There's No Place Like America Today

Pretty good r&b album. A fun listen.

14th April 2022 Listened in the morning before going to the beach, then for a wander around Newport which was very nice indeed. Really enjoyed this! Smooth as silk yet politically relevant today.

I was expecting something from this album that was not delivered. A bit underwhelming. He must have better albums that this, right?

Unreal instrumental, sax solo we’re sick, not fan of ballads stuck between 3 and 4 stars

Good album. Not my favorite from Mayfield.

Easy listening and perfect for the background.

Definition of a 3 Star album: Decent run time, enjoyable up beat music, not more, not less

Funk. Ni fu ni fa.

So much funk. Pretty good

Groovy. 2.7/5.

Slick, soulful RnB. Every song sounds the same.

What you know about Curtis nephew? Slowly stand up from your struggle music

A little slow for my taste

Curtis Mayfield was a mildly familiar name, but all of the music on the album was new to me. I enjoyed listening to the album, but none of the tracks stood out to me as something that I'll come back to.

Billy Jack and Blue Monday people were the stand outs here for me

listenable is all I can say

Decent R&B, but nothing that really stood out and screamed "I'm a great album!!" It was just kind of there. I'm not disappointed I listened to it, and I'm not ecstatic I listened to it.

This was nice and chill, but it really did just plod along and I have already forgotten most of it.

This was nice and smooth.

I'd only heard Mayfield's first three solo albums before and, while I didn't enjoy this one as much as those, it was a good listen. There weren't any stand out tracks for me but there were some great grooves and melodies, and this is one that I think will grow on me with revisits/deeper dives into the lyrics

Decent start, bad end

Groovy, 3

Some nice vibes, I will come back to it 6/10

Like the sound this album has, just not a big fan of his high voice. I wouldn’t return to this album very fast probably.

Billy jack intro de l'album excellent un des soulmen les plus influents et talentueux Le reste de l'album un peu chiant

Good album. A little on the slow side for me

Very different vibe for this next one, particularly after doing them back to back :D Feels very much like the sort of thing that I've quite enjoyed, but will almost certainly never listen to again... I don't know the R&B scene at all, but this is a lovely gentle intro to it, very relaxed in terms of the style of music (even if the first track is about someone getting shot!). Also, at 35 minutes it doesn't overstay it's welcome, only 7 songs too. Not normally a God fan but Jesus is class... Spotify listens suggest a big drop off after the first three songs, but that's not the case in terms of the quality. Tracks 2, 3, and 7 my faves.

The first track is promising. I like it. I'm excited about the rest of the album. The second track is a bit of a let down if I'm honest. Maybe I was too excited, and expected too much? The third track has started well. This is what I'm talking about. Yes. Soul brother. Fourth track starts promising. He needs to start singing rather than talking though, he's not William Shatner ffs. Here we go. I'm not sure tbh, am beginning to worry this album might not live up to my expectations. The fifth track is ok. A step back towards what I like. Sixth track is good, still a chance this could end well! The last track is decent as well. I mean, it's a decent album. I enjoyed it. Nice to have on in the background, or while you're spending time with your gf or whatever. Yeah, nice. But I mean, this is the 1001 albums you must hear before you die isn't it? I feel that there are loads of better albums in this genre that could have been chosen. It'd not bad, but I could have died without hearing it and not been worse off tbh.

Un disco sabrosón, con muy buenos metales y música en general muy agradable. Se siente mesurado, bien pensado y nunca apresurado. Nada malo, pero al no ser un entusiasta del género siento que le falta acción, algún punto álgido.

No es que sea malo, pero no terminé de emocionarme con este disco. A ratos suena como cosas actuales que me gustan (Black Pumas, échenles un ojo) pero nunca llega a reventar.

if stevie wonder and prince had a love child it would be this album

meh

Funk. R& B

Molto funk!

I've never heard this album before today. It's not something I'd reach for all the time, but I enjoyed discovering it. Favorite: When Seasons Change

I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. Maybe it's just the mood I am in but overall this album fell flat. It felt like Curtis Mayfield by numbers rather than being an essential work

Solides Soul Album ohne wirklich Höhepunkte.

First half of the albums I was leading towards a 2, the second half is much better and Love to the People is fantastic.

I went straight to thinking about early Prince where he was much more of a classic soul crooner. It turns out he was extending the spirit of Curtis Mayfield. This record is remarkably well written/arranged/produced/performed. Just like Prince, or Prince just like Curtis, I can feel the desperate yet suppressed yearning of some intense hormones like red hot steel. This also sounds like exactly what gets copied/sampled perpetually in a lot of follow on musical styles. It sounds like a fundamentally solid original.

I find it hard to imagine disliking anything Mayfield did and this is no exception, but nothing in it grabbed me that strongly or really stood out for me.

Smooth and soulful, but the wispy voice and minimalist arrangements start to sound pretty similar after a while.

5/10

This was all right. I was eagerly expecting a pizza delivery from a mustached delivery man that I simply don't have cash to pay for do you accept any other forms of payment? while listening to this album.

Good guitar, mix of race/religion topics.

Smooth, slow, and soulful (as you would expect) doesn't sound like a particular exciting combination. Thankfully Curtis remembered to order some funk to liven it up. There are plenty of chilled vibes, in a good way.

Great musician, great voice but an unexciting collection of songs with no real stand outs to move or excite you.

Maybe I just wasn't feeling this genre today. But I do enjoy this type of music.

IMO not Mayfield's best work, but it's hard to beat 70s Soul/Funk. That album cover is the shit, however.

Al ver el título de este álbum no esperaba mucho, sin embargo lo subestime demasiado, tiene canciones que son buenas y otras que solo son canciones.

Heeft een paar goede nummers maar je moet er maar van houden

So much wah-wah pedal, this is some funky guitar. Really high-pitched voice, reminds me a bit of vocalist from The Heavy, but if he was really going as high as he could. Very soulful album, had it on the background but didn't really pull me in too much. I'd be willing to bet there are quite a few babies that were born because of this album.

Pretty good R&B album. None of the songs really separate themselves but the whole album flows nicely. The mellow funkiness with the horns and drums makes this a good smooth listen. 7.3/10

Voz bucólica. Toques blues.

That is soulful and electric! The starting and landing points are wonderful; The rest of the material is nice but musically low-key and vocally didactic. It would have been great to hear that grey area explored more deeply.

Solid but not outstanding

An OK album, but it features none of my favourite Curtis Mayfield tracks.

I've only heard of Curtis Mayfield's Move On Up before, never listened to any of his albums. Enjoyed the slow steady funky beats and bass.

3/5 nothing memorable

Nice.

Mr Superfly himself! Have not listened to anything else he had done and I'm glad we got some! Felt just like his Superfly soundtrack too which I liked. I have no qualms about this album but also nothing that really stood out to me. Great start to the week and so much better than a live album.

Zwaar relaxt soul-album! Heerlijk!! Laat je niet misleiden door de hoes, die me aan Mary Poppins doet denken. Mijn favorieten zijn toch weer up-tempo nummers: "Billy Jack" en "Love to the people". Daarmee heb je ook meteen het probleem van dit album. Het is mij iets te relaxt en het kan wel wat meer pit gebruiken. Laatste kritiekpuntje is dat de hoge stem op een gegeven moment ook kan gaan vervelen. ***

Very soulful, but honestly? Too short.

The list of all-time best falsetto performers has to include the likes of Smokey Robinson, Barry Gibb, Prince and Philip Bailey. And Curtis Mayfield throws his hat in the ring here in a big way. We probably don't appreciate Curtis Mayfield enough. He's a two time inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, fathered ten (!) children, and wrote "People Get Ready". This isn't his best album, and honestly it underwhelms. It's a bit too preachy for seductive purposes. There's a better representation of the Mayfield Magic yet to come on this list.

Interessante, mi ha colpito molto già dalla prima traccia. Solo che verso la fine ho iniziato ad accusare i toni soft della Soul music. Non riesco a dargli 4 per questo motivo, ma riconosco la bellezza di quest'album e la bravura di Curtis, che non conoscevo e che, leggendo la sua biografia, è stato proprio sfortunato... Poraccio!

Io sono un soul man e Curtis è un pilastro del genere però a volte in questo disco lo trovo troppo poco supportato dagli arrangiamenti tipici del genere, che lo rendono moderno ma allo tempo stesso i pezzi non mi emozionano come dovrebbero. Questo diviene evidente in un pezzo come Hard Times che è bello però non ha lo stesso impatto della versione di Baby Huey. Mi sembra veramente un coito interrotto a tratti. Voto 3.5 ma con punizione.

The first three songs are great... really enjoy the groove of Billy Jack, but somewhere around Jesus, it gets a bit more ordinary. An enjoyable listen, but falls a step down from classic.

Erg soulfull album. Niet direct mijn genre, maar ik vond het wel oké 3*

Mellow for a summers day but not outstanding. 3*

Enjoyed it. Was better in the evening than the day time.

Did you know? Mayfield was paralyzed from the neck down after lighting equipment fell on him during a live performance at Wingate Field in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York, on August 13, 1990.

Good groovy soul - I think there's other Curtis albums I prefer though

I need more mayfield in my life.

3/5 It's nice. First listen. I enjoyed it but don't think it's anything special.

Robert Demery est fidèle a lui même en selectionnant un nouvel album completement anodin dans sa liste, la cohérence est respectée, bravo Robert pour ta liste de merde.

I think he has a lovely voice and I liked the vibes/range of themes

This type of music is always easy to listen to in the background, wouldn't say I love it but it's got a certain something

Funky! The only thing that brought it down for me is that almost the entire thing is sung in falsetto, or at least that's how it sounds to me. Still worthy of 3 stars.

Not my thing.

Löysää menoa ja nähtävästi laulajaltakin oli pallit nyppästy irti.

Thought it was nice at the start, but I got tired of it halfway.

Yep. Sounds like Curtis Mayfield. Superfly is already on this list.

Just not my jam

First, let's take a look at the album cover. It's a slightly altered real photo (https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc83b1151c768df66/698846423c163978fa456cd4/01_1239_bw_917.jpg) from 1937, showing a line of poor black people suffering from a devastating flood standing for food contrasted with a billboard featuring a happy white family. No further comment is needed; you'd expect to hear angry protest music here. However, it's not angry or protest; on the contrary, it's a rather good-natured soul, where Curtis Mayfield, with his soft falsetto, raises pressing social issues in the US in the 1970s (and more), but does so in a good-natured and even somewhat weary manner, not demanding bloodshed or revolution, but merely presenting reality. And all would be well, the music is pleasantly played and mixed, but it sounds so monotonous that listening to it feels like floating in some kind of viscous gel: the songs have similar slow tempos, the mood is melancholic, even gloomy at times. So, not my thing.

It was an ok soul record. Nothing really stuck out, but it wasn't bad either.

Billy Jack's a great tune but otherwise this is not in my top three Curtis Mayfield albums. Curtis, Live and Superfly all deserve to be on this list but this album does not.

Such an interesting tone, but this specific Curtis album kind of sounds slow & same-y across the board.

Curtis Mayfield is one of those names I know just in passing so this was cool to listen to across a weekend, his style for me hovers somewhere between meh and middling

I was excited because I love funk, but something about this was too boring and too relaxed and the voice didn't do it for me

I just was not feeling this album at all. I know I’ve had another Curtis Mayfield album as part of this project, and I think that was enough. I couldn’t get behind his high-pitched and breathy singing. It was so distracting that I don’t even remember anything else about the album. Nothing about this is a critique of the themes, I just couldn’t stand the sound.

I was so disappointed by this. I expected better from Curtis Mayfield. The album cover alone is enough to give you a clue that the record is more whiny than it should be. Curtis got so caught up in making political and social comments that he forgot the point of music: to entertain.

Nice fat bass lines, groovy guitar. Not so into the gospel stuff but it sounded nice I guess. 5/10

Decent music, can't really do the voice. Guess I found Prince's inspiration

Good within its genre, but drags a bit after a while.

Quite layed back easy listening, but after a whole album I did get bored of the tone.

Not a fan of the sermon

Funky and soulful with a lot of religious themes (doesn’t get more obvious than “Jesus”. His falsetto voice does start to grate on me a bit. Last song, “Love to the People” is the best track. Listening to this felt like I was watching a documentary about the 1970s. A real period piece. Some stuff to like, and cool music, but other than as a soundtrack or maybe some background music in a cocktail lounge, I don’t love it.

Overtakelse! Ikke helt min kopp te. Til noen runder her på morgenen, men sovnet litt også. Liker at den er ganske så bakpå og sløy, men vokalen er litt too much for meg. Ikke helt krise, men noe mer enn to kan det ikke bli

I found it interesting how the vocals felt more in the background/quieter We'll see how I find Superfly once it's generated later on

Bad

Not terrible and the production was actually pretty decent but nearly all the songs were way too slow tempo for my taste, plus his vocals got pretty grating after the first 2 or 3 songs. 2/5

This is one of those situations where I thought his vocals worked really well in the first track ‘Billy Jack’ but then the novelty wears off quick (I have this issue with Dexys Midnight Runners and Neil Young to a certain extent - the vocals can’t maintain the whole record for me but I find it ok in moderation). Overall this album isn’t for me - BUT I did fall asleep listening to this on a train and it did facilitate going to sleep quite well - this could be perceived as a positive or a negative depending on your point of view.

Kinda redundant honestly.

Bored bored bored bored bored. After the first, actually, quite decent track 'Billy Jack', the album plods aimlessly. The high tenor falsetto becomes more and more annoying. The keyboards sound like they were made by Fisher-Price. Some great funky guitar work is the only thing that redeems this album. Slightly. Is it finished yet? (My production advice would have been to release Billy Jack and Hard Times as an EP and dump the rest in a skip)

mja mja

Not my kind of music, found the vocals quite annoying too

Ok I am bored, they all sound the same to me. I enjoyed superfly and got why it was here, but this one is so dilluted that it feels particularly anecdotical. It's not terrible, but never necessary.

Think this is better for background than when I’m doing spreadsheets

Not for me

Generic r&b with Christian vibes. Not my taste.

I don't know, I'm getting sick of this specific "sound". It all just sounds the same now, 700 albums in. Funk that does nothing particularly interesting or new to my knowledge.

An interesting and funky record, but not getting into Mayfield as much as I thought based on the pedigree. Fun listen.

I really enjoyed Superfly. This one did nothing for me by comparison

Album interesante pero muy lento para mi gusto, no lo escucharia nuevamente y no va con mi estilo.

Not my usual go to music. Could not get into it.

Pleasant, but nothing special. 5/10

Interesting vocals that I could get behind for a song or a verse but got tiring for an entire album.

There's some extremely important issues here. As a person, I couldn't be any more different from the artist. But the stories of community to fight against marginalisation still resonate strong. But outside of that, I'm not much of a fan. It's too slow, I almost fell asleep in the middle.

Sleepy.

ta fea la portada

I was just kinda bored

It alright ig, not really special in any way. Some songs are kinda moody, but most don't really pull you in. I think Mayfield has other more interesting works.

Not a fan of the old jazzy type music. It’s not bad, just not really doing it for me. 2.5

Didn’t click with me idk why

This was just ok. Nothing really special about it but it’s miles better than some of the crap on here.

I had forgotten I got another Curtis Mayfield album the other day, and then I forgot about this one over the course of the day. He’s fine, I guess? Apparently doesn’t do anything for me, though.

I was all on from the heavy funk of the opening track, “Billy Jack”. As it went on, I was somewhat less enthused by the falsetto vocals and general lightening of the music. It lost me totally by the time he put a song about Jesus on there. Not having that in this household.

Down Home, He Was An Alley Cat 1001 Albums Generator 285 (5/6/2026) Inoffensive, but boring and cheesy funk. Billy Jack is really good though. 2.5/5, rounded down to a 2. Favs: Billy Jack So In Love Blue Monday People Least Fav: Jesus

I listened tonit yesterday and I remember nothing about it

Soul w a bit of funk, utilizing some musical flourishes that were probably pioneering back in the day but have now become almost cliches of the genre. I can appreciate all this but in the end just was not compelled by any of it.

I tend to dislike soul and funk and this record has not changed my mind on that.

Sounds very 70s, which is a little complementary and a little negative. These aren't songs that stick with me. Probably going to go with 2 stars on this one.

Little bit boring. All of the songs sound the same to me.

The opening song is cool but the sound gets a bit cloying after a while. The Jesus song is peak cringe.

Emmm, weird, like idk what type of music it is. It wasn't bad but it was boring. That s why 2.

Lo mejor es que es corto

A bit slow for my tastes. I really love funk/groove but this was too molasses-like for me

Hokey lyrics and falsetto like nails on a chalkboard.

Todo bien con Curtis pero no me gustó tanto, demasiado falsete :(

i don't remeber a single song from this album.

4.5/10

funky

beautiful. i’d known of this album because it’s just so iconic, but there’s some deep cuts on there that really stood out like “turning tables”, “don’t you remember”, and “I found a boy”. obviously the popular stuff is very catchy and she has a beautiful voice so it’s just a pretty good album overall. I had a good time listening to it.

Meh

The album title is intriguing but I was underwhelmed by this collection of songs. Unremitting falsetto and lugubrious slow jams.

My review for 'Superfly' could pretty much be used here, too: this is serviceable but forgettable with its strongest selling point being that it's short. And just like last time: TOO MUCH FALSETTO. I generously gave 'Superfly' a 3, but this gets a 2 for being "Superfluous" to this list. It does nothing better than the former, and even the former wasn't all that great.

To be honest to grew a little bored with this half way through. Went back to Peter Gabriel for the entire weekend. So I can’t say much about this album, but I can at least stand with conviction on my 5 for our last album.

ok

Not my cup of tea

All I really knew by/about Curtis Mayfield was "Super Fly." I never knew that he was paralyzed in 1990 after stage lighting equipment fell on him while he was being introduced at an outdoor concert. This album was pleasant enough - I don't listen to a lot of soul. I still think if there is anything "essential" by Mayfield, it would be "Super Fly," but this was fine.

Altogether pleasant listening but nothing really stuck out as memorable.

Not the most essential of Curtis' albums, but in here he is as soulfull as ever. Overall, more of a fan of his Superfly era. 7/10 [SWAP]

After a couple of tracks his voice begins to annoy me. That breathless whispering angsty tone works for some parts of some songs but throughout most of the songs, nah. And the lyrics are pretty awful as well. 'Hard Times' is alright but 'Jesus' spare me the 'spiritual' advice.

Not my thing.

Not a fan of the high-pitch soul singing. Instrumentation was good.

soul

Not that bad doesnt make me want to kill myself just yet words from pops

glad this was short

Aye alright

Come now, there are plenty of places like 'America' today - North Korea, Nazi Germany, Israel, Hungary, Sudan, Russia, Iran, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Uganda, Turkey, China, Myanmar, The Vatican, Gilead, Panem, Oceania, The Sith Empire - all the classic dictatorships and religious black holes. What's funny is people kidding themselves that it has ever been any different. Mayfield, charitably, is being witty with the album title. He knows that there's a lot of shite going on. Sadly, he chooses to put his trust in a made up deity rather than actually put the responsibility on those who exist - his fellow man. What starts out as nice enough, chilled enough RnB/funk/fluff, becomes borderline unlistenable the longer it goes on. It's a short album, but it feels as long as a Sunday Church service while some twat behind a pulpit reads indoctrinated garbage from his book of nonsense.

Musically o.k. but the high vocals are not my favor.

It wasn't like I hated this or anything, but I'll probably never listen to it again. It's too lounge-y, and Curtis Mayfield's falsetto is just not appealing to my ear.

Standout Track: Love to the People A slow drive through Montrose or Midtown Houston on a hot Saturday afternoon.

It was okay

A message in the lyrics but the music, meh

Mega słabe, murzyn coś tam śpiewa

Curtis Mayfield - There's No Place Like America Today. 1975 Album Art: The juxtaposition of the imagery of the album cover is telling even before you listen to the album. Think it is a complimentary piece of art to ponder while you listen to songs on Mayfield's album. The Album: To us, this is a soul, rhythm & funk album with a deep religious vein running through it. While not religious we could appreciate that religious soul preached by Mayfield & enjoyed those almost southern style church beats going on, particularly in Blue Monday People & Jesus. Favorite(s): Blue Monday People So in Love

Musically, it was great. But not a memorable album.

A little boring. Didn't finish it.

Really funky and fun. Really happy to have had a reason to listen to it.

This was a pretty fine listen. Lots of groove, soulful voice, good tunes.

Opening with what I would call a slow paced disco vibe. Did not like that groove at all. Some parts were okay, a few were likeable, but not my thing. Best I can do is offer up a 2.

Too crashy

Undoubtedly Mayfield has a polished voice. Not one note out of place but these songs are strangely emotionless. A lot to admire but not a lot to love

not impressed. The last song was really good, but the rest of it just felt so..... repetitive. Boring. I was cleaning while listening to it and STILL I was bored out of my mind with it. Not for me.

I understand why this album is on here, but ultimately it’s not for me. Everything about it was aggressively “fine” and it all ran together.

I enjoyed superfly but this is way more boring

Nee, niet zo leuk. Te goddelijk. Te veel wooooo in z'n kopstem. Houd ik niet van

Favorite Track: Blue Monday People

V rámci rnb to musí byť ozaj skvostný album, ale mňa to nebavilo.

Mitt første møte med Curtis Mayfield. En politisk og sjelfull stemme på det tidlige 70-tall. Åpningslåta har en eksepsjonell groove. Dessverre lever ingen av de påfølgende sangene (kanskje foruten Hard Times) helt opp til dette nivået, til tross for at helhetsinntrykket er nogenlunde greit. Jeg lyttet til hans debutalbum Curtis (som ikke er en del av dette prosjektet) etter å ha lyttet gjennom dette, og ved sammenligning kommer dette ganske svakt ut. Det blir dessverre to stjerner. Top 3: Billy Jack, Hard Times, So In Love

This one might need more attention to appreciate. As backdrop to light work, a lot of the tracks sounded the same, and I wasn't able to really listen to the lyrics.

I enjoyed listening to this on my morning walk. A bit repetitive but pleasant enough. When it finished autoplay went to Stevie Wonder, Isaac Hayes and James Brown. All three were much more interesting to my ears. Rating 2 stars. Best track - hard times.

Activist things like this usually PMO

a little boring

it’s an interesting genre almost hip/hop and r & b but in a blues way. he sounds kinda like childish gambino. i liked a few songs but wouldn’t revisit most likely, overall 6/10

Really liked it at first, but that voice started rubbing me the wrong way as it went on. Kind of a shame. It seemed like I was actually going to enjoy this a lot more than I did.

He kinda cry sings. Has some good songs but to me the singing seems un genuine and a niche performance.

Curtis can do better than this

mid asf bro

The instrumentals were the highlight for me. The arrangements feel thoughtful and atmospheric. That said, the vocals are where I lose interest. Curtis Mayfield’s voice and delivery just aren’t my thing here; they were a bit grating. I wasn’t a fan.

Average with skip

it’s alright

One of the albums, I don't understand they are in. Somehow it seems to be an important soul album.

Couldn’t get on board with this, I liked the instrumental but struggled to enjoy the vocals.

Jag är lockad att ge en etta, för jag känner verkligen ingentiiiing av det här. Men det är inte aktivt dåligt, bara kompetent. Bara otroligt tråkigt att lyssna på

This album starts like a seventies porno, then moves into a more soulful groove. I found it sonically thin. His falsetto is thin and the band are mournfully compressed. I didn’t enjoy it. The only thing I really like about this album is the cover, which hits harder than the somber music itself.

eh

A standard Curtis Mayfield album that sounds like all of his other work from the time.

funk de los 70, muuuy tranquilo, black music, de fondo

Nah 2 stars

Album No. 0081 on my list. “There’s No Place Like America Today” is the second Curtis Mayfield album on my list. My first was “Superfly”, which I enjoyed much. That is somewhat less the case for this album. I just found the songs somewhat less interesting and a little repetitive to be honest. I did enjoy the groove however that is present in every song on this album. Curtis Mayfield is just really good at that. “So In Love”, and “Hard Times” will be added to my playlist. 2/5 stars.

Nochmal: Nettes Hintergrundgedudel, aber mehr auch nicht.

- I feel like there’s a lot of social commentary I’m missing here - So in love is so good!

I mean, it's not bad per se, but it's just so tiring. This is the black equivalent of all those similar-sounding white blues-y psych rock bands. Just do something different!

I'm told this is iconic album, and I can readily believe that it is for many people. For me, I can't get by Curtis Mayfield's voice, which always strikes me as annoying. No doubt my loss.

Meh

ok i guess....

Kinda boring tbh

Best Track - "So In Love"

predictable

Bit of funk. Mostly R&B.

Look - to give this album 2 stars seems harsh. But the songs all sounded the same. Nothing was that great/ the Blue Monday one was best. Perhaps the lyrics are poignant but I don’t really pay attention. Sorry, Curtis.

HORRIBLE.

unmemorable

Inte lika bra som annat jag hört från honom. Lite tråkigt

RnB Musik aus den 70ern. Ist ok zu hören, aber nicht meine Art von Musik. 2/5

Ok

This is a very relaxing album, contrary to the subject matter of most of the songs. Just not the type of music I'd want to relisten to. 2/5

Ok. ★★

Shit. Dagen efter er den glemt. Husker følelsen af at det var lidt tam, men den er ihvertfald forgetable.

Det er meget sjældent at Soul musik rammer mig. Dette album var ikke undtagelsen til reglen

2.4

I normally like R&B, but this was too sleepy for my tastes. Maybe good to put on in the background while the Mrs and I are enjoying some "mommy-daddy" time though...

Eg lige funk! åg eg lige Curtis! Men var ingenting som fenga og var mye halleluja og jesus, sjøl om eg ein disippel, har ekje heilt sansen for denslags musikk. Beste sang: So in love

Day 59 Really liked the first track but nothing else really held my attention 3/10 Highlight Billy Jack

4.43

A bit slow and "wah-wah" guitars for me, but some undeniably great tunes.

Two strikes against this album: the songs could each be 2-3 minutes shorter, and Curtis insists on using a whiney, annoying singing voice. The album's a 2.

60

I respect Mayfield, but this stuff is just not for me. I was able to put it on in the background, but that was about as much as I could handle.

A nice change of pace but probably not something I would listen to again

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.