There's No Place Like America Today

Um álbum que não impressiona. A principal crítica que faço a este estilo de música é a valorização excessiva dos vocais, em detrimento da parte instrumental, que sempre traz músicos competentes que são, invariavelmente, relegados ao segundo plano. Aqui temos algumas insinuações que revelam a qualidade dos teclados e metais. Disco mediano!

Yeah it's fine. Nothing special. 2/5 stars.

Meh.

Not sure if this album caught me on a bad day or what, but I didn't vibe with it. I think the songs dragged on for way too long and Mayfield's voice got annoying. It wasn't unlistenable, and some songs were okay, but for the most part I couldn't wait for it to be over.

Soul is not really my thing. I found this to be simple, slow and very one note. It's easy to listen to though, so probably not bad as background music.

It was alright. Didn't feel like anything special.

Funky and soulful, but not much more than background music for me.

It was solid, nothing stood out to me, but wasn't a bad listen.

Before this, the only Curtis Mayfield I knew was Super Fly wich is all funky grooves, soulful energy, and a more “normal” singing style. This album is way slower. I kinda wish it had more punch from the bass and drums, but musically it still flows really well. What doesn’t totally click for me is the high-pitched voice he uses most of the time. It’s just not my thing, and sometimes it flattens the nuance to the point where certain vocal melodies, like on « When Seasons Change », are hard to catch. If Marvin Gaye had been singing here and if I had time to dig deeper into the lyrics, I might have given it an extra star.

Not my sort of thing - found it a bit dull

Listened to it twice and, while it had its moments, overall it didn’t do much for me. Both times it sort of faded into background music.

This was so boring. Not for me.

Not an artist or album I was previously familiar with, but started right out with a fun, funky/soul sound. Read through the lyrics, but didn’t really connect with them or see much to read about in the album’s wiki. Spotify offered more information on the artist and his significance as someone who wrote most of his material and one of the first to speak openly about African American pride and struggles in his compositions. Overall, this album was not really my type of music and didn’t have any standout songs I would chose to listen to again, but it was not a difficult listen either.

Mayfield is an icon and a hero, and his tremulous voice sailing over a sparse funk track is always a pleasure to hear. As an album, there's nothing particularly earth-shattering going on here, but he only made so many albums, and this is indeed one of them.

Fínt grúv. Er samt lítið að tengja.

This album was fine. It is probably culturally significant, but overall I found it to be rather unexciting

Meh.

I don´t really like the style but the song "so in love" has a good sound, claramente se siente una influencia de la época (y lo que según yo se vio en los 70´s) entonces puedo entender la diferencia de melodías. Para ser un album de hace 50 años se conserva con buena música y para un fanático del jazz podría ser fabuloso (not my case tho). #2

nice and groovy. listened to it twice in a day while driving. but looking back dont remember anything abt the album or any song so cant rate it too highly

meh

Aika groovy. Välillä alkoi tylsistyttämään ja joistakin lauluista en tykännyt, mutta hyvät vibat. Eikä ollut liian pitkä. Ei kuitenkaan kuuntelisi uudestaan.

Ahh apparently I know this guy by "move on up", everything else is a blur about him. I like the cover, it's very ussr. Hmm album name is about america tho, he might be against what's happening at the time if he's that kind of a guy. I like the genre in general, so I do have hopes but not a very high one, we'll see. First song, it has War vibes, genre is the same too ig. Well it's fun yes but something is missing, I hope the first 3 minutes is just the intro yet, chorus has to hit somehow, otherwise it's toooooo r/b. Instrumental break is lazy on a scale of how orchestraicly gigantic it should be. Great headphone play though. It was good for maybe 30 seconds in total. Second song, promising start. Didn't continue well. Maybe the lyrics are good, but mhh can't care about that on the first listen. Umm the sound in the left ear is entertaining anything else is just boring. This could have been so much better, who produced this, I see where they could-a done something more and it just stopped wtff. The next song is the most known song of the album so it must be good, but idek what "the best" in this album could entail. Third and fourth song(I continued writing while on the 3rd) this has slightly better production, but still could be better. Also probably this is the loudest it will get in the quality, too bad. It's catchy yes, but also too soft. I have my hands throwing around in disbelief cuz what is this. This is if D'Angelo tried funk, yuck. To be objective, I have no idea what to like here, instruments are fine, voice isn't too bad, but nothing js exciting, or soothing even though it is trying to do that. I liked Tim Buckley so much yesterday and he was rated so low because of his persona, and this gets more overall votes because it's more appropriate to listen to? Naaah, this shit is boooring. Can't believe I'm saying this, but this is background music, and believe me when I say I like a lots of types of songs and genres, this is underdoing on a different level. It's not even a good downbeat album, I've heard much better ones, it's not that I fuck with only upbeat songs if y'all think that's the case, this is just frustrating how undercooked it is. Thing is I will like anything if I listen to it long enough, because music does that, but these songs.. there are tooooo much better, other songs that are faaar superior than this, hence why waste time(lol ironically he sang "wasting time" while I wrote that) listening to this. I know the mood of this too, but for that mood this ain't gonna be the one I'm listening to. The girls are singing well as a tho. 5th song, it IS groovy, but that's not enough, ughh it's so not enough. No one even tried to make this a little better I guess. If you listen to this live it might be better, seeing how they work on the instruments, but you still need something else too, this can't be the only entertaining thing. It's not sad even, even sadness is symbolically done here, it is there but mmm you gotta see through it, well I ain't doing all dat. Lyrics must be too fucking good, if people like this because of that too. 6th song, this is probably the best start in the album. Disappointed once again though. 7th song, the starts are almost rich, then he just stops being good at music for some reason. There are these parts where instruments go over the usual and that's so good, but it's so rare that the whole record is dry as fuck. Not even the right amount of jazz. I usually let the song end and then write a review, but I figure nothing good or new will happen anyway so. Hm I wanted to give this more than 1 star, and I will do 2 because it had some moments(it's 1 minute in total of the album probably) which made it kiiiinda better. But I've never been this disappointed in these week. I wrote more of a review up there, so I'm not gonna do it again, I just wish he has better albums than this here, somewhere I don't really care to be honest. He could have done so much more, kept it downbeat but just better, God is that so hard‽ Well that's behind us now, and people like this in their own way, so it wasn't a total mistake to make this I suppose. Farewell to you Curtis, I may like you in the future, but definitely not now.

I can see how this was influential on future D&D/neo soul, but it’s kind of boring.

I like the sound at its core, but it's pretty boring. There's very little difference between any of the songs. It rests a bit on its laurels. This is my second Curtis Mayfield and I'm a bit shocked how much better the other one is than this one. I get the feeling he's phoning it in a bit here.

Mayfield is clearly a good vocalist but it was a little one-note for me. Whilst I'm not the right audience for funk or soul there was a great vibe to the music and would happily relisten to an instrumental version of this album as background chillout music. Billy Jack was great, but I could've done without the 6 minute ode to Jesus in the middle.

Not really for me.

Slow, sultry soul and I can get behind that. Unfortunately marred by very high pitched vocals for much of the album that I don't like at all. Best track is probably the first one. I feel bad because the instrumentals are a 4 but the vocals are a 2 for me, and a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. **

Slow and all the songs sounded the same. Did not finish listening to this.

For the right person at the right time, this would be great. But this is just not my thing.

3 good songs at the start of the album, then .......

2.3

Solid 4.5/10 Not exactly my Style

Not my thing. Most of the songs sound too similar to each other. Great musicians though, loved the bass and drums groove. High points: "Billy Jack", "Hard times", "Love the people" (great sax solo) Low point: Jesus 2/5

Expected to like this, but it was all a bit flat.

Not my cup of tea

Eipä ole tullut hirveästi kuunneltua tämänkaltaista soul/funk tyylistä musiikkia. Ei tämä nyt huono ollut mutta kovin samalta kaikki kappaleet kuulostivat.

Is Pharrell Williams influenced by him? He can sing no doubt. But I’m not very convinced by this album. The melodies are not the catchiest. And the arrangement is a bit dull. It sounds almost the same for all songs. Luckily it is short. So I was not triggered.

I'm not crazy about the constant high falsetto singing. Other than that it was okay.

Good soulful jams and that voice! And that cover! But nothing that stood out as must listen on repeat.

The falsetto is too false-ettoey

Definitely not my jam today, all the songs were samey

meh

It's ok

A bit slow, a dit dull, but still listenable. Just meh! Strangely for quite a short album a lot of the tracks felt unnecessarily long. Jesus is accurately named, but i suspect mr Mayfield and i are putting very different emphasis on that song title. A tale of what could’ve been i fear.

Whilst my Curtis Mayfield knowledge may be limited, I was just expecting more from this - it never really got going, keeping itself firmly in the realm of (pretty underwhelming) baby making music.

It's really surprised me how much it turns out I like funk, and the bits of this record that leaned into that I loved. Love to the People was great for example. On the flip side, Billy Jack outstayed it's welcome by being so melancholy for so long. Jesus's preacher-like vocal wasn't my favourite though I really enjoyed: "But what He gave us never will die! He never had a hustlin’ mind Doin’ crime wastin’ time! Drinkin’ that wine" I genuinely adored Curtis Mayfield's voice and I suspect that a different album of his will be something I could really love (I'm assuming it's only a matter of time before album generator gives me a second CM record). This particular album though gets: 2/5 (because 2.5 isn't an option)

funky

Giving this a 2 because it was 35 minutes of edging me. I was excited when I saw it was a Curtis Mayfield album but this left me wanting more the whole time. I had to listen to the extended version of Move on Up to get me there before I could move on with my day.

There is nothing wrong with this but it just didn’t excite me.

Trilha sonora da minha caminhada sonolenta de volta para casa após achar que o ônibus da faculdade sairia na quinta para Lisboa.

Pretty good funky blues lofi, low production with spoken word lyrics at times. Political and speaking about the social struggle of the times. Final track Love to the People is the highlight and enjoyed some of the disco suggested by the algorithm after.

hmm.. toch meer fan van Superfly

smooth elevator music

So apparently the themes from this album are profound, but since I tend to focus mostly on the music, I kind of miss this... and on the music side, this is... smoooooth. Way too smooth for me. It is compared to Gaye's work sometimes; it might be from the musical standpoint, but the voice... ugh, the constant falsetto (or whatever you want to call this) is really playing with my nerve.

Very forgettable to the point where I forgot I had already listened to it.

Entzungarria baina...

2.5 stars if we could do half stars

Too slow jammy for me

A decent album and Curtis Mayfield has a good voice. I think its an album you have to be in the mood for though.

Just doesn't do much for me. The album name is genius though. 4/10

I liked this album for like 2 songs and then I was annoyed. I can't really verbalize why but I was just over it.

Känns som det hade räckt med en Eric Gadd i mitt liv

Good instrumentals, bad vocals.

Some tracks had me grooving but generally didn't feel anything for this album.

Mayfield’s near constant falsetto ruins what would otherwise be some chill funk and soul.

Feels like Curtis got stuck in quicksand. I need more energy to be interested.

OK

The songs on the album are ok, but nothing here remotely approaches the quality of Mayfield's best work.

Finds insgesamt ein paar Oktaven zu hoch und es ist leider einfach nicht mein Geschmack.

First funk album. Liked the first song, then it all blended together

An interesting slice of 70s R&B, if not exactly up my alley.

Barely noticed I was listening to this throughout

This might be up some people’s alley, but slow R&B does absolutely nothing for me. An incredibly boring album of songs that are WAY too long. The final song does liven things up a bit and is easily the best song on the album, but the rest of the album felt so much longer than its 35 minutes.

I wanted to like this (and it isn't bad), but Curtis' voice gets really old really quick. This was a tough album to get through after a few songs based on the very high pitch singing. 4.5/10 (2.25/5)

This is the era where Mayfield was really drifting. Grooves and established and proceed with no clear direction - or end point. Some great musicality on display here but the songwriting leaves a lot to be desired.

Great!

Basic 70's american soul

It was okau

der Gesang über die Kopfstimme ist auf Dauer etwas anstrengend; kann man sich anhören, aber nicht lange/dauerhaft

Slow, subtle, conscious soul and light funk. There’s some good messages, and some good music too, but most of it is a bore and easy to lose focus on.

4/10

Beautiful blues guitar and music throughout, but just never felt like it got going. Too slow for me.

Wasn't feeling generous today I'm afraid. Just didn't do it for me. Not totally unlistenable, just a bit boring.

War okay, aber Lieder zu lang und nichts für Zwischendurch

This is #day191 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and... I'm kinda fine with the funky nature of this album (even though I find the whole "love-jesus-people-are-good" soul vibe to be rather annoying), but when those falsetto vocals hit... fuck, man. This is a 2 out of 5. I was really close to a 1, though. Looking forward to #day192.

Musica eseguita bene, ma non mi ha per niente coinvolto.

boring

Super Fly it ain't. This was, dare I say, a bit boring. 'Jesus' and 'Blue Monday People' just don't do it for me. I need more funk in my life....we all need more funk in our lives.

Album title still holds true today. And the album title (plus a little mildly 70s oppressed black man early falsetto “hip hop”) is what got this album on the list. Just political enough (and early enough) to catch the attention of the 1001 List originators. I was there in the 70s and this album was absolutely never heard of. (Neither was Mr Mayfield, the album musta got bigger as time went by). Not bad , but missable (1.65*s)

Has its elements but man did sucked sooo much.

Quite a nice sound, decent opener, nice flow. Bit slow and not really my thing but nice to listen to.

Easy album, but most songs are very similar

I was hoping to enjoy this, but I didn't - there just didn't feel any joy there.

Lovely voice and these songs were (and probably still are) important but I wasn't really entertained

There wasn't much variety among the melodies and singing style for the first several songs on the album, so they all kind of blended together but more in a way where I was like "Man this song has been going on forever." I wasn't really into it until "Hard Times" came on. I immediately thought "this is the best song on here" and then when he sang "won't admit" I realized... I know this song. It's my favorite song from the John Legend and The Roots collaborative album. They do it very differently than Mayfield and I really enjoyed both. Overall, the album is very chill but there's not enough variety of sound or vocal dynamics for it to cross into impressive for me.

I can see why other people might love this. I don't hate it but I'm never going to listen to this again.

Artiste inconnu. Les morceaux sont plutôt longs et peu variés, avec un rythme assez lent. L'album devient vite ennuyeux. Rien de remarquable donc, et en plus je n’apprécie que moyennement la voix du chanteur. Je n'y reviendrais pas. =>2/5

Trodde det skulle bli soft..men det är rätt trist faktiskt. Väldigt lika låtar. Samma lunk och röst på det. Det blir snabbt tråkigt. Lyssnade på Curtis "move on up" som jämförelse, som är mycket bättre. Denna skiva kommer jag aldrig sätta på igen.

It was fine. Not a huge funk fan and the song about Jesus was too long and grating. Quite vibey but not really my bag.

Bit same same

The funk - good sounding music. Mayfield's falsetto vocals though - think they're a "no" from me. Not the worst album but I don't think I'm likely to ever want to return to it.

Just alright. Songs like so in love and blue Monday people were quite good but the rest of the songs just dragged on a bit too long. Some decent rhythms but nothing too extraordinary. Would give 2.5 stars if that was an option on this website but will just stick with 2 since it’s not

so. much. falsetto. after the 2nd song, that was all I heard. couldn't focus on music or lyrics. shame since the first track had a nice, funky, laid back vibe.

This album was OK. Not my type of music and not something I can ever see myself listening to again though. Favourite song: couldn’t pick one Least favourite: again couldn’t pick one Album artwork: Cool cover

Of it’s time.

Kind of got fed up of the sound of the singing quite early on. Didn’t really do much for me.

Lots of funk and a very smooth sound. However, it is very slow and dull.

"There's No Place Like America Today" av Curtis Mayfield vilken alldeles utmärkt framsida! Vad titeln betyder för svarta och vad den betyder för vita i Amerika är annorlunda men på något sätt får han fortfarande med de två olika innebörderna. Det är ledsamhet, gladhet och hopp i detta album. Att det som ligger framför i amerikansk politik inte är något bättre är synd men förespråkar ju tidlösheten av albumet. Ibland kan det vara lite för preachy i min smak men jag kan se det som att det är det enda övergivna amerikaner har till stöd. Hur som helst jag har aldrig varit ett fan av soul. Det höga rösterna och oftast knapp med instrumentation brukar göra det hela både tråkigt och skadande på öronen för mig. Dock denna är lugn och Mayfield använder sin rösts potential sparsamt, instrumentationen tar större plats och det verk med även några intressanta psykedeliska inspirationer som har gjort denna till en av de få soul albumen jag inte blev uttråkad av

I have nothing with Curtis Mayfield (in fact, I do not like his voice at all) and so this was decent, but nothing more.

Really nice voice, but the album fell off a cliff around Jesus. Not jazzy or cool anymore, just dull and repetitive. No standout tracks.

..

опять фальцет + (местами христианское) рнб, нет спасибо

Yay porn sounds! Dat bass slaps tho. Well, slapped. Hooked with the first song, lost with the rest of it. Here we go with JEEEZUS! And A MEN A MEN!

Funky. I like that there are some wind instruments. I like the album cover. I don't like the combo of a high voice and a slow tempo, even if the lyrics are good. Too operatic for me! Tangentially, there are so many artists with songs called 'Blue Monday', including Curtis here, yet there is not a lot of online clarity re: where this term originated. Some say it's from a travel company in the UK in 2005, which is clearly not the whole truth. The dictionary tells me it's from the 1800s, re: sad laborers, and I guess that's the intended meaning here. A term that endures!

I did enjoy the rolling bass lines, but the falsetto singing just got too annoying

I can hear that the music is objectively good and he sings with so much emotion. Still, I don’t like listening to it. The opening track has a nice rhythm and groove, but it goes over for too long. And the less said about the horrible Jesus track, the better!

This just didn't feel that strong to me.

I am definitely not the target audience for this album. Felt a lot like a gospel album, or that I was at a church service. I've never been a big fan of falsetto vocalising, and it's in abundence throughout. The bass is funky, but that's about the best thing I can say about this album, other than maybe that it was only 30ish minutes long. I understand it's place in music history, so I'll not rate it a 1.

The first track was fire. The bongoes kept me in tune and it was fun listening to that throughout the track. Bass lines were tight, instrumentation in general was tight, loved the track. Second track was okay, but started to lose me. Third track, even thought the most popular track on the album, I wasn't vibing with it and that pretty much persisted throughout the rest of the album. Felt like I was getting preached to and overall not a great vibe. 2/5

It’s good I suppose. I’m not really into the whole sexy-buttery-soul vibe in music, though, so I’m not going to put this on again ever, I think

Smooth operator ... Loved Curtis back in the day, I think I even have this album somewhere ... IDK, though, his voice can get to ya after a while. I know there's some good songs on here, but it's not going to be on my must listen list.

Kind boring. Typical soul/funk. And a falsetto voice the whole album.

Wer wissen will, warum die Pilzköpfe in ihrer Zeit so eingeschlagen haben, der sollte sich die seinerzeitigen Alternativen - wie diese - hierzu anhören. Soullastiger Leierkästen mit garantierter Einschlafoption. Das Album war vermutlich schon bei der Erstveröffentlichung ein Oldie.

War okay, aber Lieder zu lang und nichts für Zwischendurch

Nett aber wenig abwechslungsreich…3/10

I wasn’t a fan of this (for which Joe might divorce me)

This didn’t do much of anything for me.

Gear: DCA ÆON 2 Noire Artwork: 🏙️🚗👥👥👥 Produktion: 😲🙂👌 Musik: 🔥😇🙄 Wertung: 🚗🚗(🚗)/5

His falsetto voice wore on me, but I enjoyed the horn. But not enough to give it more than a 2. I guess I’m just not funky enough.

On another day, I might have a different opinion, but today I'm really not feeling this.

I would fuck to this album if it didn't put me to sleep

Just not my jam. A little too slow overall

Curtis, are ya singin' or stranglin'? Is it hip-hop, soul or R'nB? No matter - I dislike all three. And Rap makes four. This is really awful.

thought this was alright! didn't really connect with it much. was too religious for me. preferred superfly

Ik vond dit minder dan ik verwacht had, vooral zijn zang vind ik wat vervelend. Opzich verder wel funky enzo, maar meer dan dan ook niet. 2 sterren.

Funky, aber zu viel Falsett, zu viel religiöses Geseire.

All the songs blend together. Some nice chillness to it, but too one-note to maintain interest.

Közepesen unalmas, lagymatag, idegesítő vokál. Nem az én világom.

Pretty dire squeaky vocals on top of bland music. There was nothing memorable about this in any way, which is probably a good thing.

Thank goodness its short. Also, racism! IDK. I listened to it but felt nothing.

Boooooring

Doesn't really raise the pulse

mah

As melodias são boas tecnicamente mas não teve nenhuma música que se destacou. Tudo é muito sem-sal. Fora isso, o álbum inteiro ser cantado com esse "falsete" deixa a experiência bem desgastante. Acho que não vou voltar a ouvir, mas dou um mérito por ele não ser um country meio redneck, que foi a impressão que o titulo me passou.

Not my thing, sounded fine though. 2/5

either I dont like this or im the wrong mood

4/10 - I did not like his voice. I will not listen to this again probably

Not my cup of tea I'm afraid

wish it was funkier

Exemplary horns. A bit too preachy for me.

Meget fin soft musik. Lidt for lidt gang i den til min smag.

Starter godt ud med smukke toner fra diverse instrumenter komponeret til UG. Dog er albummet lidt trivielt når man kommer igennem numrene. Der er ikke rigtig nogle numre der stikker ud. Et generelt dejligt album, der er rart at lytte til - gode vokaler og toner, men jeg vil ikke rigtig kunne genkalde mig det senere.

Two songs in and it felt like forever. Old Motown sound. Fine but not what I like

No denying the voice. Funky at times.

Not bad but not really my style

Just couldn't get into it! I'm sure its great music, just not to me!

Oh, this is not my jam at all. It's not a huge surprise, I rarely listen to soul/funk to begin with, but I was looking forward to trying this one out! I did enjoy the opening track, "Billy Jack", but everything after that was much more soul and much less funk than I expected. Lyrically the songs are very good, and there were bits and pieces here and there that stood out musically to me. It's not one that I think I'll be listening to all the time now, but I would like to revisit it at some point now that I have a better idea what to expect.

Not my type of music at all so not qualified to rate. The music does sound competent and as I’ve heard of Curtis Mayfield before, made by good musicians.A lot of the tracks remind me of those Shaft like films back in the 70’s featuring New York gangs. This may have been the object but don’t think it has stood test of time. What has stood test of time is the album cover art work. Album cover says a lot about America back in the 70’s and first track I gather is about gun control. Both things have not progressed particularly well so the ironic album title may still be relevant today. Today been the day after the 1st Presidential debate of 2024 featuring a senile old man and the other a convicted criminal. Sat here in the UK I shake my head and ponder that it’s just as well there is no other place like America. 2/5 28/6/24

So much of this album is really slow and laboured, and there's nowhere near enough oomph. I don't like his vocals or singing style at all. It's so high pitched and floaty. There's a few tracks with a bit more about them, including the likes of 'So in Love'. The last few tracks also pick up a bit. Mostly though, no thank you.

Nothing in this album stood out. Didn't go back to any song to give it another go.

Not my bag at all, especially the preachy early tracks. Improved enough towards the end to avoid a one star rating.

Baby making music

I guess it's ok, not a big fan of this style though. Will I listen to again: 0%

Grew weary of the constant falsetto. Great tunes backing him, just wish he drop an octave more often than he does.

хера они там гигантские за рулём своего фордика. И довольные. И фанки бейслайн. Вообще что значит "нет такого места как америка сегодня"? Ну типа... логично? Нет никакого другого места как любое место какое ни возьми в любое время. Никто не повторит саратов 1998 года, например. Что касается музыки -- ну это какой-то соул ДЖИИИИИЗУС с завываниями. Саунд приятный, но голос портит. ДЖИИИИЗУС

is not made for me NNN

Okay

Good start but went downhill quickly after. Too many slow songs.

2.5. Just not really in my area of things that I like, but, not bad. Background music.

A short album, and not unenjoyable… yet, I was glad when it was over. Musically, it just felt repetitive. And by the sixth reach, I was tired of the high falsetto. The lyrics are important - I understand why this album is on the list. But it tired me out listening to it.

I liked the songs with funk elements, but I do not like the vocals or lyrics and I fucking hated the multiple songs about Jesus. A generous 1.5 stars for the Sax player.

It was ok, but boring. “Love to the People” is good though.

Represents an entire era.

Not my cup of tea, pretty boring

I have never heard about Curtis Mayfield. Not even about this album. The rhythm is a little sad, saxes solo are good, but in general this album did not lift me up. I’ll never listen to it again

I like that there is a song about Billy Jack, even tho it's dissing rather than praising him. Cool song about Jesus too, but I'm just not as mellow of a dude as Curtis is, these songs don't move me. Oh well, 2 stars.

Sadly this one didn't grab me like I wanted it to. Favourite track: Love to the People.

2/5. This could be really soulful and powerful but it feels like a knock off What's Going On. Like, not fully realized songs and the emotion is there but it does not feel as powerful as it could be. I honestly was bored through most of the songs, wish I wasn't but that was the experience I had. Like there is a disconnect between the vocals and instrumentation. Jesus was good but not much else. It's not terrible but it's not re-listenable.

Quality of music is pretty decent, but just couldn't take to it at all on a personal level. The only song I half liked was Hard Times. Regrettably, it's a 2

this is really nice i have no problems with it but like. whatever

A bit too mellow for me.

Chef from South Park was the best comment. Boring

Better than expected

I have always respected Curtis and his cultural influence but have had a problem personal with his music. My introduction to his music came from Beastie Boy samples and later Blacksplotation movies (Shaft; Fox Brown; etc), which makes it hard for me to separate in my mind. Additionally, his music was a reflection of his world-1970s post-Soul urban New York. Being a 21st Century whiteboy from Colorado leaves me with little context for connection. Plus, I’m not a huge fan of falsetto. His beats and rhythms are good. Key songs for me on this were So In Love and Love to the People, both which have a distinct groovy feel. Overall, he has my respect but, honestly, I wouldn’t look for this album on a Saturday afternoon.

I like this one alright. Listened to it a few times but didn’t grab my attention.

falsetto

So In Love is an incredible song. Everything else is kind of a miss, though. The vibes are great, but the singing drags it down, and I'm left wishing this was 30 minutes of So In Love.

Que tostón de disco. De verdad. La batería machacona, la guitarra con guaga. Todo lo peor de los setenta, excepto que no es un disco de disco. Las letras, eso sí, bien.

I wanted to like this, but it did not engage me like some Curtis Mayfield songs do.

I hoped that this would be better. I felt indifferent to it.

Amazing voice but boring project

⭐️⭐️ not Marvin Gaye, but not bad

Sehr hohe Stimme, auf Dauer nervig. 2, 3 gute Funk Titel mit schönem BassRiff.

Well, I don't think the funk scene is for me. I'm not a big fan of the drawn-out music, it almost makes me sweat with anticipation on where the "center" of the song is. And the "center" of Curtis's album is the actual story being told, where music is used as an accent to the song being played, like when the drummer lightly and quickly taps the tambourine to imitate walking, or the punctuation of the drums to mimic a gunshot. With all this being said, I know music like this is from before me, and was also a cornerstone, both to history and to developing the music we have today. I can see why someone's passed on grandpappy would be disappointed in my review, but this isn't America today.

Not my style of music. Annoying falsetto voice.

p354, 1975. 2 stars. Well done of its kind without being remotely memorable, and it hasn't aged well - 30 seconds in and you're immediately transported to a world of long hair, sideburns, purple flared trousers and platform shoes. On the plus side, it's short.

OK, but just

The soul-falsetto vocals almost seemed to be a parody of the genre. This album was unremarkable and a big "meh" for me. There's nothing here I'd want to hear again.

idk kinda boring. its just like funk jazz with him singing in falsetto. not sure what's really noteworthy about it so i'm assuming it has cultural/historical significance or something.

It was fine. Didn't really care for his voice on most of the tracks. The one track that stood out more than most was So In Love, but the rest were just kind of blah. Just not my jam.

Not into this kind of falsetto, nor this kind of soulful funk. Will not listen again.

Pretty standard soul album. However, while calming, this kind of music just doesn't do much for me.

easy listening, bläsersätze und gitarre/orgel. Sicher einflussreich, nicht wirklich meins.

Sound gut. Singstimme / -tonlage teilweise unerträglich.

Nicht meine Musik, aber das sehr klare Intro des Liedes Billy Jack hat sein Reiz.

Like the beat/style, but not a fan of the vocals

Pretty hit or miss. Not big on his voice but the instruments kind of make up for it. Idk, I really like the sound but no one song really seems to work.

I like the sound although most of the songs don’t quite get there for me. Also I’m honestly not into his vocal approach; there’s a ton of falsetto and it’s pretty thin and breathy. Overall kind of forgettable. Best song: When Seasons Change

For a 35 minute album this feels like a very long listen. There is nothing bad here, in fact So In Love and Hard Times start off sounding really interesting. And that's the problem- tracks either start off sounding interesting, like So In Love, and just don't go anywhere with no progression or structural interest beyond the first few measures, or they start off sounding interesting, like Hard Times, and then are over really quickly. It's OK, but there is nothing that is fully satisfying. It feels like they have come up with a cool idea or riff and gone "right, lets keep doing this for 4 more minutes and call it done" - plus this album is solely responsible for the global wah-wah shortage of 1975.

Not my style, but smoooth....

It was ok. Not even my favorite Mayfield album though.

The sound of Mayfield with none of the heart or musicality from his other stuff I've heard. Very one-note, downtempo and meandering album where it all kind of blends together. Decent as background music but that's about it

bruh

2.5 stars Favourite songs: - So in Love

I've tried numerous times over the years to listen to Curtis.. for the most part, Just not my thing.. that being said..I didn't hate this..I wouldn't be in a rush to hear it again, but it was worth the time

didn't really like the album, wasn't a bad album just wasn't for me.

The instrumentation across the album is fine, his voice is nice, et cetera--but I'm not convinced that the sprawl of most of these songs is warranted or even in service to them. I was tired of "Jesus" and "Billy Jack" before they were halfway over. Mayfield's tenor gets samey in the back half of the record. I don't want to belabor the point here, but at this point I can't wait for this site to generate Super Fly.

Second album on this list made recorded by Curtis Mayfield. The first one was much more memorable, with some interesting beats and flows, even though I haven't seen the movie (Superfly). This one seems to be more standard rnb album, with that irritating vocal that I identify with Redbone by Childish Gambino. It's very hard for me to concentrate on anything else with that style of singing, and that's why I won't be able to appreciate this album. Not my kind of jam.

Yea, R&B needs to be really good for me to really like it and I just didn’t think this was really good. Lyrics were subpar, the music was funky enough but overall this was forgettable. 2 stars

Not my temple.

This guy sings like when you’re a kid and you want to scream inside but you have to use your inside voice. It’s funky, it’s soulful, but it’s also just not different enough from other albums in the genre. The lyrics are meaningful so if that is something your into there’s that but the rest of it is just kind of boring and generic. At first I thought his voice was alright maybe even kind of nice. After a few songs I just found it annoying and it made my throat itchy listening to him sound like he was letting out a death rattle for 5 minutes. If I wanna listen to love makin’ music I’d rather listen to Marvin Gaye. 4/10

так собі

Maybe this album is significant for the message, but I was not a fan of Curtis' vocals.

I can appreciate the playing, themes, lyrics, and singing on this album but I don’t think it’s something I’d ever revisit. It’s a very low key funk that just didn’t resonate with me very much. I thought a few of the tracks were decent, but nothing was good enough to really stand out for me.

Some decent songs, like hard times. And the music was good if simple, a product of its time I suppose. He's sort of the selecta of his time, but each could learn from the other, selecta need to give the music equal billing, and Mr Mayfield could learn to give his voice some oomph. His voice is just sooooo weak, watery and above all whiney. It was pissing me off from half way through the first song, it's a wonder I actually like any of it. It's only the music that has just scraped it up to barely a 2.

Honestly the voice really irked me to a point where it tainted my whole view of the album and was hard to listen to. It wasn’t terrible and other than the voice it was alright, but that was a big part.

Naaa Fav: When Seasons Change

Very forgettable.

A fine listen. Nothing remarkable, but I enjoyed most of it while it was on

So incredibly forgettable. I don't know, it was just really hard to pay attention to.

Can't remember a single thing about it and I had it on loop yesterday, that cannot be good. Oh, falsetto all the time... bugged me

Ok, very funky but mellow. Makes sense. The breathy semi-falsetto feels like it was very inspiring the Jackson sound. Ok now we got some Ray goin' on. I think I'm more of an instrumental person in the jazz and jazz adjacent genres. Spoken word kinda makes me check out a bit. I feel like I can recognize that its well done but not my thing.

I remember Dire Straits. I remember The Stooges... I listened to this in between and have zero recollection. Must have been a banger.

This just bores me.

Not bad, I enjoy soulful music and the guitar and horns used by Curtis Mayfield really spoke to me, there were songs I didn't enjoy however. Notable songs for me: Billy Jack So In Love Did not like: Jesus Blue Monday People

Funky maar tikje voorspelbaar en daarmee wat saai (track 1, Billy Jack). De rest verder gescanned: maar dit is 'elevator music' : nietszeggend ik zou morgen niet kunnen zeggen dat ik dit album geluisterd heb. Te nietszeggend.

Discount Jefferson Airplane

It's kind of funky but also boring

Okay, just not my style of music.

His voice grates on me a bit, it's good music but I struggle to listen to an entire album before I get sick of him.

Ik heb het wel helemaal uitgeluisterd, maar vond het best wel veel van hetzelfde.

Each individual aspect (the vocals, the production, especially the bass) was great, but put them all together and it didn’t leave any kind of blended impression.

So In Love and Hard Times are pretty good, rest movin' on down

-----REDACTED----- with arms outstretched i pray to thee; prostrate, penitent, beholden, surrendered, most just and omniscient merciful god, whence thine own will thy list was render'd, we pledge thee daily our listening time, praise be forever to the dime, i know its just a silly magazine but i find it frankly a bit racially patronising that nme would place this as number 373 on their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. its not critically recognised, its not historically or culturally significant, and its certainly not even anywhere close to curtis mayfields best album. the whole album is incoherent, although vaguely musically pleasant. i guessed that it probably wasnt even the best album to have come out that month - turns out it wasnt even the best album to have come out that day. (https://www.albumoftheyear.org/1975/releases/may-05.php) why didnt they pick superfly? -----REDACTED-----

Its somewhat interesting lyrically, and I think he talks about masturbation alot, but inspite of this its largely samey and pretty dull. Doubt I'll listen too again

I think I was supposed to like this album but it kinda bothered me. He spent the entire album singing one octave too high and it created a sort of disconnect. I felt like I was waiting for his balls to drop the whole time. The lyrics were quality but there was so much that came out before this and even around this time from the same genre that was done better in terms of vocals and musicianship.

Originally a 3, second listen bumped it down a notch

C+ Billy Jack - 3 When Seasons Change - 3 So In Love - 3 Jesus - 3 Blue Monday People - 3 Hard Times - 2 Love To The People - 2 This was disappointing. I expected a lot more.

2/5 Best: So In Love Worst: Jesus

Not unpleasant but dated and not something I will listen to again

Fairly boring

1970's soul/r&b/funk. Pleasant enough but not earth shattering - no "Move On Up", or "Superfly".

Kult

- Incredibly groovy and funky - Little slow but I could deal - 2.5 but rounding down

Humm yeah ok.

I was taken in by the first two tracks. In fact, I was really struck by the first in that it made me realize something we know, but damn, in 1975, the threat of gun violence was a real thing — clearly more in urban, black communities, but enough that it was the topic of the opener on Curtis Mayfield's ninth release. After the most recent school shooting yesterday — well hell... I should probably check the news to make sure there hasn't been another — it's a reminder that this issue has threatened us for decades. So yeah, that struck me as relevant and unfortunate that the issue has only expanded and exploded in the years after this release. We suck. But then the album slid into a repetitive vibe that it couldn't seem to climb out of. Starting with "So In Love" and then into "Jesus," which I wasn't a huge fan of for myriad reasons, the album just kept getting less interesting, mostly because of a lack of dynamics or progression. The falsetto vocals, the similar song structures... So yeah, promising but ultimately boring. Too bad.

Not bad, just not my thing.

Lyrically I enjoyed it, but the melodies are so bland, it's kind of boring to listen to it. 2.5/3

Some songs alright. Somehow all of them feel like they are 7 to 10 min long...even when they're really onyl 3-5. I guess i find them repetitive.

Groovy but not my kind of music - 2

Thought it had potential but dragged a bit.

Got boring quickly with it being the same pace throughout... background music

Alku oli ihan viihdyttävää menoa, mutta loppua kohti taantui. Viime aikojen paskoista erottuu kyllä positiivisesti, mutta eipä tämä silti pääse likimainkaan kolmosen-kerhoon.

Ihan hyvä, mut tuntu ku ois kuunnellu yhtä ja samaa biisiä koko ajan

I don’t mind funk, but this album falls under that “all the songs sound the same” umbrella. Nothing to die for here.

Meh

2.5

ok

Thought it was a little slow and boring, blue Monday people was alright

Nowhere near as much fun as most of his other stuff, all a bit meh

Not my jam, but a good album to listen to once

I only got to listen to it one time through and while I only liked one song, I was vibing to the whole thing, so I’m giving it an extra star. 2/5

An ok funk/soul R&B album that still sounds fresh to my ears today. I've mentioned this before and I'm sure I'll mention it again but there are themes throughout this album that have themes that are unfortunately still relevant particularly about the African American experience in the USA. Best: When Seasons Change Worst: Jesus

Other than some nice background vocals and instrumentation, this album fails for its repetitive sound and can Curtis Mayfield only sing in falsetto?

This was a step down from the Super Fly soundtrack in my opinion. The tempo's just too slow for the whole album - the songs and grooves aren't strong enough to plod on so long without going anywhere. The guy did have a heavenly falsetto though.

I want to like this. Curtis Mayfield has a lovely voice, and the guitar/backing band are great as well. But somehow I just dislike the songs. It's a strain to listen to this. I appreciate the message of the album, but it's just not for me. Can't get into it. Maybe I need to try again with it, but for now, it's getting two stars.

First track was nice but then it was all downhill.

Lagom längd på plattan åtminstone. Soft och skönt utan att vara bra.

Boring, sorry. This genre is the epitome of background music for me. I couldn't focus on it even if you locked me in one of those sensory deprivation tanks.

Very Curtis : falsetto singing, pretty guitar chops with wah, socially conscious urban themes and “big picture” love songs about getting on with one another. Nice and sensible. (Apart from the first track) Just not as funky or pop as his better material. 2.5 because I know he’s done better.

In my experience listening to this album, it wasn't really anything all that notable. I wouldn't say the songs really sounded the same, but I wouldn't be able to tell you what any sounded like moments after the song ended. Nothing here was bad, but even the song I liked the most, "Jesus", wasn't anything too special. I can see why others may say differently, though.

Buuuuuu

I don't enjoy the falsetto vocals which made this album kind of tough to get through. Not my cup of tea, pleasant but feels too plain as a whole.

It wasn’t terrible, not something I would choose to listen to again.

I don’t like his voice but the music is alright

tämä on lauantaimusiikki. joku falsetti-r'n'b:ssä ilahduttaa. mutta eipä jäänyt mieleen

a little bit boring, a pretty standard soul/r&b song that didn't really inspire musically

Okej

Wish this one had more jazzy or blues notes. A little too gospel for me

2 1/2

I really liked the first song as an awesome mix of blues and funk but then found the rest of the album extremely disappointing. All the pluck just went out of it and doesn't pick up again until the last song. I like this style, but not this sappy, weak version of it.

hmm

Felt like 3 hours

Meh 2/5

never heard before, lost interest in the 2nd half but a couple of catchy songs in the beginning

My comments are similar to those I left on Bobby Womack. Curtis Mayfield has written and performed some epic tracks that are still relevant 50 years later, but none of them are on this album. I'm certain that the lyrics are well-crafted and socially conscious as always, and I even like the instrumentation, but the music starts to sound tired fast. Robert Christgau gave this a D+. He's a tough critic but that's even a harsh score for him.

Well... this album doesn't vibe with me at all. I can't relate with any of the songs, even though I can hear the craftsmanship that went into it. Strange, but it happens, I guess. 2/5

2.5

Me sonó igual todo el disco

Pretty jazzy and bluesy. Seemed like a talented chap.