Rings Around The World

Couldn't get into it.

Fine, just wondering why it's on the list.

Vocally trash but good instrumentals (get unc off the mic)

I should like this, but it wasn’t great.

It wasn't good enough to cross the line into "quirky-good" and stayed squarely in the "quirky-annoying" realm.

Flaming Lips, but from the pound shop. Album art 4/5

Weird music. Didn't like his voice or the sounds.

Nah

Every once in a while I come across an album that I really inexplicably dislike and this was that one.

Going back and forth on this one. Some of it is pretty good, but it changes too often with no clear throughline of music or emotion. Some folks will be really into this. I was hovering between a 2 and a 3 but then they started whistling x

Meh

Some interesting bits but mostly annoying. Why is this on this list.

One of many bands that picked up 1 element of the Beatles’ sound (triumphant, high energy psychedelic party pop) and ran with it. It’s fine but pretty limited and a bit derivative. A 2.

idk this kind of annoyed me. i feel like if i listened to it a couple more times it might grow on me but,,,,,,,,, i don't want to lol.

Not bad but nothing really great either.

While I don't have great recollection of the prior Super Furry Animals entry, this second album doesn't appear to be in line with what was previously featured. Rings Around The World appears to be an attempt for SFA to get a little too artsy and out of the box. Maybe it was seen as a valid attempt to evolve from Britpop sounds of the 90's upon release, but during this listen I found a lot of it to be messy. At times it seemed like they were trying too hard to break the mold and as a result I think the album was missing some of the fun and cohesion from their debut. As the tracks passed by one by one I found myself mostly unfazed despite their attempts to do something different and diverse. I don't know, not really a miss but also not really a hit for me here on Rings Around The World. Did we really need a song dedicated to the Monica Lewinksy scandal in 2001? 1.90 stars

bom ok nice

4.5/10

Damn but this had moments of good that were absolutely derailed by noisy bullshit crap.

ja ik hoopte op niet per se goede muziek hiervan, maar gewoon iets heel raars. helaas was het gewoon wat middelmatige rock

2.5 - Meh

Not for me. Fairly dull. One good song. Think it's called No sympathy

Oh good. Another album where the big decision rests between a 2 or a 3 The fascinating thing about this one was that most of the songs start out sounding like a good song, and by the end it's not. It's either weird or just plain boring. Run Christian Run eventually veers over into "nice" after being impressively boring to start with. Fragile Happiness was a proper way to end the album. Almost pretty and very boring.

lame-o ish

Overrasket over hvor lite jeg likte denne. Variert i sjangre, men aldri noe særlig bra. Påtatt vimsete, uten å være kul. Jevnt over irriterende. Prøver igjen om 10 år.

Hørt på bussen fra jobb. Holy shiiiit dette er ræva? Jeg ga hver låt 3/4 sjans, men måtte skippe. Klarte oppriktig ikke fullføre en eneste låt lol.

I woke up just in time to avoid choking on this hairball.

Drivel

I didn’t warm to this, but I was never a fan of them at the time. It’s all over the shop! Pick a lane! Trying to be something they ultimately weren’t means that it lands in nothingness. It astonishes me that there are two albums from this entirely forgettable band on this list.

Forgettable. Listened to it an hour ago and can't remember a thing.

Forgettable, odd, and not a must listen.

Bit weird

Its like a bad mix of a john lenon, pink floyd and gorrilaz album. Yet it does nothing of those musicians well and just makes mid juice.

Albums like this make me want to stop doing this list

Nothing new here!

Eh

Do you remember back in school when someone tried too hard to be cool and stuck out inna negative way because of it? This is that in a band form. Everything seems so inauthentic. If they were just true to themselves they could have been great. Instead we get a band that desperately wants to be cool and unique when instead they throw the kitchen sink sonically at every song. Just write and preform good melodies. Everything here is so forgettable.

14 - Super Furry Animals - Rings Around the World - Rating = 2 Not familiar with this band. Opens with a nice soft piano… a little soft ooh coming in… a little sleepy. Gets boring, too long. More interesting / sort of a rocking guitar rift with the airy vocal… still doesn’t really go anywhere. Title track - more upbeat… nice enough if not excellent… annoying end. Now we’re a little more vocal/ballad-y. Receptacle for the Respectable is a fun song, a little annoying at the end. Shoot Doris Day… a little dramatic, not sure… probably not. Miniature is a 7-min song that doesn’t grab you… then with 2 minutes left is starts getting tweaky and weird… no. Just not really a sound or a vibe that I’m going to spend time with. Not offensive but not for me.

No private session for Spotify. There is lot of different genres in this one album, it seemed unfocused and disjoint, sometimes annoying. F autotune.

Best Song: Juxtapozed with U. Apart from the annoying robot voice, the rest of the song is a vibe. Worst Song: [A] Touch Sensitive. Throw it in on the garbage pile of tracks where artists think that by just using sexual noises as samples it means they've done something creative and titillating. Overall: This album feels like it has no idea what it wants to be. I get that it has a semi-experimental vibe, but these experimental fluctuations within and (especially) between songs makes this song completely counter-cohesive when contrasted against the pretty ordinary indie rock that makes the rest of the album. I can't figure out whether I wish the artists had gone more experimental or more conventional, and seemingly neither could they.

I’m not sure I understand why I have to listen to every Brit pop album from the 2000s

Despite a rather unappealing band name, Super Furry Animals have some cred in that scene of 90s British alternative rock. I've already covered acts such as Supergrass and Blur on this list, so what does this one bring to the table. The answer is something inspired by 60s psych and electronica. That sounds like a great concept, but what it ends up being is a little too washed out. I saw the vision of what these songs were going for, I was aiming to give this a 3 in fact. The issue springs from the execution of these tracks. There's too much of a grandiose Oasis-type loudness war feeling here. I did get reminded of things Blur/Gorillaz would do in their discography (the self-titled was around the same time), so I thought that was as neat. But besides any good comparisons, Super Furry Animals leave me feeling confused. Too robotic for my human skull, I guess (5/10, 2/5 on this scale)

I appreciate the ambition but this record is a bit all over the place. Around the time it came out every band was trying to make their Yankee Hotel Foxtrot or Kid A, but unfortunately not everyone had the songwriting prowess to match the trendy sonic theatrics. This band reminds me a bit of a sillier Elbow or Keane: post-Brit Pop also-rans who lost something in translation on this side of the pond. It sounds great and there are plentiful Beatles-y hooks, but there’s something about it that is inconsequential.

I don't even know where to begin with this. It's odd, but not offensively so?

Hmmm... A lot of background music vibes here, and that's the "good" part. Found myself ignoring a lot of this as I worked, forgetting I was even listening to anything. The times it got "interesting" enough to capture my attention was really only because it became insufferably annoying in one way or another. I don't think this music is for me.

Fine, pleasant even, but I don't know why it's on this list. No ear worms here.

No sé lo que he escuchado. No sé si es bueno o malo, a veces parecen Pink Floid, otras Blur y a ratos suenan modernos por el exceso de autotune. En general me he aburrido, creo que ha envejecido mal.

Modern, experimental progressive 70’s easy listening…?

First artist on this list so far who I had no prior knowledge about, so went in blind. A unique sound at first, but as the album goes, everything starts to sound the same and blend. Likes: Sidewalk serfer girl, juxtapozed with u

I'm confused by this album. How many different styles can one band imitate? It really does feel like they are trying to sound like a whole range of different artists in every track. I won't bother to list who they sound like - most tracks make me yawn. Perhaps this makes Super Furry Animals a good live band. The selection box of popular music.

Nope, a couple of goodish songs. But I can't take the voice of someone who sings like they don't care. Couldn't listen to the whole album.

Didn’t love the singers voice. Tunes had a nice beat. Probably won’t revisit anytime soon.

Ok

These guys definitely know their ABC’s- not to mention their ELO’s and XTC’s of post- Beatles Brit-pop but don’t generate anything especially memorable. They often marry it to some expertly crafted yet jarring EDM, a bad trip mixed in with the sunny psychedelic melodies. Overall the effect for me is sensory overload and vague nausea.

I didn't really get into these guys back in the day. The album is interesting, but adrift of what I was listening to then, and probably proggy, if anything, now. High 2s.

It's all over the place. If I didn't know I was listening to the album by the same band, I'd think it was a playlist of different artists and styles. Might be a bit hyperbolic, but it's hard to get my arms around the album. When it was good, it was decent, and when it was bad, it was mediocre.

Not my thing

4 - BAD

Hokey, mostly (That said, I was almost relieved to get a middling Brit poprock album – it's been a minute and I know there may be a hundred more to go...)

Bland and forgettable.

wtf

This never really landed for me. Kinda disjointed, and the consistent elements (the slow synths and the Beatles-ish stuff) are not my jam. There's some talent here, but I was glad when this was over. 2.3

Ok. ★★

I kept forgetting I was listening to this until something weird happened.

I remember a colleague raving about this band at around this time; he wasn't the edgiest person, but he was very nice, and quite earnest. So I wasn't entirely surprised by the overall vibe. After an interesting start, with two contrasting tracks, it settled into being too Beatles-esque for me. Any edgier moments (there are some) were soon ironed out by some comforting major chords, descending scales and a bit of trumpet, strings or some ba ba bas. I did think it was well-crafted, though, with nice instrumentation, and for all my grumbling, I wasn't bored*. But: not as cool as they perhaps thought it was, I surmise, and Juxtapozed With U was really awful. *Edit - sorry. I actually was bored by each of the final three tracks. Why bother including them? A star lost.

How these lads have 2 albums on this list is crazy. Its much better than the previous album but it feels forced, the death metal scream and the electronic drum and bass for example. Its ambitious which deserves credit but it certainly doesn't land. I don't think theres a song I'd want to listen to again. 2/5.

Rings Around the World has ambition to spare and moments of genuine invention, but too much of it settles into a mid-paced indie rock comfort zone that's hard to get excited about.

Nothing worth noting on this album. 2 stars or D-.

A couple songs were cool, pretty experimental album. It’s mostly a drag tho

Something about this album irritates me. Maybe it's the turn-of-millennium postmodern poly-stylism. Maybe it's the crypto-prog rock lurking beneath the sunny pseudo-psychedelia. Or maybe I just don't like indie pop. There's a small window of my life (age 15-17) I probably would have liked this album, but I think I would have soured on it by the time I went off to college.

Alternative Welsh band. Different sound. But, good music.

This was a disappointment. I used to like Super Furry Animals, but either this album was a bit of a dud or my tastes have changed. An okay album, but I won’t be rushing back to listen to it.

2 albums in a week, this one even more boring

Not for me.

Not my cup of tea. Too... nineties sound.

Was pleased to get this as liked the single juxtaposed. Not pleased to listen to rest of it. 2001??? You’d never have guessed- tired, old British rock

It's.... fine?

It was.. just eh. Music was ok at timrs but damn that voice was annoying

Wasnt entirely sure why I hadnt listened to SFA when the britpop boom was happening but now I know i wasnt missing much.

It is hard to tell, but it almost sounds like the band wasn't held under house arrest and subjected to psychological deprogramming for a full year eating nothing but soybeans while practicing for this album. I was surprised that I couldn't remember hearing about this band, and as far as I can tell I've not heard any of these songs before. It seems like the kind of thing that I should like but it felt disjointed and I couldn't get into it.

no my cuppa

Not hateful but not for me

Viel zu langes Album

the music isn't really bad or anything, I just felt zero connection to it, which was strange

This is a fascinating album, There is a few redeemable moments, such as the ending to Receptacle for the Respectable where death metal vocals are used out of nowhere, and my attention was grabbed. While the majority of it I feel is pretty cookie cutter pop music which is just not for me, there are moments on this album that really grabbed my attention, such as on the song No Sympathy, that goes full on IDM towards the end.

Borring to death. To be forgotten after listening

I wish I had taken notes while I was listening, because the album just ended and I don't remember any of it. I didn't turn it off, so I'm guessing it wasn't particularly horrible.

There comes a point, and we arrive quite quickly to it, when all brit-pop sounds exactly the same. This is not necessarily a bad album; it's just one more.

Just okay

Kul med nåt jag aldrig hört talas om. Ambitiöst och spretigt i nån sorts Damon albarn-anda, men enda som verkligen fastnar är sidewalk serfer girl. Inte asdåligt, absolut inte asbra. Uppskattar på nåt sätt respektlösheten kring genrer men känner ofta ”välj, för helvete”.

overlong and uninteresting, but at least it's Welsh rather than English

Another obscure UK band, shocker. The album is ok, but absolutely nothing about it seemed particularly great to me.

Monótono, no lo supe apreciar

useless record

Not horrible. But not sure why it’s on any list

I’ll give them credit.. it takes a special kind of talent to make music this stunningly dull.

Very little of this record was appealing.

It's interesting enough for a visit, but quite honestly, I don't care if I ever hear another song from this record again. It's not that it's bad, it's not. It's just that this is one of those alternative rock records that indulges the artist (co-self-produced) and doesn't really do a good job on accessibility, melody or catchiness. Without those factors, it's an art-rock album that becomes one of those critics' choices and they foist on the masses to be "smart" and "relevant" by creating a trend.

*unbelieving stare while pondering what brought the editors to include this, of all albums, in the book* 1.5/5

Kinda boring. Liked the lo fi quality

Copy/paste of my previous SFA album on this list... "I didn't like Super Furry Animals back in 1996 and I don't like them in 2025..."

Inoffensive but mediocre. Bit of a slog to finish. Saved a song: N RYM: N

This is just average and boring and all sounds the same. It’s not terrible. But nothing grabs me either. 2.5

This was just... boring

The highlights on the album elevate the rating to 2 stars however, there are big portions of the album I just did not enjoy. Favourite songs: Sidewalk Serfer Girl, Juxtaposed With U, It's Not the End of the World, Fragile Happiness Lease favourite songs: Vulcan street, Receptacle for the Respectable, Touch Sensitive. Rating 4/10

Not for me at all.

The interesting instrumentation of this album does not save it from being completely washed out by the most bland singer I have heard. Though, the songs around Juxtapozed with U are decent, it really does not save the album.

5/10

I liked the surfer song, but the rest didn't do much for me.

It’s an album you have on in the background at a dinner party. Someone might ask you who is it by you tell who it’s by and everyone kinda strikes their shoulders and goes back talking.

Trist.

Largely weird and impenetrable. To me at least. Perhaps that's the point.

All this time I misunderstood the purpose of this list. They are giving us a 1001 that we must listen to in order to actually be killed. There ae some great mixed in here to keep you hooked, but all this British stuff is the real lethal mix. Just mindlessly putting us into a irreversible stupor.

More generic brit rock BS. No thanks.

Super Shitty Songs

Some of this is really good, and some of it is really not for me. This album has won me over and lost me and won me back over a few times now. 3 hours for an album seems extra extreme.

I need to read up - sounds like Damon Albarn in there - don't remember enough about them - some tracks are pleasant, most nothing special and it begs our favorite question, 'what's this doing on the list'?

It's fine, but not really standing out to me. It gets lost in the background for me.

Check out the size of my influences. I respect this more than enjoy listening to it. That is the faintest praise I could come up with.

la cosa più mid che abbia mai sentito

3/10 Ok, no thank you... 9-25-2025

The songs range from okay to just… noise. No thanks

Ugh how many times am I going to get something that sounds like Elvis Costello? 2/5

2.23

More like the super boring music

No idea what I was listening to

Kind of a fever dream

A little spacey for me for the most part but it had its moments. “Sidewalk surfer girl” was the highlight.2.7

2.5 I listened to the first few songs after a particularly bad beer league hockey loss and was planning on giving this album a 0.1 rating but gave it another try in a better headspace. Its not really my cup of tea but it is fairly interesting and I could see how it could have some absolute fanatics

I don't get it...

One of those where I'm like "oh yeah I've heard of these, I'm sure I know some of their songs" and then I don't, and the album bores me

Tons of differing influence in this album. Kind of all over the place, but they definitely pull you in with their unique style. That said, the wide differences in their individual songs gives a sense of an identity crisis in the music. Like, they weren’t sure who they are, so they tried on a lot of hats. This leads to some shock going from one track to the next. Each song is interesting, but as an album there isn’t much flow which impacts the enjoyment. Plus, I felt like the vocals were regularly drowned out by everything else.

a little better than meh. 2.5/5

Yeah, nah, not completely awful but not for me.

This honestly just sounds like average boring English pop (I know they're Welsh), with a brief glitch during "No Sympathy". Radio DJs, notorious for having no taste, would have loved this some twenty years ago.

It's quite a diverse album I'd say. It was quite all-right to listen to, but in the end I was happy it was over.

2,3/5

Ehh, very forgettable in my opinion, no songs i really liked but it was not bad except a few songs

auch heute eher negative einstellung gegen das album - beliebiger mix von allem möglichen.

Naja, etwas von allem

Me recuerdan mucho a Blur, más especificamente a Damon Albarn con sus proyectos más experimentales. Los escucharé más detenidamente.

Another band I’ve heard of many times, but never listened to. And once again, I don’t feel like I’ve missed out on anything. It’s ok-ish. Not required listening though.

I have no problems with albums and songs like this because it's easy on the ears and I can go through it, eve enjoy it at the time. But the thing is that is forgetable and sounds all the same after awhile.

Boring. Never heard of this band before. Some of the songs were fine. Nothing I’d want to hear again.

Theres just something about the production i cant stand I cant put my finger on it

Combines the most boring parts of Blur, Supergrass and Mansun into a whole pile of mediocrity

veel willen maar weinig kunnen... zelfs de goeie momenten duren minder lang dan een nummer...

Dette er jeg ikke høy nok til å høre på

Wasn't super impressed. Too electronic for me, and some of the songs were super annoying.

Listened Before? N Meh. Another Oasis clone. Not sure why this is here. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: (Drawing) Rings Around the World

Early 2000s Britrock/-pop. Nothing special. Not bad, but if you really like this, I assume you also really like boiled potatoes.

It’s the opportunity cost that makes me sad really. How many amazing albums by incredible artists could have been in this spot instead of a second (!) Super Furry Animals album??

This was a swing and a miss. I wont remember a single lyrical or melodic hook. Somewhere along the way there's a horrible attempt at a psuedo-screamo section, which somehow didnt break the monotony of everything else. I have No Sympathy for the song "No Sympathy", which is a bit of lazy failure to capture the essence of Pink Floyd on the frontside, then a sudden transition to a half-baked Aphex Twin impression on the back half. At least we have Jacob Collier now who can pull off the novelty of genre-bending with some sense of style, substance, and bring on decent collaborators. This album is a nothing burger 2/5

Forgettable

No johan taas oli. Lemmenlaivasta Acid Housen kautta johonkin joka ilmeisesti kuulostaa tältä itseltään

Olihan taas vähän oudon puoleista

Ihan ok, vähä liikaa stimulointia tuli kyllä välillä kaikesta ylimääräisestä piipittelystä.

not for me

While there is lots of ability and experimentation here, it was not enjoyable at all.

2,5

The Good: We are living on Saturn… The Bad: it seems to be inhabited by Super Furry Animals… The Ugly: Imagining all those Super Furry Animals in zero gravity doing what them furries do… Never heard of the band before, which shouldn’t come as a surprise as I, as an old fart, know very little about anything released after Y2K. So, yeah… don’t know. Not my cup of tea. It’s neither here, nor there. It’s not meat, nor fish… And I can’t get past the band’s name… There’s nothing on this album that made me sit back and listen, there’s nothing on this album that I can even recall having sat through… I guess the poor furries are getting a low score today… 2*

** 1/2 Strange Wall of music and a mellow singing: no

Your typical Britpop. Very Blur/ Daman Alban like (which in my case is not a good thing). It feels more like listening to the radio than to an album. Nothing offensive, a few somewhat catchy pop songs. Not a "must hear" album for me.

4/10…neo psychedelic / britpop

This was definitely a up and down album to me. Some songs were intriguing while others were horrible. I’m definitely in the middle about this one and ai think that’s all I have to say. It wasn’t good enough to spark an interest- It felt bland, lacking, then a couple songs were just scratchy and bad.

It's just rock.

Another band from my part of the world. I've heard lots of hype for them over the years but had never actually listened to them until now Sorry to say though it was shit. Lots of noise 2 ⭐️

Super dull. Likely good music, but not in my zone.

It's sort of like Coldplay but boring No don't double-take, I said what I said

Pretty garbage but this list has had worse. Some songs really sound like Blur.

im trying to not give three 1/5's in a row

Only a couple songs I liked on this album. Otherwise it was not that good

I mean this is music, but pretty forgettable. Not sure why it's included on this list and definitely think it's the British bias setting in again. 4.75/10 (2.375/5)

Just because you have the idea to blend five different genres doesn’t mean you can execute that idea successfully. And that’s with a guest appearance by Sir Paul on the album, no less! It was too all over the place for me to be a coherent listen. There were moments in songs, but nothing that I want to listen to again. 2⭐️

Experimental - not my thing.

Bad

The title track was far and away the best track on the album, the rest really wasn't up to much. A bland but ok 2

Never been a huge fan of theirs, this album didn't change that. It's not bad but not memorable either, didn't have any of their hits I knew either. Feel like a fake Brit I've been rating the UK albums low but not been the best choices.

Never quite took for me.

A bit weird at times. Would probably have liked to hear them sing it all in Welsh.

The flaming lips if they were worse and British. Theres not much of note here just some sub par neo-psych 4/10 Favourite: None Least Favourite: Alternate Route to Vulcan Street

The sound was so fuzzy that I couldn’t tell what was happening. I like noise rock but the noise needs to work within the musicality of the piece; I’m afraid this one got overwhelmed.

Fine.

Eeeeeh. This was fine for a brit pop record. But I wouldn't say it's iconic in any way

Proof positive that the shadow of the Beatles looms large over British rock music, the first half of this album takes its cues not only from late-period Beatles albums but also from post-Beatles progeny like ELO, without building on either of them in any significant way, though. As the record progresses, it trades the Beatles influence for other touchstones from pop and rock history. "No Sympathy" steers towards Blind Faith territory (albeit with a bizarro electronic coda). "Juxtaposed with U" is a string-heavy number that swipes its lush arrangement from Philly soul. This is obviously an ambitious record, but to pull off an enterprise like this, you need more ideas than to just stripmine British rock from the past few decades. If singer Gruff Rhys at least had an interesting voice, it might have provided a solid center to these songs, but absent that, the record comes off as hollow.

Some songs were unlistenable for me.

This was an odd listen. Not sure how to describe it; I liked parts of mostly every song, and also disliked parts of mostly every song. I enjoyed the more unique sound of blending rock with lo-fi eldctronica, but the songs go on for way too long and lose themselves in the longer runtimes. Would be much better if it was just more concise

Litt interessant kanskje, men først og fremst irriterande

I liked the first track. Rings Around The World felt really chaotic for me - it may have been the mood I am in. I have found the entire album a bit aggravating, I can't quite put my finger on why.

Ummm…

Um okay! It was kind of silly. It’s like rock artists who are silly. I would zone out and then be like… what am I listening to?

I was expecting electronica based on the band name, the album name, and the cover art, but was immediately surprised when I started listening. I enjoyed Alternate Route to Vulcan Street, but the second track was at least a minute too long and then I genuinely disliked the third. The fourth and fifth did not get any better until the outro of the fifth song. I did enjoy the instrumental sixth song, A Touch Sensitive, but then the 7th and 8th songs were entirely forgettable. Starts getting interesting again at No Sympathy (there's the electronica I was expecting!), then we go straight off the rails (in a bad way) with Juxtapozed with U. I kind of checked out after the last one, but Run! Christian, Run! was actually pretty good. Probably my favourite on the whole album. I want to like it, I really like the background noise and instrumentation, but I just can't stand the singing, the lyrics, or the songwriting. Overall, I think what I've learned most during this project so far is that I don't like britpop. Also, I was surprised to see the Paul McCartney made a cameo on this album, but turns out it was just some samples of him eating carrots and celery? Yeah, that tracks. Favourite tracks: Alternate Route to Vulcan Street, A Touch Sensitive, Run! Christian, Run!

Maybe it's the lack of sleep last night, but this shit makes my head hurt. The early 2000s has a lot to answer for - I guess britpop was running out of steam so when damon albarn zigged, these guys zagged? Boring boring boring. Dig the JSRF lookin' cover, though. Wish the music lived up to it.

The only way I see my self enjoying this is- it’s a live show Danny got us free tickets for and when we get there one of his friends with a name like Ebo, Cho Cho, Scruffy or Surge is in the parking lot with a nitrous tank and the year is 2009.

The constant mingling of genres makes this hard to listen from all the whiplash. The one constant is the Costello-esque vocals. Like a George Lucas film, there is so much here but someone should have steered the ship to a direction instead of answering yes to every idea.

I didn’t overly enjoy much on this album, but I appreciated it keeping me guessing. Auto tune-laden poppy tunes, Beatles-esque British lilting, techno it’s all here. I particularly appreciated “Receptacle for the respectable” developing into ween-level weird at the end. While there were good moments, at the end of the day I couldn’t ride a wave long enough to consider myself surfing.

I wish I was able to find the "original" version of this and not the 20th anniversary that's 3 hours long...

Ok. [A] Touch Sensitive is a great song 2/5

i’m good on that thanks though

I’m familiar with the title track. It’s fine I guess. All was fine, until “Receptacle for the Respectable." Then things kind of went off the rails in genre experimentation. Those experiments in mashing in other genres are also obnoxious and bad examples of those genres.

..

Tod langweilig

I kind of admire the variety of styles, but nothing stood out.

I’ve never been a fan of Super Furry Animals, so I expected this to be a tough listen. After not enjoying Fuzzy Logic at all, I was surprised to see them get a second album on this list—this band has just never clicked with me. "Alternate Route to Vulcan Street" has potential but never really gets going. From there, Sidewalk Serfer Girl follows, offering little more than standard UK rock of its time. It’s a dull start, and the album never picks up or improves from there. To be fair, the band experiments with different sounds throughout, but none of it really lands for me. Favorite song: Touch Sensitive—one of the few tracks I enjoyed. Juxtapozed With U was also a good one. These two tracks alone push the album to a 2/5 for me. Least favorite song: Receptacle for the Respectable—what an awful noise. Minature is also completely pointless. Album artwork: The cover gives off an electronic music vibe, but that’s not what you get at all. That said, it’s a great cover.

The lead singer cant decide if he's Damon Albarn or Elvis Costello, and the band itself seems like they tried to bring the sixties british semi-psychadelic style rock to a then-modern 2001 with poor results. Too much going on here, and none of it flows together, and overproduced as hell. If they were going for that 60's feel like I think, its missing all of the warmth, for whatever sense that makes.

I guess I just wasn't in the mood for this one. Had I heard this back when it came out, I think I would have enjoyed it. But today, I struggled to care. It seems fine enough: well thought out and lots of care put into it and all that. But it failed to find purchase in my excitement bin.

Maybe if I was British I would enjoy this more. Just nothing. Give me song 2 over and over again please. I should listen to blur

Groupe inconnu. Le premier morceau commence mal avec son orchestre de cordes, son rythme très mou et la voix trafiquée. Le morceau suivant n'est guère original, même si l'instrumentation est devenue plus standard. Des morceaux peu inspirés succèdent à d'autres morceaux peu inspirés. Une exception : "No Sympathy" m' a un peu surpris avec une seconde partie électro très inattendue (+1). Sinon j'ai trouvé l'album globalement ennuyeux (et trèèèès long), même si il n'est pas désagréable à écouter. =>2/5

This one is a real 🤷‍♂️ to me. It’s an early 2000s rock album and I listened to it

Caring very little, yet wanting to move this along, I punted my review to ChatGBT: Super Furry Animals’ Rings Around the World promised a groundbreaking journey through experimental rock, but unfortunately, the result feels more like a convoluted mess than a cohesive album. While their ambition is undeniable, the execution falls short, with tracks that seem more preoccupied with quirky sound effects and abstract arrangements than with any semblance of melody or structure. The album lacks the emotional depth or clear direction that made their earlier work memorable. Instead, the listener is left to wade through layers of overproduced noise and disjointed experimentation, which ultimately distracts from any real impact. For all the flashes of creativity, the album feels like it’s trying too hard to be weird without a solid core. While a few moments stand out—like the upbeat “Juxtapozed With U”—they’re few and far between in an album that overstays its welcome. It’s an ambitious attempt, but it feels like it’s trying to do too much, without ever delivering something truly satisfying. For fans of experimental rock, Rings Around the World might seem like an interesting curiosity, but it’s far from a must-have in the genre. If you’re looking for substance along with the style, you might want to look elsewhere.

It was fine

This was just a bit of an aimless mess, and I'm just not in the mood for that today.

some bright spots but also some absolute headaches

Listening to the first song I thought I wouldn't be listening long but it had some moments. Kind of odd but not terrible

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness. Oscar Wilde

I’ll give them credit, each song sounded different from the last. I didn’t like any of it but at least it didn’t feel like one long slog

Ok, first, this is a hell of a long album. Like, can we just not. 3 hours? No thanks. I listened to an hours worth. It's alright. Nothing that I'd be down to listen to again or all the way through ever unless I was forced to. High two, not worth a 3 for me.

It’s ok. They’re a Welsh band, which is mildly interesting. There’s definitely a wide range of sounds and influences here, from rock, to techno, to acoustic/folk. It’s not bad, it’s actually enjoyable for the most part, there just isn’t anything too memorable as far as I’m concerned. Nothing that screams “playlist” to me.

Man. Unfortunate for this band that I'm not in a great mood rn bc SOME of the sound to me is nice but also it's so easy for me to fade it into the background in like a not positive way. 2 star

ni fu ni fa, 2 o 3 estrellas. música alegre

Title track was the only good song I fear and that was still eh Fav Songs: Rings around the world

Pretty eclectic album, but not much worth listening to here.

A nice surpirse. Even though most of the songs are strangely melodically melancholic which is right up my alley, it's still missing something, but I enjoyed it nonethless. Juxtapozed with U was the best song.

This just sounded like random sounds. I am surprised that these albums sold.

Sounds ambitious but generally fails to land

Previously rated: Fuzzy Logic (4/5) ********************* Hmmm, I may have overestimated this band based on the other album. This one didn't do anything for me, really. Lots of nonsense like auto-tune and weird sound effects. Too pop, but not fun pop, boring pop. The singer sounds familiar. Elvis Costello? Won't listen to this one again.

Sounds out of date

asdf

I wasn't really paying attention to this one because it didn't arouse my interest. Sure, it has some features that I should've enjoyed, but in reality, I just didn't. It follows the classic sound of 90s Britpop, especially Blur. However, it didn't exceed them. I don't know; it's just a feeling. Maybe it's just that I'm not in the mood for this.

Not great. Drones or weird. Can't get a sense of it.

I was closer to not liking this than liking it and there's nothing here that would make me want to listen again. Does it belong on this list? I don't think so. 2.5/5

A nothing album full of nothing tracks

Budget "Flaming Lips" - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots

The late 90's/early 00's is probably my least favorite time period for music. I don't like the arrangements/productions, seems like all the albums are too long by like 1/3, it's just not my jam. This one had some ok songs but all the rest of it is still true

I can’t be mad at a band with this much creative energy but I wasn’t into this. The songs feel overproduced, overwritten and overstuffed with ideas. Sometimes that classic British pop charm would peek through. I can tell these guys are students of the classics (The Kinks, The Who, The Beatles) but there are too many extra bells and whistles, and too many moments that go bonkers with a genre switch or a wild production choice.

Very cool alternative sound that blends a lot of different genres in really enjoyable ways. Unfortunately I feel like this is a tale of two sounds; the instruments and the vocals. Throughout listening it feels like it is screaming for my attention at multiple points but continually falls short- I think the vocals are to blame, as a song like "Sidewalk Serfer Girl" will have some really cool electronic drums over acoustic guitars and then you get slammed with some heavy distorted hits, but the vocals don't change much or have these dynamic swings. "Juxtapozed with U" is really solid and enjoyable. Wasn't expecting this sort of sound at all. It's fun and whimsical and weird and a joy to listen to first thing in the morning. It's a 2/5 for me though, slightly under the middle. Part of me is thinking my oft-thought "does this album belong on this list?", I wonder if maybe I'm missing something here because to me it's a cool nerdy alt rock album that doesn't really do enough to be held in such a high regard.

Alternate Route to Vulcan Street - (A) Touch Sensitive - shoot Doris day - Sidewalk Serfer Girl (Drawing) Rings Around the World It's Not the End of the World? Receptacle for the Respectable Shoot Doris Day Miniature No Sympathy Juxtapozed With U Presidential Suite Run! Christian, Run! Fragile Happiness

While there were some tracks that I didn’t hate as much as others, a lot of this album annoyed me. I tried to give it a fair shake, but I struggled a lot. When they want to be closer to pure pop, I think the songs are pretty decent, but sometimes they just tossed noise in and I was like “WHY!?!?!”. With 4 songs left, I had enough and just moved on.

Kind of strange. Some parts of songs are fine, but some go into these weird changes of style. Not particularly good. 2/5 Won’t listen again

Not very good is it. Very disappointed with this one.

if pink floyd was fronted by damon albarn

The singing destroyed this album. Why is this on this list?

Different but the multiple discs are not worth it

I've always wanted to like this band, who wants to be accused of not being a friend to animals?, but their music never clicked with me. Rings Around The World did not improve their case. Listening to this album was a painful experience at times. Not every song was bad, but not enough of them were good.

Super Furrys have always seemed fun, and up for pretty much anything. Some good tunes here, but am personally not a fan of the Pick'n'Mix approach to making an album. It shows a level of musical versatility, but it meant I couldn't immerse myself in this in the way I would with a clearer focus to the album as a whole.

More expansive and ecclectic than I was expected (I think I was expecting Supergrass) - this brings elements of trip hop, shoegaze, and 90s alt/indie rock for a spacey album of beat-driven extended instrumental passages, and zonked out psychedelia. It's a mix of Portishead and Beta Band, but not as good as either. The slower orchestra backed tracks are really plodding and bloated, like the worst aspects of a 70s concept album. Mostly woozy, floaty, and kind of boring.

started out ok rock, turned into so-so pop-y stuff. points for experimenting, and for not sounding awful, but I'm not a fan

This album has an even too big variety of sounds for my taste. And nothing that hooks me. Only things I have heared before by other artists in an even better way. favourite: "Sidewalk Serfer Girl" 2,5

No Sympathy was awful. The worst song I have listened to in a very long time. The rest of the album was fine and did enough to drag it up from the 1 which I was close to giving it just for that song

Apart from one song I have mixed feelings. Is it something else than usual? Yes. Does it deserve the place on the list? Hmm... 2.5/5.

Wanted to like it because I hear the David Bowie and Elvis Costello influences two artists I admire. But this didn’t click with me.

This list is "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" - which is not the same thing as "The 1001 Best Albums of All Time." I try to keep that in mind when listening to some of these that don't resonate with me. Surely there's something I'm missing, or something influential about the album or artist that makes it something worth hearing before I die. Sometimes I find that whatever-it-is. Sometimes I don't. This is a case of not finding it. There's nothing spectacular here. It's boring. There are moments where something catches your ear and you want them to lean into that more and then they go right back to being boring and uninteresting. Kind of a frustrating listen, honestly, because it's not terrible or one of those albums where I found myself counting down the songs until it ended, but I sure was relieved to put something else on when it ended. The musicianship is there, but clearly based on the fact that the latest Remaster includes 50 tracks and is over three and a half hours long, the focus was not. I didn't listen to the full remaster - I stopped at the end of "Fragile Happiness" which was the end of the OG 2001 release - and even that was too long.

What ever the hell this is.

More dull brit pop. Why do they insist on making such dull songs? Is it because it's gloomy there so much? Ugh.

A few songs weren't too bad, but overall, no.

I didn’t really enjoy any of this. It felt amateur, artificial and often quite annoying.

Lacked cohesion and was often annoying.

it was different and also diverse but i dont really know where they wanted to go. still had fun while listening!

OK, of its time. 2.5 stars

(Drawing) Rings Around the World Juxtapozed with U

Background music that was grounded to to the back. 4/10

Meh

It was okay

had a couple notable moments (juxtapozed with U) but overall pretty corny and dreadful

I enjoyed the variation of style, nothing really stood out to me though

**Rings Around The World** von Super Furry Animals ist ein Album, das sich durch seine experimentellen Klänge und genreübergreifenden Einflüsse auszeichnet. Obwohl es von vielen Kritikern gelobt wird, hat es bei mir nicht den gewünschten Eindruck hinterlassen. Die Komplexität und Vielfalt der Songs wirken oft überladen und zu chaotisch. Trotz einiger interessanter Momente fehlt es dem Album an Kohärenz und einem durchgängigen roten Faden. Ingesamt hat es mich nicht überzeugt.

Meh

Sounds okay, pretty generic BritPop

Rings Around The World is all over the place, from dreamy pop to electronica. As if Blur was the band at margaritaville at times. Nothing really sticks. The last third of the album might be the best part, Run, Christian Run is the highlight. 4.7/10

This album can't decide what genre of music it wants to be. This is the second Super Furry Animals album I've got on this generator, the first being Fuzzy Logic, their debut album. This one feels more cohesive at least, but still couldn't hold my interest. I don't see much of a difference between this and the plethora of other boring britpop bands that this generator seems to love. The cover art looks like something a 9 year old created in MS Paint in 2 minutes. Favourite songs: Sidewalk Serfer Girl, (Drawing) Rings Around the World Least favourite songs: No Sympathy 2/5

Shades of ELO and other 70’s here

This was surprisingly chill, had it on in the background and never really found anything affronting or annoying about it. Probably wouldn’t come back to it, but a perfectly fine album.

This is my second and last Super Furry Animals album to review. I thought Fuzzy Logic was okay, and I expected more of the same on this album. However, I really didn’t care for this album much. Like Fuzzy Logic, this album was pretty diverse in its sound, but Rings just didn’t have the cohesiveness that Fuzzy Logic did. Musically, I just didn’t enjoy listening to this album very much. The highlight for me was the title track; it reminded me of something you’d find on Pet Sounds. It was experimental and strange, but it was still melodic and pleasant to listen to, and I thought the phone sounds at the end were a nice touch. The lyrics were fine, but again, there was a real lack of cohesion from song to song. Sidewalk Serfer Girl’s lyrics and the title track were probably the best of the bunch, the rest of the songs felt like they were weird just for the sake of being weird, and it came off as pretentious. This album just didn’t do it for me, and I think I’ve had my fill of this band.

I listened to it, but I don't remember it at all

Didn't give a shit about this really. Found it quite bland tbh and then some strange stuff in the middle. Didn't mind the last couple of songs but overall didn't feel cohesive. Not my bag

This seems all over the place but not in a good way. I could've just not been in the mood and missed something better here but I'm not sure about the quality of this one.

Have you ever visited family or friends around lunchtime and as a good host they offer you something to eat? They present you with a salad, and it has a couple of things in it that don't make sense, like they just threw together left overs.

Pretty annoying pop-rock trying to be innovative mixing different bits (in both sense) but failing to produce anything much interesting to listen to. Sometimes it's even painful when they take out brass instruments and mellow singing. There are few interesting parts, but not enough to grab my attention. And it's long and sometimes pompous.

Uninteressant.

Nope, First I thought meh, but it's just boring and I started to actively dislike it...

What did I do to deserve Super Furry Animals two days in a row? Snoozefest part II.

All over the place.

It's an ambitious project, but it didn't really work for me. There are plenty of moments where it's interesting for a bit, but I feel like nothing about it is inherently good or interesting enough to warrant all the (what feels to me) forced weirdness/quirkiness. Like, none of the performances are especially great, none of the voices are particularly interesting, none of the lyrics seem particularly evocative or clever...it just feels like a lot of forced weirdness for its own sake without anything really there.

If beige were music

I feel like I would have liked this album more when I was younger because I something inside me really wants to like it but I just don’t.

Not that good. A bit cheesy to be honest.

Odd.

This album by Super Furry Animals is unbelievably long and totally arbitrary. Incorporating rhythms and sounds from electronica, pop, punk, rock, etc., this album is definitely considered alternative or perhaps more indie. This album did not transcend the Atlantic well.

If the Beach Boys morphed forward to the late 90s, spent a couple years listening to current music, changed their sound as little as possible while still trying to be more "modern" and, because no one would believe them if they said they were famous time-travelers from the 1960s, released an album under the name Super Furry Animals, this is exactly what it would sound like. Which is to say that it is bad. OK, the above was written during the first half of the album. I will concede that they did diverge their sound a bit in the second half of the album, even getting a little experimental in parts, playing with a bit of electronica. They did not, however, get better. A well-deserved 2 stars.

what's the fuss?

Not really my thing at all, but I can dig the artistry at work here in terms of creativity and song transitions

Klingt streckenweise nach Damon Albarn mit merkwürdigen elektronischen Begleitinstrumenten.

Again, this version was not available on YouTube music. But, I did find a remastered version. Honestly, not my fave.

schunkelcore

#113. Nothing super interesting here. Ok radio rock but nothing that stands out. 2/5: meh

Liked the diversity in genres and that's a lot happening with garage feeling instruments an an enthusiastic reserved voice. But some songs are theatralic poppy and the singer too nasal for my taste.

Sounds like typical UK popular music ... relatively uninteresting since I prefer lyrics that tell the story. Bottom line ... not my cup of tea and generally boring music. Lots of electronic noise with an occasional break in the pattern for a ballad/soft rock attempt.

Kinda trash. Just not for me

Sounded very experimental and as if all the post punk bands that came out of the UK may have been influenced by this.

My first thought was that the singer sounds a bit like Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam), so hearing that paired with hard rock on some of the tracks was strange. The first few songs are kind of interesting but derivative at the same time. It's like SFA doe Pink Floyd, SFA does the Beach Boys, SFA does the Beatles, etc. The vocalist's death metal impression at the end of track five was ... no thanks. The second half of the album gets too 70s disco and soft rock for my tastes (And a random country-western song? Why?) My album right before this was Beta Band's "Heroes to Zeros" and at first I thought both albums have similar vibes but that Beta Band has better music and SFA has better lyrics. Then I got to the back half of the album and things get kind of ridiculous, so I think I retract that statement. I didn't mind the first half of the album. The second half overstays its welcome with lyrics that are too clever by half and music that's a mix of their cover band work with electronic elements that are mostly just unpleasant to listen to. Apparently the lead singer said, "We were trying to make utopian pop music that had pretensions of being progressive and exciting," and, well, I don't know about exciting or progressive, but it's definitely pretentious.