Chore of Enchantment by Giant Sand

Chore of Enchantment

Giant Sand

2.62
Rating
21240
Votes
1
13%
2
33%
3
37%
4
15%
5
3%
Distribution

Reviews (page 7 of 7)

Oof, this was baaaad

It almost had a quality I liked, kind of like a moody Morrissey vibe. But then they’d wreck it a song or two later with something that was just awful and didn’t work.

Complete waste of time.

Really boring and obscenely long. 1/5 stars.

This is slop. Basic slop. I don't know why this is here. Why is this here?

Supposedly Alternative Rock / Folk Rock? A boring depressing album that is neither folk nor rock. One reviewer praised this album's "raw but tender empathy in songs full of unexpected departures" - what a load of pretentious crap.

Musically I did not really hate this. The vocals are the thing I have the biggest problems with. The monotonous, bored delivery becomes annoying very fast. I could stand it for a little while but a few songs in, listening to the voice became really frustrating. This is just annoying, repetitive, boring and did not have to be that long. Favourite song: Shiver (probably the only melodic vocal moment on the album)

I usually feel great after listening to the album of the day. Not today

Not even halfway in but this is painful. Would be less of a chore if he didn't sing.

It did not need to be 2 hours long 30 songs track list. No clear identity of what they wanted to have the album be like. Also I can't be arsed with men being poor singers anymore. Fully losing the plot. Only song I can tolerate is Shiver.

More like Chore of an Album. Yawn.

There was nothing in this album that I could get a firm grip on. Too monotonous a soundscape for my taste.

boring

It’s alright, honestly I didn’t listen to it.

Stealing this from one of the global reviews: listening to this was a chore...

Not sure why but that album really annoyed me. Might have been the weird way the singer whispered the whole time. Or could have been that sometimes it feels like the instruments were just playing whatever the hell they wanted to. Seems like music that I would normally really like, but just something about this did not jive with my ears. Anyways, like 95% of that album was pretty terrible, and 5% was mediocre to ok

Giant Sand was band that I tried to get into in the '90s but I had given up by the time of this 2000 album. Nothing ever caught hold of me. I'm surprised to see anything by them on this list. Not that they're terrible. It's just that Howie Gelb's vision has never appealed to many outside the band's following. ...and this record, as it turns out, is more of the same. Meandering, understated, mood pieces that conjure remote places and broke-down people, not exactly Americana... not exactly like pre-Odelay Beck, sharing some sonic space with Jim White's more-compelling stuff from the same era... at an hour long, this is a slog of a record for the most part. The punky spurt of "1971" was a surprising interlude, and "Shiver" stands out like an actual song I'd want to hear again. Some of the lyrics carry some weight, and some of the atmospherics/production is cool, but not enough to save this record for me.

I'm starting to understand the real premise of the book's title, which is that some of these albums are intended to make you welcome death

Just ungodly slow. Pretty dull.

Uninteresting dross

Not in my edition of the book! 2000. 1 star. Dull hipster bar noodling that goes on for far too long, with a vocalist channelling a stoned Lou Reed. Who decided this was essential listening?

More like sand in your bathing suit at the beach.

Worst album ever...a chore?YES....enchantment? FUCK,NO! music played on the elevator to HELL ...1 star, wait, no stars for this ...sorry Giant Sand....even your name is fucking stupid

This album sucks. Like Godspeed You! Black Emperor or Silver Mt. Zion but bad. Temptation of Egg is maybe the only halfway good song on this album. 1

not a fan of the vaguely grungy vocal style

I should've taken chore being in the title as a warning.

Struggled to get through the bonus tracks

It’s a Chore alright.

There was definitely no enchantment here and it was a chore to get through it. Would have given 0 stars if I could have

Horrible indie/alt rock garbage. Singer has the most monotoned voice ever. They got the word Chore right.... It is a Chore to listen to. While listening to Temptation of Egg, my 4yr old son put his fingers in his ears and said he didn't like it. He has more sense then the complete morons who thought this album belongs on this list. This is absolute hipster indie/alt rock garage. Nothing about this is good. Favourite songs: Dirty From the Rain, Shiver Least favourite songs: Temptations of Egg, and the rest of this piece of shit record... 1/5

This sucks.

B0000000RING

Dude seriously tried to rhyme Cohen with Own. Also sampled about four different genres and was terrible at all of them.

What a chore it was listening to this.

Could someone please explain to me why I need to listen to this painfully drab album?

There were a few songs toward the back half of the album that stood out, but you had to listen to 7 tracks to get there. Too dry and low energy for my taste. I think I would've liked it better as an instrumental album I'll probably never listen to this again. Super forgettable. Not sure what this album is doing on this list

Tough one to get through. The vocals ruined it all for me, I just don’t enjoy the singers voice or delivery. The music wasn’t half bad at times, there are some interesting surprises throughout, but the time between surprises really drags. Not my thing.

This is like if the Flaming Lips singer wanted to make an album that sounded like Bruce Springsteen. That’s not a good thing. I found myself getting distracted by everything but this album. I actually forgot I was listening to something, which says a lot since music is my thing. There is nothing good about this one, sorry. 2 failure of albums in a row? Sheesh

Giant sand? Giant shit more like. Who decides to put this on these lists? Why is it great because it isnt...

Unacceptable

There are a lot of annoying noises and whines scattered throughout the songs. So, it’s hard to get through a whole song. This is misophonia hell. Stopping early.

Someone tried and failed.

Just a boring album. Nothing particularly interesting or groundbreaking to speak of. The songs usually just have one musical idea and don’t go anywhere. The talk singing might have been okay for an EP but listening to that for 16 songs (30 with all the bonus tracks!!) is just exhausting.

how did this end up on this list⁉️his singing is awful and the instrumentation & lyrics are so bland

Don't know em; don't like em. Lou Reed posers.

Boring album. I don't know why it is in the list in the first place. It's something I can only imagine people listening to in the deep States. It has nothing.

This album seems to be “Let’s throw together any old shit and see what works.” Some does, some doesn’t, but they’ve neglected to take the bad ones out. Seriously, 31 tracks? Also, its like Mountain Goats fronted by Lou Reed. Didn’t work for me.

Sorry, but this was awful - the husky not-quite-singing mumbley nonsense might work for some, but it's definitely not doing anything here. Not a fan, going to definitely need to listen to something with a bit more variety to contrast with this.

erste song nöööd mis bier. han au ultra scheisse pennt aber sie helfed gad nöd. punishing sun au bitz weird, s wär eigentli no schön. aber wiso chönd die ganze indie guys nöd singe? s nögste lied isch mega breit ok. ich merk etz scho da chunt nöd guet ich fründ mich glaub nöd mit dem album aah. okay eventuell findi de songtitel "temptation of egg" seeeehr funny und de song scho bitz groovy. ah jo uf raw isch wieder de lamsam indie stuff und de obligati indie-glockenspiel-melodie im refrain irgendwenn. UF WOLFY HETS AM SCHLUSS VIER COOLI SEKUNDE GITARRE shiver isch kinda cute aber joooo so indieee no reply isch tz gad no cool gsi cooli gitarre recht moody. kenn s operestuck nocher aber weiss nöd wases isch. bottom line man findi etz wieder chli wenig melodie für so e langwiligs instrumental. aso isch afoch seicht. gseh wies eim meega chan berüehre

oeeeff oke mal luege was da passiert well dusted findi na spannend? aber er redt halt nur punishing sun AARRRSCH ok s solo findi na cool HAHAHAHA X-TRA WIDE ISCH MEGAAA ASSSSS ER CHAN NÖD SINGE UND DENN GAHTS VOM LINKE UND RECHTE IHR WIE DEVIATION CHLI VOR SICH HER MURMLET HAHAHAHAHAHA ok hiee und daa findi de groove na spannend, mite orgle (?) im hindergrund raw isch eig na herzig wolfy passt wieder gar nöd zum ganze? fuck isch das arschlangwilig satellite isch en neue tüfpunkt aso das die gschissne schisslieder auno mind. 5 min münd gah, isch fast scho tortur

a horrible soundtrack to roadtrip to punishing sun was the only song that didn't make me want to turn it off. kinda liked it tbh

Putting 14 bonus tracks on this flaming pile of garbage is perhaps the most delusional thing I've ever seen. Do yourself a favor and just watch an ASMR video instead of subjecting yourself to this crap

Shiver

De cara foi enormemente ignorado.

I was in a great mood this morning. It took about 5 minutes of this shitbrick of an album to change that. I loathe this with the passion of 1,000 suns.

Jesus needs to return and snatch this crap up.

I sometimes wonder if the authors of the list are just trolling us, this is one of those times.

Shit music. If you will.

I got far into this, but at the end of my commute to work I was still five songs from the end and hadn’t enjoyed a single minute, so I’m calling it. I didn’t *hate* it, exactly, but it’s firmly in the bottom 20% of albums in this project, so I’m giving it a 1.

This was pretty awful. The dude cannot sing and his music was bad. 1/5

I didn't listen to the bonus tracks, I couldn't have done this for 2 hours! I had not heard of Giant Sand but was surprised that they have 33 albums in their discography! What a long and boring album.

How can something have so much potential and be so annoying simultaneously? The last (extra) song is almost good, but that's all.

Couldn’t get passed thinking this is an Aldi version of Nick Cave. I don’t like genuine Nick Cave.

fucking trash

Who the fuck thought I needed to hear this before I died? I will admit, there is some poetry in some of the songs that is relatable and nice, but for the most part this album just gave me fucking anxiety. I didn’t even listen to the bonus tracks and I’m not even joking this album left me feeling like I should start drinking again to forget I listened to it. If you rated this album above a 2, and that’s even pushing it, you’re simply lying and just trying to act like you’re some music junkie who is better than everyone else. It has some good poetry, but there was no reason to make this into an album. I would argue that if he just left this as written poetry it would’ve been a lot better.

Groupe totalement inconnu. Et totalement inintéressant. Il m'a semblé tellement interminable que .... je ne l'ai pas terminé. =>1/5

oli hetkiä, joissa kykenin huijaamaan aivojani tykkäämään tästä. joitain vipuja piti väännellä synapseissa että se onnistui mutta valitettavasti alta-aikayksikön iski tylsyyden tunne naamaan kuin tuhat valehtelevaa huoraa... vasta kuudestoista albumi kyseiseltä bändiltä. ehkä jos kirjoittaisivat vähän rivakampaan tahtiin sitä musiikkia niin laatukin parantuisi. perkele. jätti hiekka? jättiläiset ja. gi muurahainen hiekka. all these places... all my faces... blown away...... todayh........ vähän beatles lyriikkaa. tarvitaan nykyaikana, nykypäivinä menot sellaiset että voitaisiin hidastaa pikkusen wolfy

calling this album a chore was apt...

Giant Sand…in my asshole.

Chore to listen to. Boring. Lazy songwriting. How is this one of the best albums of all time...

My god, that was so boring.

Horrible

Buncha quiet meandering. Ugh.

This WAS a chore.

Id rather listen to the mating sounds of whales than this album. It drags on endlessly and drains the listeners will to live. I would like a few words with the moron who decided this piece of crap album needed “bonus” tracks. 1 star because less isn’t possible.

I listened to all of this 2hr album then read about it as I felt confused by the half-whispered singing. I learned about Howe Gelb’s loss prior to this album; I learned (and heard) about how he was influenced by The Cure. I read about how was starved for new music in Tucson, Arizona and decided to make his own, which served as the blueprint for alt-country. I understood more. Does it mean that I liked the album? Nah.

wow i fell asleep

Strange and all sound similar Do not love it and also didn’t even attempt to listen to all 30 songs

Some individual tracks were ok but as an album it didn't work, felt like it was perpetually on the cusp of waking up and getting more lively but left me feeling cheated

Abysmal. Absolutely dire. How anyone can seriously rate this highly is astonishing to me. Depression on wax.

What in the "Give Me a Leonard Cohen Afterworld" is this shit?

Really not my thing at all. Not a fan of his voice, the tracks feel really empty, and I'm just not resonating with the lyrics.

A bit too pretentious for me. Gives me too much of "beach boy near the fire with his guitar".

"Chore" is a very fitting word to use, because listening to this felt like doing taxes (this is a very original joke that nobody has made yet). I'm astounded at how many albums with two sentences on their Wikipedia page and like 10k Spotify plays are on this list, because genuinely, how do you dig something like this up and then decide it belongs on the list over fucking Neutral Milk Hotel or Weezer. I doubt anybody has listened to this album outside the context of this book in the past 10 years. 1/5 for being offensively bland. Boo, I throw rotten tomatae at thee.

Chore. Bore. Snore. Please no more.

Yeah, not good.

Might have just set the record for quickest tap out for me, congrats!

I think this album is having an identity crisis. There's Lou Reed-esque vocals, a splash of psych rock here ("1972"), the overall feeling of country and folk, but with trip-hop drums occasionally tossed in there? I'm usually fine with the dry, listlessness of the Reed vocal style, but combined with the very laid-back feeling of the album overall, it just makes it feel like so much wallpaper. I can find a few tracks I don't mind, but overall the thought is, who is enjoying this? It's too boring to be anything to listen to actively, but it's not... anything-enough? to be something that you'd consider mood music. It's just got nothing for me.

According to wiki, the only claim to fame this album has is being included on this list. Given this list's other entries, my expectations are low. Yeah, this is just bad.

This album is certainly a chore, but not of enchantment. Pure crap.

Unlistenable. The only mildness ok songs were ruined with random crap

This album feels like your Ol' Uncle Jimmy got drunk and broke out his instruments that he doesn't quite remember how to play. You also know he was never the true vocalist for his band that never broke out of the local bar scene...if that seems harsh, it is. This album is no good. Fav tracks: N/A

¿??¿

1.5, I liked the writing and idea but I think the execution was horrible.

??? I dont get it. gib besseres in die richtung

Not my vibe.

Chore of Enchantment is just a chore tbh. It tries to front itself as folk rock but it's miserable, uninviting, lacks creativity or poise, utterly boring. Nothing else to add.

Overall -damn, an overture on an album -honestly sounds like a dramatic reading -this is exactly why white men need to be told to shut up at least once in their life, like why did no one tell this man he can’t sing -if the vocals were stripped, I’d enjoy this more -I’ve never had second hand embarrassment from an album, this is like someone burning at karaoke Well Dusted -Jesus Christ did he pregame the recording with a carton of cigarettes or something -it’s like a trust fund baby said dad, I wanna be Kurt Cobain Punishing Sun -ok why am I liking this -like it wasn’t good but I enjoyed it for some reason Temptation of Egg -oh my god, this has got to be a joke

Well, they got the Chore bit right. Generic indie guff - nothing to grab me here.

Long and couldn’t deal with it

w e i r d Is it just me or is it o u t o f t u n e

Gepflegte Langeweile.

Chore to listen to

Horrible

🤦🏼‍♀️

Yeah - I had no idea what that was supposed to be. Like the talk-singing is fine in general with bands like The Hold Steady...but this is a mess. It's caustic and uninspired

A chore to listen to this monotone singing with the guy one millimeter from the microphone. And it's 2 hrs of this?

Entirely way too long. It's pretentious and boring. I will round down.

This guy be like “hmm, I can’t seem to hit these low notes. Oh well”

Agree it was a CHORE to listen to this. 0 saves. What even is this.

On the 1976 release "Zoot Allures", Frank Zappa delivered all the songs in a whispery voice to create a creepy, sleazy vibe, and did it to great effect. On the 2000 release "Chore", Mr. Sand delivered all the songs in a whispery voice because he can't fucking sing worth a damn. Some nice moments of experimental instrumentation do not compensate for this man's absolutely painful mumbling and half-assed lyrics. One chore (to listen to this) out of five.

Nope. Boring af

Feels like this album never actually gets up and going? Like the guy is warming up for an hour and forgot to record the album. Sounds nice enough, pretty calm, but what's it doing?

I've never heard of this album or artist before, and that's probably the most positive thing I can say about listening to this album. This album was definitely not my cup of tea. I didn't care much for the vocals, and it was pretty dull musically too. Maybe under the right circumstances (a cold, rainy day, with a cup up of coffee in my hand and no responsibilities) I would have enjoyed this album, but this just wasn't anything that I would want to listen to again.

Broing dreck

Mehh..

Poor man’s Bill Callahan

Chewing sound in one of the songs is enough to make me quit the album entirely and give it a 1 star.

So we’re just putting any album on this list huh?

This could not have ended soon enough. Not for me.

99% chore, 1% enchantment.

Nope. Didn't get past first track.

Holy crow this was awful. I hated every second of it and there were many seconds. absolutely not. goodbye.

I don't get it. Tucson and Arizona had a pretty good music scene in the 90's and early 2000's from what I remember but I don't remember these guys. They sound a bit like a softer version of the Butthole Surfers - unusual sound and not quite singing vocals. I was already looking to turn it off on song 2 (song 1 was just instrumental fuzz), feeling got stronger on song 3. On song 11 (of 16) I was screaming come on, when will this end. Is it the worst music that ever existed? Probably not. It's soft and not abrasive. But my god is it boring. I didn't want to turn it off before giving it a complete listen, but I'm sorry, couldn't do it. I advanced through the last 5 songs just to check out some of each. But no.

Looked like indie, sounded an awful lot like cuntry. Cunts.

Folk off About as exciting as a Man City game.