to this in multiple sessions and felt genuine relief when the last song finished. If I'm being honest by halfway I was just waiting for the album to be done playing and couldn't really be bothered to keep track of songs I liked. I do know that I liked Safesurfer for the instrumentals, and Beautiful Love was a decent song too. I should probably give this a 2, but it's getting a 1
Thought I might have a 5 star on my hands here but it didn’t quite get there
I like him and some of the tracks were great but it just doesn’t come together as a cohesive album.for me and I certainly wasn’t listening to the 2 disc version the link takes me to
Good music, something about his singing rubs me the wrong way though. Feels pretentious and lacking of empathy, or something like that?
Julian, my man, how do you Cope with putting out another bad album? :/
It’s a shame when you read this is an artist’s best album and it’s still not that good
Muy bueno por momentos, pero hay temas que le bajan la media. Adelantando con mucho tiempo al post punk británico actual de Fontaines DC y esa prole (que también me gustan)
I like Julian Cope. Distinctive voice and more melodic than many of his contemporaries. Nothing outstanding, just uniformly good.
Pretty good. I liked the style of it. It was very experimental. I liked the electronic parts of it. It was very long.
Okay
The cover and first few songs had me thinking this was a nightmare but as the album went on there were quite a few fun songs. Like a sort of lite rock or something. I can sort of see why it’s on this list.
Interesting project, it's a rock album but with a nice mix of energies and styles. Exactly the kind of distinction that yesterday's Sonic Youth album lacked. I'm giving this the same rating, but it's definitely something I'd be more likely to return to and relisten. Favorite tracks: Double Vegetation, East Easy Rider, Promised Land, Beautiful Love. Album art: Wow, it's bold, it's off-putting, but I respect it. Looks to be a woman on a cliff, her clothes torn to shreds. Her expression is dark, the background and sky is dark, there's an ominous aura to this one. Definitely memorable. 3.5/5
I recognize the cover from my years working in a record shop, but I had never actually heard it or known anything about Julian Cope. It's definitely an interesting album that takes a bit of time to process. There's a lot of experimentation and playfulness on it. It's also something that seems like it could have only existed in the early 90s alt rock scene, which is not an insult. There was a particular freedom to that era, like some artists were ready to embrace a bit of dadaism and continually break out from any perceived boxes imaginable. Bands like The The and They Might Be Giants seem to work in a similar ambitious vein and I always find it refreshing to hear them. 'Peggy Suicide' is a great example of this, complete with various left leaning politics that would come to define Gen X, from women's rights to environmentalism. Unfortunately, the 90s were also marked by the rise of the CD and the obsession (from record labels maybe?) to fill up as much of the available 80 minutes as they could. I get why, but the 40-50 minute range has always been the sweet spot for most albums and could have really benefitted Cope here. Focus a bit more and take out 4 or 5 songs and this could be a stronger album. Still, it's a great discovery.
Favourite song- Easy east rider. 2.5 stars
Sounds interesting, but I don't really get it. His singing is somewhat off-putting for me.
Somewhere in between not particularly memorable and just plain boring.
Had never heard of Julian Cope before, and I was on the fence after the first few tracks, but it's growing on me fast. I hear influences from The Cure, Nick Cave, New Model Army, Iggy Pop. Safesurfer and Soldier Blue were the tracks that piqued my interest on my first listen, and on the second I was already liking the whole thing quite a bit.
Neutral on it. Fine rock album
This is very strange and very long. I like to give albums like this 2 listens because I’m not familiar with it and it’s hard to review on only 1 listen. However, the length and repetitiveness of this is keeping me from wanting to do it. My wife listens with me on the weekends and hated it so much that she made me put on headphones to listen to it. In the end, I think the British bias of the book editors comes into play here. I could have died happy having never listened to this.
This is nice to listen to! I enjoyed it for the Neo-psychedelia and the trippy atmosphere.
This was way better than I expected. Great instrumentals, the vibe was solid, good lyrics and energy throughout. Lots of variability in the sound across the album. Never heard of this artist but I may look into them more. It's very possible this just caught me on the right day and mood.
An interesting album. With a few interesting tracks. A lot for one day. I listened about 3 times all the way through. I could see it growing on me, but right now it's a bit too all over the place.
The fact that I enjoyed "Peggy Suicide" more than I ever thought is a mystery. It was the album's tone, production, and voice delivery that sold the deal. It is a work that I will revisit some day.
This was really good and I will definitely be listening to more Julian cope. I would give this a 4, it ended really well but the mid section dragged at points. My favourite songs were safe surfer and hung up and hanging out to dry
Wel ok maar mist iets ofzo . Ook beetje rare lyrics soms ofzo