Reviews (page 6 of 7)
A lot of weird stuff, some interesting stuff. Just nothing I would listen to on my own. 2/5
A solo album from bad seeds member. Very dark and ominous sounding but not really that interesting honestly 6/10 Favourite: Something Wicked This Way Comes Least Favourite: Vermillion Kisses
I'm glad this is a movie I'm never going to have to watch
First 2 songs were 4 star
I didn't recognize who Barry Adamson was but when I looked him up - he was Magazine's bassist - I was excited. I might've vaguely recognized the name Magazine before this 1,001 list but listening to their entry was cool. This was not cool. At first I was thinking what is this Primal Scream meets Pulp stuff?, then realized it was just Jarvis Cocker providing guest vocals on the first song. Really, it's more like his Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds work, which means strange and macabre. But sooo boring except maybe for Something Wicked This Way Comes, Miles (a Miles Davis remake), and The Sweetest Embrace (Nick Cave provides guest vocals). I understand he was trying to write a soundtrack for a non-existent film. But still, so boring. I kept looking at the clock as so many songs dragged along. I skipped through a couple.
wtf? Why does this dude have two albums in the 1001?? Like *really* two albums, not "one of these was removed and the other is a replacement." Is he friends with Robert Dimery? I just don't get it. There were a few good moments, but also some really weird moments. It wasn't awful, but I absolutely did not need to hear this (or his other album on the 1001) before I died. Tracks that I liked: Set the Controls for the Heart of the Pelvis (awful name, good bop, a little weird),The Vibes Ain't Nothing but the Vibes, The Big Bamboozle, The Sweetest Embrace (Nick Cave makes it good).
A couple tracks that would be good to have as background sound when working creative, but the rest is a bunch of random experimental nonsense.
swanky noir jazz to have a mysterious journey to
I see the vision but I don't think I would ever listen to this again
This shit is out there....some weird ass some stuff, but some killer grooves too. Would probably listen again but I'm in no real hurry.
It's fine, but I don't see how this is a must listen 90s album.
I liked the beginning of this but once "It's Business as Usual" came up I started really not enjoying it. Some of the songs felt too creepy and others just too sexual.
Some moments (like Miles) are truely enjoyable, but repetetive sound collages and spoken words section are too much for me. This album has like 10 minutes of enjoyable music for me and the rest feels like too long intros and outros.
There really is some pretentious crap out there. Don’t know what more I’d expect from a Manc. Given it an extra star because Jarvis Cocker sang on first track
I remembered this guy from another album on the list, same schtick of making a soundtrack for a nonexistent movie, and I liked this one a tad more. Maybe it was more cohesive or I was in a better headspace to list…… NICK CAVE AGAIN??? YOU RAT FUCKS (2.5/5)
Got progressively weirder as it went
Is an album supposed to make you feel uncomfortable? Sure, if it's meant to be intentional - and seeing as this album was supposed to be for a hypothetical David Lynch movie, I can kind of relate. Problem is that if you only have the soundtrack without the movie, it doesn't have the same effect that, say, the soundtrack of a blockbuster would have. Even if it was a brilliant movie, at most I'd say the music was 'meh'.
Not something I would put on during a drive or on a saturday afternoon. I keep wondering what kind of movie this was supposed to be the track for. It has 70's psychedelic blues, noir themes, an urban fantasy skit of a princess with borderline... Very strange indeed.
I want to call this one underwhelming, but I honestly had no clue who this artist was so I don’t think that’s a fair critique. I did enjoy “Miles”, thought maybe the album was turning around but the only other song that stood out for me was “The Big Bamboozle”. 2 stars, for those two songs I suppose.
It's fine, well, actually, it's too long and there are only a couple of good songs here. I enjoyed, "Miles" and "The Big Bamboozle" a lot. The rest were typical movie song throwaways. Nothing that you'd remember after a few days. I prefer David Holmes for this particular movie music micro genre. At least he's funky.
Gives me Nick Cave and the bad seeds vibes... was ok not great.
Weird..
pretty tiresome
Wasn't really a fan of this one. It started off ok, but got annoying by Dirty Barry. The end got a little better, but not enough to make me not regret listening to this. 2/5
Sound good for the most part my the concept looses me a bit. Hard to rate.
This album gives me so much anxiety.
"She announced: "I've just seen my therapist, who's convinced I have a borderline personality disorder with narcissistic traits, which means I'll be unhappy all my life as nobody will be able to measure up to the fantastically high standards that I just can't help but impose on them."" Listened to B4? No Tracks Already Saved on Spotify: None Standout Tracks: Set the Controls for the Heart of the Pelvis, The Vibes Ain't Nothin' But the Vibes, Something Wicked This Way Comes Pretentious to a fault. Most of the record sounds like Adamson is trying way too hard. (51/100)
Eclectic for sure, but it’s nothing I would want to go back and listen to again.
What a strange album. Thought I was listening to part of a Forensic Files episode on "It's Business As Usual"...
At first I was gonna describe it as the perfect soundtrack for a normal day but listening to the following songs made me feel like I was living in a toxic relationship with good and bad days. :)
Just wasn’t digging it
Something Wicked This Way Comes was instantly recognisable as a bedding track used constantly in the late 90's, one of those tracks which comes on and you think "this is the reason this album was included on the list". But I've just realised that this is the second album by Barry Adamson on this list after Moss Side Story! Is this man really so influential or great to deserve this honour? As I see from Wikipedia that this album was also conceived as "as a soundtrack to an imaginary film" like Moss Side Story, could the choice really not have been narrowed down? Overall, I slightly prefer Moss Side Story over this. The best track I heard was actually Mr. Eddy's Theme from Lost Highway which autoplayed after this before I realised.
**C+** Some songs have a discernible groove, most do not. I prefer the skits to the songs, and I don’t like the skits all that much.
I'm pretty sure I listened to another Barry Adamson soundtrack album for a movie that doesn't exist a few hundred albums ago. I think one is enough for this list.
6/18/25. Really don’t know what to make of this. Some good tracks on here, but also a lot of filler. Will likely require a few repeat listens but my initial listen was just okay.
It's like it's aspiring to be something, but doesn't know how. There's no real substance here, cattywampus musings from a composer.
I’m glad others enjoyed the chaotic nature of the album, but to me it ends up being a few interesting ideas thrown together into an incoherent mess.
This one was all over the map. The opening track had me intrigued, but multiple songs using voice recordings wasted the potential for this one
2- Stars (4/15)
Unexpected
What a weird bunch of bollocks.
High High's but LOW lows. Don't really sure what I'm hearing at times
Like Nick Cave but somehow worse?
OTT
Is it jazz? Is it experimental? Is it psychedelic scare rock? Not sure on this one
Very mixed bag but overall wasn't for me.
Killer album title but overall a bit strong for my taste. Reaching for that 11 every time.
Some good points, like Something Wicked This Way Comes and Miles, but this list does not need two "soundtracks for films that don't exist" by Barry Adamson. "Vermillion Kisses" is one of the most irritating interludes I've ever heard, even worse than skits in rap/hip hop albums that are just sex noises. Speaking of sex noises, Jarvis Cocker's moaning sets a tone which is immediately abandoned, as each song takes a left turn from the previous one. You could say the album is varied, but really it's all over the place.
Sure. Immediately dissapointed by the dated funk of the first song with the cringe Right Said Fred vocals. The music on this record is generally fine, but way to kitschy too be enjoyable. Stereotypical elevator/mall-ass music in Miles. Some decent jazz (In a Moment of Clarity) that I'd enjoy a lot more if it weren't surrounded by all this cheese. Cheesy spy music around too, with The Big Bamboozle. Probably my favorite song is The Sweetest Embrace. Which makes sense, being the song with Nick Cave on it. Probably the most accessible, "standard" song on the record? Overall, just think this album is too silly. And I don't necessarily have a problem with that, it's just whenever you make music like this, it's very liable to age quickly. And this album is no exception. It might be good music, but hearing some of these songs out of the context of an Adam West Batman or 60's James Bond film (for example) isn't going to do this type of music favors.
This guy is a talented musician but what the fuck did I just listen to?
Stupid album name aside, Dirty Barry kills any and all momentum for the album and made me wonder when the next shit song would halt all progress for the remainder of the album.
I really would rather have been watching a David Lynch movie.
eh
almost threw up during the first song. Something Wicked This Way Comes was cool though. Rest was a bit odd. High 2*, 58/100
Yup, this sounds like sexy movie soundtrack stuff. It's fine. Am I going back to it anytime soon? No.
what's this
Nicht so meins
1.5/5
Why?
No thank you
I like Jarvis Cocker… as of typing this a new pulp album has just been announced/ spike island released. Different class is one of my favourite albums, this is hardcore+ his n hers are both great! Idk who atticus ross is honestly??? Then I don’t care for the rest of it.
It was interesting with the different genres mixed in. But, I wanted more ear candy.
Basically sounds like a soundtrack to a David Lynch movie which I guess it partially is. Should maybe be a 3 but downgraded to a 2 due to some of the spooky weird shit that just doesn't land.
Téléphone rose type beats + Nuclear fallout type beats Ok there's some cool jazz ones : - In a moment of clarity - The big bamboozle, which is very cinematic It gives nick cave Had a 2/5 time
Not really my thing.
For the first thirty seconds, I was excited. Where are we going? And then we went nowhere. And then we went to Nick Cave-ville. 2.5
Strange.
this was all over the place, started ok then moved into a jazz sorta vibe, odd. Enjoyed the first half of the album but it started to drag toward the end
I have to be in the mood for this type of soundtrack like music.
If I could watch the movie playing in his head that this goes with, I might have enjoyed it. I can’t, so I didn’t. Instead it made no sense. Some of the jazzier tunes weren’t too bad, even a little enjoyable at times, but by the time they rolled around he’d already lost me. And even they got pretty monotonous fairly quickly. All in all, it’s mostly background music at best, and even not great at that. If I were a teacher, it would get a D. With extra credit, maybe a C-.
This album was a little strange. I wasn't really into it. It was a background listen for me. I hadn't heard of the album before.
2,5
First impressions more jazzy stuff, just a bit more up to date. But it was a bit more than that changed style a bit improved, and went down hill again, but overall deserving a 2 I think
This could have been so good if 50% of the tracks had been culled. What was point of some of these, such as 'Vermillion Kisses' and 'Dirty Barry'? It became a very jarring listen.
Good musicians joining in here, and that show, but then it is also a bit too conceptual for my taste. PRoduction and arrangements are over done..
Hmm
Some of it is interesting. A few tracks I enjoyed. Overall as an album experience, I won't listen to it again. 2/5
2.0 Just arty shite really. Don't really get it. Got as far as the Vermilion track and called it a day. Didn't ask for a story. Some of the instrumental pieces weren't terrible. But on the whole not an enjoyable experience.
Sometimes boring. Often irritating. Occasionally funny. Only sometimes interesting. I hate when an album feels like a collection of experiments.
Nobody asked for a soundtrack to a movie that doesn't exist with an intro about thrusting your pelvis
I liked one or two of the songs...but man does this go from listening to music to filling out a restraining order on the behalf of someone and back. Some of the songs are just fever dreams of noise. Mixed in will be something more attune to playing in an elevator.
Minus one star for the repulsive opening track.
annoying
Dark and weird, tom waits esx but not quiet
This fucking guy again?! Look, you've already included his first album, which was "a soundtrack for an imaginary noir film", but to also include Oedipus Schmoedipus (just an awful album title), which is "a soundtrack for an imaginary noir film" is just negligent... This is nothing more than mid background music occasionally with some creepy, sometimes overtly sexual spoken vocals. I'll admit that some of the songs had some decent grooves, but not enough to merit it's placement on this list.. I guess 1.5/5 stars rounds up to a 2...
Interesting
I did not expect to hear Nick Cave on this album. It's by far my favorite part of the album.
Surprisingly this isn't the first concept imaginary film score album that we've had on the list. I think this was a case of an ok album, on a bad day. It has some good moments, but then super irritating for large chunks and I had to keep turning it off - it took me forever to listen to and forever to decide what to write. On the whole I didn't like it.
Didn’t like this. Too moody
This had easily the most viscerally uncomfortable track for me of any album we've had so far. I heard about half this album and then didn't drive my car for a few days, and when I got back in the car and it came back on, my first thought was "oh this fuckin guy". I liked some tracks but for the most part no thank you.
high highs and low lows but i get how this would really hit for some people. as a full album experience it was a drag
This was ok I guess - seemed like an amalgam of every stereotype of 90's sounds imaginable. I don't think I'll put this on again.
Definitely weird and interesting.
All over the place
Frickin weird man. 1.85
This was… different. Some songs I could visualize being played in a night jazz club thing with prestigious individuals. I really didn’t like the amount of talking, but I could really see why it’s so influential.
Lounge music I didn’t hate during the first few tracks. Then it completely lost the plot up its own ass
Unsettling and weird, certainly unique though.
Oh man, why has this guy 2 albums on this list. At least put actual movie scores on here instead of this. Too much xylophone and too incoherent
OK.
Part of the Nick Cave extended universe. It's cinematic - conjuring dramatic images, tension, and sense of a scene. It's genre-bouncing (from croony jazz to acid house to loungey trip hop to elevator jazz and noir soundscape) in a mostly referential pastiche way. It has expansive instrumentation, not always successfully- vibes and drum machines are an awful combination. Is there a sound more dated than turntable scratching? It was never good. Mixed album that goes on for way too long. The dark ambient soundscapes are cool, the bright jazz is unbearable, the rest is mid background music. Favorites: set the controls, business as usual, dirty barry, sweetest embrace
Very disturbing. Not to my taste.
Interesting for sure, but boring at times and honestly terrifying at others. I'm seeing a lot of people note that one of the songs was in a David Lynch film and it makes a lot of sense. I've never been a David Lynch fan tbh, kinda like this album. I understand the appeal and I'm probably in the minority but just doesn't click. 4/10
Hmm, this is an odd one. Some songs have a lot of groove, but the concept of it as a soundtrack to a nonexistent movie shows through very clearly with a lot of it too. I don’t think it’s something I’ll listen to again, but I don’t hate it
yeah not really my thing at all. the more hip-hop-esque sections were not very stellar and the jazz-ier, lounge-ier sections were also not stellar. maybe it's because the album i had generated before this one was Coltrane, but the jazzy stuff on here feels so stale. in fact, the whole album kind of feels stale. it's like i'm listening to the soundtrack of a d-tier movie. it sounds dated in a very not charming way. and there are some unlistenable and oddly horny stretches here. but the worst sin of all is that, quite frankly, it's pretty boring.
Good, mostly melodic. Background noise
This sucks lol. I think it’s more interesting as a concept than it is listenable as an album
Just not good at all 4/10
The first two tracks are pretty good but I found the rest mostly meh
I liked some of it, but in the end the “soundtrack to a movie that doesn’t exist” experiment doesn’t work.
While the individual sounds and styles presented throughout the lengthy tracklist are well done, with solid production and detailed arrangements, the album itself just feels far too disjointed and unfocused to be anything truly impactful. A lot of the time, I just don’t know how this album is supposed to make me feel. Where jazz music can present distinct emotion through solely its instrumentation, it feels like this album is missing the part to actually allow the music to connect with the listener. Again, I think the different elements on their own sound, for the most part, good, the full album experience just doesn’t particular work. I did really like the jazzier tracks in the middle and I adored the track with Nick Cave, though
He's talented but this is a convoluted mess. He sounds like he's trying too hard to make the album to please everyone. In the end, it falls flat.
A little too strange for me.... and I like strange
Guess Barry Adamson's whimsical intents and film noir inspirations were too out there and unhinged even for the Bad Seeds. No wonder one of those cuts found its way in the soundtrack of a David Lynch flick. You can readily believe this album is itself the soundtrack of an imaginary movie taking place in Adamson's head. And as disjointed as it is, it would be unfair to say that this record is an unpleasant listen overall. The thing is, too often is *Oedipus Schmoedipus* stuck in one of three repetitive modes, without any of them yielding absolute highlights either. You have the jazzy cuts, pretty cool, at least if you take out that safe-sounding cover of Miles Davis's "Milestones" (simply named "Miles" here, and which brings nothing valuable to the iconic original and its modal jazz shenanigans). You have more contemporary trip-hop-adjacent forays whose rhythm patterns unfortunately aged rather poorly, most of them without the harmonic and melodic creativity of the greats in that ephemeral genre (and that sample from Massive Attack's *Blue Lines* in the opener sure sheds a somewhat unflattering light on its new surroundings, as "cinematic" as they're supposed to be). And finally, you have moody musique concrète and spoken-word interludes that just sound weird for the sake of it. Worse, beyond some admittedly evocative moments here and there, nothing during the clash between those three musical modes gels cohesively. You have a few cool scenes, but the whole story doesn't resonate. If *really* we had had access to the pictures and narration that went in Adamson's head while he recorded those tracks, maybe there would be a little more to relate to. The problem is that the many obfuscated elements of this record don't really encourage you to create your own pictures in your head either. It's all a little blurry. It feels like the cinematographer is too often doing a lame job. And the end result is just mostly confusing -- not in the sense of David Lynch's best films, which confuse you in ways that can make you react very strongly to what's shown onscreen -- but rather in the sense a B movie filled with plot holes, clichés and missed opportunities can be. The guest list is interesting, though (Jarvis Cocker, Atticus Ross, Carla Bozulich, Nick Cave -- who has since "acted" as a crooner with far more emotional potency than on the day he recorded the dark ballad in which he appears here, "The Sweetest Embrace"). Everyone plays their part as convincingly as they can. And, sure, in spite of what I wrote up there, there is nothing truly obnoxious in this record overall. But it is no "essential album" for me. I'd rather flirt with the love interest next to my seat, brought to that dark theater with some sly afterthoughts in my head, than actively watch the film. Now bring me the popcorn (and another album, please). 2/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums. 7/10 for more general purposes (5 + 2). Number of albums left to review: 35 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 417 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 243 Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 309 (including this one)
Some nice songs
Would be better if he wasn’t whispering about his pelvis
Not sure how I felt about this, middle of the road I suppose. There were parts that were ok, and then there were parts that were atrocious.
Aluksi vaikutti hyvältä mutta sitten taso hieman lässähti 2/5
The music was good. The weird "skit" tracks between were not
Some interesting variety, but it seems like Mr. Adam son was too focused on creating that variety instead of creating some good songs.
Interesting mostly instrumental/jazz/electronic/experimental album reminiscent of Pink Floyd. It’s
wtf is this? tonally all over the place. muzacky, jazzy electronica but mostly an incoherent mess.
I don’t understand what I just listened to
Very strange but pretty interesting.
Not sure about this one.
Maybe the imaginary film would be great. The music album definitely isn´t for me. Gave it a few tries but I really can´t see the genius so many others see here. 🤷♂️ best: "Miles", "Achieved in the Valley in the Dolls", "The Sweetest Embrace" 2,5
Not my favorite
This is background music at best. Why is it in this list?
New album for me. Very cinematic. A while ago I rated the other BA album as a 3, but afterwards did not listen to it anymore. Same as this one, but it certainly has its moments.
Kinda like a mix tape of modern ambient experimental jazz?
I really didn’t need to hear another of these “show tunes without the show” cabaret-adjacent albums and I’m starting to resent whoever thinks I do.
Nick Cave was a true highlight...
2.5 stars. Super weird, all over the place. Anthemic and catchy beats but highly sexualized bookend tracks, creepy stalker story and odd fairytale story interludes, instrumental jazz-y soundtrack. It accomplishes getting in your head and eliciting some kind of psycho journey but I don't think I'll return to it.
I liked some of but hated parts too, its a weird and wild ride, the good is okay, but the bad is really poor
This is kind of like that LTJ Bukem album. Feels like a bunch of background music.
not for me
Mostly bad
Aside from Jarvis Cocker popping up on one of the songs and some of the introductions, most of the songs sound pretty much the same. Very much a product of its time as well. A lot of it feels like background lounge music. Actually, some of the sings remind me of the background music of a snooker game I played in the mid 2000s. There are some songs that don't sound like lounge music, but they instead sound like the music version of a bad trip.
I completely fail to understand why this is on a list of albums a person should listen to before they die. What the absolute fuck is Dirty Barry? Miserable. Vermillion Kisses also fucking sucked. There is too much garbage like this on this list. I think I'm going to quit
Eclectic, that's for sure! My thing? Not so sure.
This album is the personification of that "Mr. Incredible becoming unsettled" meme.
Admittedly I did not give it a fair shake and only listened to a couple songs. However, this is the fourth of July and I want some Lee Greenwood damnit.
# 267 : It's not as bad as the cover, or the other reviews would have you believe, however, I feel like sometime this list mistakes "you must listen to this ALBUM before you die" with "Hey this was popular once, or had a couple hits on it" with importance.
Maybe better than the other one but still confused and bored me. Don’t get the concept
- Hmm, weiß nicht digga - War für mich in manchen Teilen zu narrativ und zu unmusikalisch. Versteht mich nicht falsch. Ich finde Filmmusik und auch Songs und Alben mit inhaltlichen Konzepten mega. Aber hier wars mir dann doch zu dolle oder auf eine Art und Weise, die mir einfach nicht gut gefällt. - Wenn es dann stringent musikalisch wurde, wars häufig irgendwas zwischen Acid Jazz-Fusion, Electronic-keineahnungwas. Schon irgendwie spannend, aber leider für mich die gute musikalische Art von spannend. 2/5
- Fühlt sich definitiv an wie ein "soundtrack to an imaginary film". Und da wäre es wahrscheinlich auch besser aufgehoben, denn als Album zum Runterhören fand ich es zwar nicht total schlecht, aber es hat mich zwischendurch schon etwas Überwindung gekostet weiterzuhören (z.B. "It's Business As Usual"). - Insgesamt wars okay
okay
Very... meh. Not awful, but not particularly good either. Some really good tracks, but it went on too long
This was a very unusual album, each track wildly different. I liked a few but I really disliked a few as well. Good on him for being creative but I don't think I'll visit this album again. Fave Track: Something Wicked This Way Comes Rating: 2
Film noir In album form, but also with creepy serial killer vibes not my thing had its moments.
I liked the Jarvis Cocker song but that was about it
Alan Wake-ass music. Creepy.
Struggle to find joy with this one.
I really liked the last Barry Adamson on this list but am quite surprised to see another entry from him. This album is cinematic and atmospheric but a little cheesy and more than a little upsetting. I don't think I'd go see this movie.
Strange conceptual shit. Couple good tracks
The album is kind of all over the place. Alternative? There’s literally a jazz standard on here. Some tracks are really good, but as an album…
First three tracks are great, particularly "Something Wicked This Way Comes" which I knew I had heard before. It's on the Lost Highway soundtrack apparently. That whole soundtrack is actually kinda similar to this album, including the presence of Atticus Ross, the guy you know is in Nine Inch Nails but couldn't pick out of a lineup. Anyway that's the end of the good bits. Apparently this artists whole deal is to make soundtracks to films that don't exist. The tracks with the vocal samples/takes are weird to the point of being disturbing ("It's Business as Usual" and "Dirty Barry" on top of that list). I see what he's going for but it would make a lot more sense if there was a film to attach to all of it. I think that's a good thing but I certainly don't want to listen to those types of tracks more than once. The whole middle of the album is mostly just this type of thing. The ending is slightly better, but the lounge singer with what sounds like some sort of a Korg sample backing track in "The Sweetest Embrace" makes me think of some really forced scene out of a Tarantino or Lynch movie. Again, it belongs in a film, so I guess it works. This is an art piece, not really an album you want to sit down and listen to for its musical quality. It absolutely achieves the feel of a soundtrack. I've been rating albums based on the criteria of wanting to listen to them over again, and I have no desire to listen to this again really. It gets an extra star for accomplishing what I assume is its goal.
It was designed to be a movie soundtrack and ends up being background music. Interesting in places but not for me. I don't think this should be in a list of important albums.
I like some of it, but did I need to hear this before I die? Is that a rhetorical question? Favorite song: the big bamboozle
Boh, non capisco
Horrible experience to listen to, BUT bonus point for being a creative idea
Nr. 167/1001 Set The Controls 2/5 Something Wicked 3/5 The Vibes 2/5 It's Business As Usual 1/5 Miles 3/5 Dirty Barry 1/5 In A Moment Of Clarity 3/5 Achieved In The Valley 3/5 Vermillion Kisses 2/5 The Big Bamboozle 2/5 State of Contraction 3/5 The Sweetest Embrace 3/5 Set the Controls Again 2/5 Average: 2,31 Interesting, in that you don't know what the next song will bring. Jumping from something that sounds like a crime thriller to an upbeat swing number to a song that sounds like a fairytale audiobook. Still I won't listen to this ever again.
Ok as background music. Some of it was a bit much. 2/5
All a bit weird. Maybe good of you know that sort of thing.
I don’t know what I thought this was going to be, but 90s templates and layers was not what.
Kind of cool to have an album that’s like a fake movie score, but ended feeling kind of like stock music?
The handsome prince did WHAT??!? This album was just ok. Kinda all over the place
i thought this was gonna be like a cool cocteau twins 90s new wave goth album based on the cover but ts was so lame
Some background chillin and some oddities
Áhugaverð ....
I thought the first two tracks were ok. I recognized the one from Lost Highway, not from the film just that I had heard it before. The rest was forgettable, although some of it could also could be fitting in a Lynch or film noir soundtrack. Quite a blend of styles, but seems to be primarily Art/Jazz which is evidently a thing, just not my thing. 2/5
If Sophocles were a music producer no doubt this would be the theme music of Oedipus Rex. You can just imagine him walking around Thebes with this playing and him saying “yeah, I killed my father and mounted my mother! You fuckin plebeians got a problem with that?” Still…this was a tough listen and certainly not worthy of making the list. Interesting yes. Strange yes. And I appreciate the Nick Cave connection with Adamson being a former member of the Bad Seeds. But nothing I’m gonna repeat listen. Schmoedipus indeed.
Did I need to start my day picturing what Joe Cocker’s O face looks like? I did not. This album was hard to pin down, I guess you could say. It transitioned from what can only be described as ‘evidence for a murder trial’ into something you’d hear while on hold with AT&T.
Listening on headphones on a plane and the dude talking on the first track freaked me the fuuuuck out. Some grooves on this I guess, but do not anticipate another listen in my future.
Well this was an interesting listen! I can see why Lynch enlisted his talents to score Lost Highway. Still have a hard time understanding why this is an album I must listen to before I die… though I briefly considered a 3 based on the whiplash experienced going from the insanely weird/creepy/terrifying It’s Business As Usual to the upbeat/jovial Miles. At the end of the day I can give props to someone who is scoring movies that were never made, but not likely something I will revisit. 2.25/5
I mean, it's fine. I didn't make it very long, though. Each song seems to be a single mildly interesting idea that's just repeated until it becomes numbingly dull. This isn't for me. I also really don't like the skeezy spoken vocal parts. They're really gross.
Endnu engang nød jeg egentlig pladen, men det er satme all over the place og jeg kan ikke regne ud hvad det laver på listen. TO Barry Adamson plader virker altså som et weird valg
Nu er jeg også ved at få nok af fiktive soundtracks 😅
Cool weird spoken word/sound clip/soundtrack with a ton of talent and styles. It’s a ride.
It's good for background music but meaningless for anything else.
Also hated this, but I appreciated its inventiveness. One star for existing and a second star for trying something new.
What in the David Lynch
Too many tracks I hit skip on. It did have some really good songs, but this definitely doesn't belong on a list like this
I actually have no idea how I feel about this after listening. It's pretty long and it jumps around so many ideas, even if individually they can be fairly interesting, as a whole it feels too disjointed.
Unexpected.
Yeah? And?
Vielseitig schräg
Some really interesting ideas on this album. But like the other Barry Adamson album on this list (Did we really need two?) it's still the fact we're listening to a few film-score tracks for different non-existent movies. Lots of sound that might be better if they were, indeed, used in movies instead as music on an album
Not bad but actually was more excited about what Spotify cued up after it finished...lol
I listened but I don’t remember liking it…
Didn't like most of it. I kept losing interest and it kept pulling me back with weirder songs.
i’m confused, humored, and enlightened
This guy again. Another phony soundtrack. I like this one better, but not by much. 2 stars for the Dacid Lynch connection. I can't ant possibly give it any more than that.
a bit under control but it was a fun and interest listen and had few songs i kinda liked but overall not music i gonna replay anytime soon
tem umas músicas legais mas ...
lo trovo ripetitivo e a volte noioso, non è il mio stile per niente. C'è anche una punta di jazz che in questo contesto non mi piace molto. Ho apprezzato la canzone "the sweetest embrace"
I didn't really like this much. It was too jarring the different styles of music and the lack of any sort of flow. And I didn't find any of the parts that were decent that compelling, either. Not for me.
not for me
The album got off to a great start. My immediate reaction was that this album was going to be a 4. But as the album dragged on, I became progressively more uninterested and frustrated that is was still playing, counting down the tracks until it was over.
Something I would have played in college. Noise, spoken word... Otherwise unremarkable.
it ok
Kinda cringe.
Man this sucks…. totally hit or miss… first couple were good miles was my favorite. Just eary and creepy
Really strange album. It starts off with some absolute nonsense spoken word stuff, but eventually mixes in some borderline great jazz music. Overall not a fan though. 2/5 Might listen to "Miles" again.
Not really sure what genre this one was. Okay, only really enjoyed the songs with hip-hop inspired drum beats.
я понял, что ничего не понял
Interesting. Diverse. Smooth jazz to Jim Morrison to therapy session. Got thru most of it. Won’t go back.
it's dark and cinematic, very 90s, loads of samples, very gynophobic and sex charged. It feels like you've heard every song before somewhere, but then added a bunch of sex/romance stuff on top of it. It's not for me, I wouldn't want to listen to it again.
Yeah... Maybe I wasn't in the mood for this genre today? Couldn't really enjoy any of the songs.
not my thing but I've listened to it
I liked a couple songs but the vibe was very…. Off putting
Strange.
I thought this sounded like a score! I can see it working in that context, but didn't enjoy it just as an album to listen to.
fine, vermillion kisses was an interesting listen but not revisiting otherwise
Too long, and most of it was uninteresting
That got real weird real quick
Enjoyed the first track. Not so sure after that but didn’t finish the album so this could be an unfair rating. 2*
Interesting enough. Not great though.
Very weird. Too weird and all over the place for me.
Assumed this would be horrific from the album title. It wasn't as bad as I expected. But found it quite boring, and really dragged on. I'll give it 2 stars for not being terrible, and for some great song names that sound like something we'd come up with.
That was weird and bad.
Sorry Barry Adamson, I had a good time with your last album that's on here. But this one went above my head 😂 I think my fault, not yours
Somewhat interesting but a slog
I couldn't get into this. Just weird, eclectic lounge or soundtrack music.
Oh boy. Well, when you go into an album called Oedipus Schmoedipus I guess you gotta be prepared for strange. This album was weird to say the least. Not necessarily weird bad though, you can tell everything on this album is very intentional - I just don’t think I really understand it. I also don’t feel inclined to want to understand it though.
Some songs were okay, but some were highly annoying
2/5 nope
Kind of felt like 90s computer game music at points.
Not quite as bad as I thought it might be, based on the song titles. But I was also working so didn't really hear the lyric.
Achieved in the Valley in the Dolls i The Sweetest Embrace su solidne, al ostalo je ili elevator music ili neki artsy shit koji mi ne pase bas.
Pretty sporadic
When I finished Murder Ballads, I asked myself "If Nick Cave took a shit on the floor, would it make the 1001 albums list?" Turns out, it didn't even have to be Nick Cave, his bandmate would do. Jokes aside though, this guy clearly has musical talent that comes through on the tracks where he isn't trying to shock or weird out the listener. I can see why only David Lynch actually used his movie-soundtrack style music in an actual movie soundtrack. 3/10, not for me.
Maybe a couple alright songs but mostly pretty weird. 4/10
A bit odd. Didn’t hate it but certainly odd.
Kind of boring
Wild ride. Cool jazz, weird sounds, creepy spoken word...
Didn't like. Wasn't taken in by the hooks, felt plodding and boring. Didn't make it to the end.
The music was ok but why put a bunch of half ass spoken word nonsense in there? I dont know what the hell i just listened to but it wasn’t worth 56 minutes of my time.
Astonishing. Two albums on this list by this guy, who writes film soundtracks for films that don't exist. Ironically, one of the tracks was subsequently featured in a real film. Quite a bit of variety in the soundscapes he creates, somehow manages to get guest vocals from Jarvis and Nick Cave on here which was an unexpected treat, but I can't bring myself to give this any more than a 2.
From a boring opening track, to weird, and dark. Some tracks are bright and happy too, but really, it's all a show. Barry is original and creative, the soundscapes might even be good for a movie soundtrack, but they are all kinda different, with nothing particularly important about them. Sorta like a relationship you wish you never had anything to do with? Maybe the Dude with grit? Pretty things are in the scene but be prepared for the fall because you'll need to be comfortable with the dirty things. No thank you.
Interesting, but kinda weird
I don’t know what to really think about this. It’s an experimental instrumental album that’s horny as fuck. Meh is about all I have to say.
Filing this under 'albums I was vaguely aware of but had never listened to, that I'm sort of glad to have listened to, but will never listen to again'.
Weird to say the least: not the first time I've had to listen to a song in a meh album describing sex in great detail but this took it to another level. Like a fairy tale? Funny but just odd. Other than that I only recognized one song and it's just background music so nothing much. Exactly what I expected coming from an album which peaked at 40 or smth high in the UK albums charts.
Really enjoying hearing the track "Miles". Pretty sure it's a cover of a Miles Davis song but can't place which one right now. Otherwise, Wikipedia says this was supposed to be a concept movie soundtrack and I definitely get that from a couple tracks.
2.5
I like the concept of a soundtrack to an imaginary film, but maybe I need to see the film.
Simultaneously interesting and uninteresting by throughout. 4/10
I liked the early jazzy one and the Milestones interpolation, but otherwise a thoroughly strange album that didn’t click with me. I certainly can’t knock it for diversity or atmosphere, though. Best song: Something Wicked This Way Comes
This album has a lot of quality tracks, and yet it lost me or rather I lost the thread, more than once. Maybe it just hit on the wrong day, but it's hard to even give it a three.
AJ: not for me
All over the place and generally not interesting
A very eclectic album. The songs It's business as usual and vermilion kisses are the the hight of strange. Overall not terrible.
2.9 - I don’t know, dude, another “soundtrack for a fake movie”? The schtick may have seemed fresh a few years but it’s just sounding tired here. It doesn’t seem to create a story arc in my mind but feels like cinematic snippets from various flicks. And the spoken word bits often seem heavy-handed (e.g., Jarvis Cocker’s lusty whisperings on the opening track). I did, however, enjoy hearing Nick Cave on “The Sweetest Embrace.”
A soundtrack album to a movie that doesn't exist - it doesn't sound like a consistent album but only a bunch of songs thrown together, and this is my main issue with it. Some songs are good, the more experimental ones aren't that interesting though. Overall a good background music but nothing more.
Overrated crap. He should stick to bass in other peoples bands.
Soundtrack to a weird noir film that doesn't exist and doesn't seem like something I would want to watch even if it did
Ok, so a soundtrack to an imaginary movie. The Vibes Ain't Nothin' But The Vibes is a song? I guess? It's Business As Usual is not my cup of tea. The problem I am encountering is I am trying to treat this like an album when really its a movie, just without the movie parts. Fucking hell, what a chore. Vermillion Kisses is such a fucking tease. The Sweetest Embrace is the closest to an actual listenable song, because it has Nick Cave on it.
Have tried listening to this about 6 times at night and never made it all the way to the end as always fell asleep. Not objectionable but nothing I'm going to listen to our of choice
Oh right - I listened the hell out of the Lost Highway soundtrack, too. Not sure I ever bothered to look at the name “Barry Adamson” though. My bad, Barry. So this was a really interesting one to listen to in the car driving down the interstate. Wouldn’t exactly call it road trip music, but it started promising enough and I like some of the dark jazz stuff. The song with “vibes” in the title was solid. I remember that one. I liked the Nick Cave song near the end of the record. That one, too. But there were a whole slew of tunes that had me reaching for the next button on my steering wheel. And while some of those, sure, might make for good mood pieces in a Lynch film… it felt like there were more that were better suited for soft core porn. TLDR: more Lynch, less soft core porn, Barry.
Probably the weirdest album I have listened to, at least since his other one. I didn't know what was going on about half the time. Probably doesn't deserve to be on the list, but interesting at least.
Occasionally a cool or tense or tuneful moment, but mostly pretty boring. Couldn't really get into it. 2.5/5
i hate jazz
This was strange most seemed to be score for a film or something. Not necessarily bad but not something I'd seek out really
Meh. Some of it is listenable, but mostly washed over me. Voice (and some music) very similar to Nick Cave.
This album has no idea what it wants to be. Starting off with the most basic 90s British electronic music, it quickly turns to lounge music, experimental jazz, before moving to more conventional cool jazz and going back to experimental jazz. The Nick Cave feature was a welcome surprise, but overall, this album suffered from a total lack of identity; even when it stuck to a genre it didn’t do it well. The whole point of the album seemed to be a reference to the fact that others genres exist without feeling the need to do them well.
Music is good until somebody decides to start mumbling over it.
Listened Before? N This one reminds me a lot of Massive Attack in places, and is more experimental than they are. I didn't dislike it but I didn't love it either. I may try listening again later. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Achieved In The Valley In The Dolls
Komisches Ding, komm net so recht dahinter
This was a weird one and I couldn't quite get my head around it. I like a lot of the spooky lyrics and interludes. Quite a bit better than the worst we've heard!
"Oedipus Schmoedipus" is tolerable as background until "It's Business As Usual." Almost turned it off then and there. Like ok, so this is supposed to be a movie soundtrack to a nonexistent movie? But the listener has been given no clue what the movie is about before the creepiness of "It's Business As Usual" sets in. And then the abrupt transition to "Miles" made what would have been a perfectly fine cover of a Miles Davis song seem weird. Did this movie have some kind of story in Barry Adamson's head? It's a rhetorical question. I don't actually want to know. And definitely don't want to watch that movie.
No
Too much whispering
Remember when they aired Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert on NBC back in 2018? Yeah I don’t either, I don’t think anyone watched it. But it had John Legend, Sara Bareilles and Alice Cooper in the cast, which is really strange. It honestly feels like a fever dream, much like this album. It’s clever and deserves extra points for that, but if this was an actual soundtrack to a movie, I likely would not watch that movie. Much like how I did not watch Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert. At least NBC assembled a star cast to feed their viewers.
“My mom used to be a jeans model, so y’know.😉”
I liked bits of this. But starting the day with Jarvis getting a bit saucy wasn't really my plan for my day. Kind of an all star cast, and so many different styles meant this didn't hang together as an album for me. It was helpful to show the Leonard Cohen influence weighs heavy on Mr Cave, if nothing else. By the time it got to Miles - sounding very much elevator music - my attention was wavering due to the constant moving goalposts. A lot of this felt too knowing and referential for me to immerse myself fully. It does kind of work as a soundtrack to an imaginary film, but I am not sure I would sit through the full feature, if so.
Well this was a WEIRD one. It started off as the ideal wfh music. I usually give any album described as 'a soundtrack for an imaginary film' a large swerve; but this was half decent. It then took a dark twist and got a little disturbing with Business as Usual. There was a sudden switch to light jazz on Miles. wtf is this imaginary film all about? I thought Vermillion Kisses what a stupid Spotify ad. An interesting sound collage, but not exactly a stadium filler.
Not quite sure what this was supposed to be......
Shocked this reached 51 on the UK charts. Mostly nonsense. Sweet Embrace was ok.
Another head scratcher. Why is this on this list. No very good or interesting to me.
A imaginary soundtrack is a n interesting concept. The Miles Davis track was my favorite. The others…not so much.
2.4/5 Best: Something Wicked This Way Comes Worst: Dirty Barry Interesting and creative, but a bit weird.
First track was super annoying tbh. The rest just faded into background music, which isn't "bad" but pretty forgettable.
It was, OK - is also a shadow the magic of Melody Nelson from earlier this week, and for other similar sleaze lounge stuff that came on the shuffle afterwards
Noise
This was a weird album but enjoyable for the most part, some tracks were boring though. I really enjoyed "The vibes ain't nothin' but vibes" and "Achieved in the valley in the dolls". Rating: 2.5/5.
This started out interesting and proceeded to being weirder and weirder as it went on. I don't recall the last time I was so uncertain whether or not I even liked an album. There is no cohesion to this album whatsoever as one track would have a Beck vibe followed by a spoken word in Shakespearean style and then back to a Leonard Cohen sort of vibe. That sounds a lot cooler than it actually ended up being for me. I'd put this somewhere between a 2 and a 3 if I could.
Feels too much like background music
Groovy. It’s Business as Usual actually terrified me, though. What the hell? That was creepy. I’m a lyric listener mostly, so I don’t usually listen to instrumental, but it was fine.
Very interesting, very diverse, and very pointless. And for an album recorded in the mid-90s, somebody should have told Barry that the "sax" sound of the 80s sounded dated even when it was popular in the 80s.
There were some cool individual songs on the album, and the overall concept (separated from the songs) was interesting enough, but it wasn't an enjoyable album. There were songs that filled no purpose. The only song I really enjoyed was Miles, which was written by the one and only Miles Davis.
Really weird album.
dramatic like the divine comedy but only slightly less horny during vocals mostly instrumental 2.5
Thanks to this 1001 list, I'm starting to grow convinced that music released in the 90s is either spectacular or horrendous. This album has background/elevator music on one track, nonsensical jibberish on another, and I don't know what else on the next. Guess where this one falls? 3/10.
Bit too self indulgent for me
What even is this?
Prawie godzinny seans z eksperymentalna elektronika podczas dzisiejszego odsluchu Oedipus Schmoedipus od pana Barryego Adamsona, plyta z 96 miala byc soundrackiem do wymyslonego filmu i tak sie tez tego slucha, pan Barry buduje mroczny klimat kwasowego jazzowania z funkwymi nutkami przeplatanymi monologami i wszelakimi samplami, na uwage zasluguje drugi utwor na plejliscie albumu, czyli something wicked this way comes, bo tak jak zapowiada nadchodzi cos nieczystego, caly album wydaje sie kolekcja niepokojaco schludnie brzmiacych sennych opowiesci, a wiki wskazuje na odniesienia do historii kinematografii na poszczegolnych trakach, ale tutaj calkowicie mnie ominely referencje jakie podobno zostaly przemycone, tak jak elektronika nie byla moim ulubionym gatunkiem, tak nadal nim nie jest, a oedipus jest bardzo specyficznym nagraniem, do ktorego nalezy podejsc z odpowienim nastrojem, w ktory dzisiaj nie trafilem, bo o ile pierwsza polowa plyty byla sluchalna, to druga czesc juz raczej nudzila i nie potrafila przyciagnac na nowo uwagi
Not for me.
Starter veldig bra, mister det etter noen sanger. Morsom sound.
I normally like concept albums, but most of those are progressive rock albums. This album felt like one of the critics, and I'm not a critic.