American Gothic

Didn't do it for me. Sounds like uninspired show tunes. Not even interesting enough to justify this over many other albums in time. 1.5/5 Won't listen again

Very bland album that tries really hard. Standout song American Gothic

Kind of weird and interesting but I won’t be returning to this

Very theatrical

la mec m'a pas touché du tout, on dirait juste qu'il chante des chansons de disney, pas grand chose à dire

J'adore sa voix on se croirait dans une BO de film. Au début je me suis dit c'est qui ce random et finalement une belle découverte !

No I didn’t like this at all. I considered giving it a 1 but I have to really hate something to give it a 1. Way too slow and just so much rambling it felt like.

Unlike anything else. Quite wonderful. Will listen again

Beautiful songs, albeit a little overblown at times.

One thing that I’ve learned about people on this site is that they hate the musical theatre idiom. And that’s common with hipster music lovers, whether they’re indie heads or hip hop heads. This album wonderfully brings together songwriting you’d hear from a Sondheim musical that had Randy Newman collaborating on with Neil Diamond the imagined leading man.

Weak 3

Enjoyed it, this was a new one to me

Based on the title track opener I thought this was going to be some kind of dark vaudevillian historical concept album and got very excited. I was getting plainspoken Van Dyke Parks energy. But he quickly leaned away from this baroque opener and the whole middle of the album became kind of standard 70s balladeering. There was a taste of the discordant again towards the end, but not enough to steer this into something phenomenal. I liked it OK, his voice is very distinct. 3/5 from me.

I am a musical fan but this whole album sounds like the old man ballad that they throw into the middle of Act 1 to give the leads time to change.

Not my cup of tea. It’s like if Thornton Wilder wrote musicals or a less cool Scott Walker.

I already wasn't vibing with this one but now I'm forever gonna associate it with my uncle dying

2/5

70s, but weird?

Lost interest after 3 songs. Not good music at all

Holy FUCK I’m so tired of albums like this. Some dude moaning and groaning over the slowest music ever. So pretentious

I hate this performative, wanna-be songwriter stuff. Yes, you wrote a melody, made an arrangement, and wrote stories that worked as lyrics. Yet, I don't feel a single ounce of personal emotion or intention put into the performance. I really don't know who the target audience could possibly be for this. It's just nonsense. Hilariously, after writing this I looked at the Wikipedia summary and saw it was described as "an album that hadn't found its audience yet". That's because there isn't one!

I breathed a sigh of relief when this was over. An easy one star, never to be revisited

very middle school play coded

did not like

Not my thing at all. Not sure how this made the list.

Sometimes it makes me think of Elton John if he was trying to do Scott Walker. This might sound fun but it's not as good as either of those two.

You know when you order a pizza and it's one of the greatest pizza you ever ate, but you're full so you decide to keep the rest as leftovers. A couple of days pass and you remember how great the pizza was, so you get your leftover pizza out of the fridge and reheat it in the microwave, but now it's all a sloppy melted wet mess. Well, that pizza was Scott Walker and David Ackles sure is the leftovers. Be sure to eat your pizza while it's still fresh!

Despite a lot of good arrangements, varied instrumentations, etc... This album is rather boring and strangely annoying.

A musical that both takes itself too seriously and fails to commit. Not offensive but what is going on here. Write a hook man...

musical soundtrack

Man, you've really got to be in to musical theater to enjoy this. I am not, at all.

I read up about “Ackles” before listening to the album, so it promised something new, however a bit too theatrical for me.

Chef’s kiss for this one

Reminded me of Leonard Cohen. I don't like him either.

I haven't heard of this before, but the reviews scare me. It's not so much the low rating as it is the descriptions of the music that give me trepidation. He's one of the least listened-to artists on the list, being second only to the Hookworms who gave me my first album in obscurity. Immediately, as I begin the album, I learn that all the flak it gets for being "shitty theater kid music" is completely spot-on. It sounds exactly like Scott Walker being cast in some obscure musical from the era. Lyrics aren't that good and feel just as much "Off-Broadway musical" as the music. Fortunately for this album, I am a high school thespian, so I have a high tolerance for musicals. Within that context, this isn't a bad album. It's also not essential listening. It just feels like a cop-out for including an actual musical on the list, if that genre is even worth including. It would probably get just as slammed in the reviews as this if I'm being honest. So, yeah, this is a mostly forgettable- and forgotten- album with no real reason to be on the list.

frank sinatra aaaah je peux le dire ?

Overall, it was just meh, I don't particularly enjoy folky(?) music, and I really couldn't sit through it, but if you like it then that's amazing - 2/5

- oh this instrumentation is so cool - i love a song that builds an entire narrative - ekphrasis!!!! - musical theater-esque - somebody show this guy to lemony snicket - 10 minute montana song feels unnecessary im sorry david ackles - favorites: american gothic, ballad of the ship, oh, california!, blues for billy whitecloud - rating: 3/5

some really cool songwriting and instrumental experimentation, but overall most tracks are okay, second half falls off quite quickly imo highlights: american gothic, ballad of the ship of state 3.5/5

Chill

Interesting lyrics.

Enjoyed every song apart from the second one

2 out of 5. Had no idea who this guy was but there were some nice moments here.

Never heard of this artist before; what an interestingly odd album. I don't hate it so, y'know, that's saying something...but I doubt I will ever listen to or think of this artist again.

This album probably doesn't deserve such a long review but ...My take: a mixed bag that finishes stronger than it starts. This album was a bit of a journey. Early on, both my wife and I were bracing ourselves — the opening stretch felt rough, and his talk‑singing delivery just isn’t a style that clicks with me. It kept the first half from landing emotionally, and honestly, we were both thinking “oh boy, this is going to be a long listen.” But the second half my wife was out but it surprised me. As the album moved along, the melodies settled into something much more appealing. Several of the later tracks have genuinely nice musical moments — warm, tuneful, and far more engaging than the opening songs. Even though the vocal approach still wasn’t my favorite, the songwriting itself showed flashes of something worthwhile. Overall rating: not a one, definitely not a disaster — more in the 2 to 3 range. There are a couple of standout songs I’ll pull into my personal rotation, even if the full album isn’t something I’d revisit often. Bottom line: uneven, occasionally charming, and worth hearing once — with a few keepers I’m glad this was put into the list.

fav songs: love's enough dramatic, theatrical, dense 40/100

hmm.. not overly excited by this album. Background noise

lowkey theater kid vibes, not my fav at all but i could see like 2 growing on me: Another Friday Night and Oh, California!

I would like to know who decided this was a great undiscovered album? It feels more like music that someone with the microphone enjoys so that means we all have to listen to it. This is all very theatrical. Perhaps one of the reasons American Gothic remains an undiscovered album is because those individuals who have heard the album didn't like it enough to tell others about it? Bernie Taupin produced this one, which only serves to remind me this is not an Elton John album. I know David Ackles is not trying to be Elton John, but he's also trying to be Elton John. This doesn't hurt my ears. It hurts my nerves because sometimes undiscovered is for a reason and just because the editors of this book wanted to show how well they recognize great music doesn't mean I need to be impressed. The entire time I was listening to this album I felt like I was back in high school and was being forced to attend a play that my girlfriend's sister was in. I just want to be somewhere else. It's an obligation, not entertainment. "Waiting for the Moving Van" was my favorite song on here. Not because it is sentimental, but because it's the one song where Ackles doesn't try to do more with the song than he should. The narrative is also more interesting than tales about a carousel or a family band. I also enjoyed "Another Friday Night."

very interesting listen! will give it more chances in the future

Has the bones of something good but not remotely there. Terrible and uninteresting lyricism especially.

Música de teatro. Es inevitable imaginarte a unos bailarines si escuchas esto.

Tricky one. I really liked some parts, but some were terrible.

refreshing and amth new hated it at first but sounded great on headphones

proper crooning with just a piano. sounds a little like neil diamond but not as exciting

That's a theater no from me

This is some weird Scott Walker Neil Diamond shit. “Never found its audience”, my ass. It’s just weird and nobody wants to admit it.

Hmm, nothing special really. Musicality is there, but boring.

not for me. while the storytelling is certainly interesting, these songs are basically the singing parts in operas/musicals where they need to present plot points so performers are kind of singing while delivering exposition. i almost thought this was a concept album at the first song. this guy has the range of maybe 6 notes

The people who submitted too-cute records for this list, like this one, should be jailed. David is just some idiot. We shouldn’t blame him.

This was so wack. 1.

One of the albums I've enjoyed least on this journey. Sounds like a Broadway musical with none of the juice, wit, or excitement of a Broadway musical. It looks like people have been trying to rehabilitate this album since it came out but maybe it just sucks?

not gonna lie, i put the Walk Hard soundtrack halfway through the song about the moving van

lyric heavy. Bernie Taupin produced, so no wonder.

He swung for the fences. He corkscrewed down to the ground and landed on his bottom. Respect for the effort.

Ugh I already don't like this after one track. Piano, folksy, bluesy, with a crooning vocal delivery. Sounds like it's from a musical. Intolerable. Actually intolerable, I'm desperate for this to end. Best track - Blues for Billy Whitecloud 1 star

Good piano work. A story was told here. Now I want to start a farm in Montana.

There were several songs I didn't care for at all, but there was many that I really enjoyed. This guy sounds like if Isaac Wood took more of a singer songwriter cat stevens approach to music. I think this wouldn't appeal to me as much if I didn't have such an appreciation for BCNR. Very strong 3, but basically a 4.

Interesting. Enjoyed the majority of it but in the middle just went super religious and threw me off. Liked the instrumentation, reminded me of some ‘Born to Run’ Springsteen songs if they never kicked off. Overall, decent but not great.

Interesting at the most? I mean one can tell he tried. I liked it better than Throbbing Gristle.

This singer is very well respected by some great singer-songwriters (Elvis Costello, Elton John, Phil Collins), has had no commercial success. This album is very theatrical sounding. But it's understandable why there's critical success, but NOT commercial. Pitchfork: n/a Rolling Stone: n/a

This guy clearly made the album he wanted to make - what an odd egg. I get a bit of Tom Lehrer if he were really depressed and not into politics, or simething. This feels a bit like the velvet underground in that his music doesn't really strike me as all that good but it's interesting in (what were probably then) new ways that inspire others. I can hear others building off this and, per my taste, doing a much better job, but they don't do that without this. It's not quite an objet d'arte, but it is a unique voice, and for that alone I think it needs some credit and has earned its spot. All those plaludits aside, don't really love it.

Now this is an Americana album! Very 70's and reminiscent of Disneyland.

Kul, nepoznano čist. Huda naslovnica. Zanimiv začetek! Not what I expected. (Velika razlika je, da je singer songwriter s klavirjem, ne s kitaro!) Zveni hudomušno, a besedila so žalostna. Sledi neka bolj balada, kar mi je smešno, ker ma šele sledeči komad naslov "Ballad of the Ship of State", k pa večinoma ni balada. V bistvu je ful zanimivo kok so razgibani komadi. Če pa kj ni, pa ni dolgčas! Kr neki komadov ma v bistvu zelo mjuzikel vajb, kot recimo "Oh, California!". "Another Friday Night" je kr epic. "Midnight Carousel" slightly creepy. Prot koncu me je mal zgubil, ampak na splošno zanimivo.

Album Review 091 American Gothic by David Ackles (1972) Rating 2/5 Take a spoonful of Jacques Brel, a pinch of Neil Diamond, and a handful of downers and what you’ll get is one of the most depressing albums ever recorded. This is not music to dance to, it's not life-affirming or at all joyous; it's 42 minutes of abject misery.

If you like show tunes…

not nearly as bad as everyone's saying. sure it's a little wonky at times, and the lyrics are sometimes off, but there's something objectively decent about this.

This album is somehow... interesting. It is labeled as Singer-Songwriter and "Show Tunes". The first style I'm familiar with, but the second not at all, and looking up information, it seems that it is music focused on mainly accompanying Broadway musicals, and I do see how this album fits this category. What stands out about this project is the quite ambitious instrumentation, specially in the songs "American Gothic", "Ballad of the Ship of State" and "Montana Song" which features possible the most lively performances with a a lot of horns and strings. The rest of the songs are more Singer-songwriter inspired, and could be summarized as the man singing over the piano with some additional orchestration here and there to add a bit more of feeling. However, here's the big problem with this album. I don't find this to be very appealing. I think my appreciation for it comes down to the use of a wide range of instruments, and also the song "Midnight Carousel", which sounds a lot like "Tho You Are Gone I Still Often Walk w/ You" from "The Silver Mt. Zion" and has a sense of suspense and tension. Basically, I think this album lacks interesting ideas and I even dare to say that the more piano driven tracks sound a bit too similar. Kind of unfortunate because I believe there was passion put behind this project.

This is unlike anything I have ever heard before

I don’t want to dismiss this as another Brit audience curio, but the evidence more or less proves it out: popular, if at a cult level in England, barely known at all outside of music biz circles in LA. I can’t really find a way into it, too much of a music theatre vibe.

Yeah, this was not for me.

This was bad and I feel bad giving it a 1 because clearly the only people listening to it are the ones that were directed to it by 1001 albums

The first song starts off kind of janky but I think I like it. I don't know what it was about the song but it got me hooked. He has a kind of janky sing song way of singing and it's a bit off putting but not terrible. Part of this sound like he is trying to be Neil Diamond, or maybe Neil Diamond was doing a David Ackles. I don't think I would go out and search for more of his music but it's not so terrible for a single star, but not good enough for a 3 star. This is a high 2.

Understand the appeal, but I didn't love it

Oj... nudne to, niesfokusowane, trochę zawodzące. Czasami wokal jest mocny, czysty i trafia prosto do celu, ale zazwyczaj gubi moją uwagę już na starcie. Niezbyt to skomplikowane, może czasem abitne, ale głównie nie do końca udane. 5/10 i to naciągane.

It was OK, though I won't be going out and listening to it again.

I did not care for his voice.

I can’t believe an American album done in a very French chanson tradition, whether intentionally or not, actually exists

nothing on here that jumps out at me ...

The title American Gothic reminds me of Appalachia and the cover does as well. It does have a sort of melancholy in some of the songs that seems to have a foothold in Appalachian music. Sadly it is not what I thought. I like how he doesn't repeat a lot of lines in songs, they are more like ballads. Apparently Elton John is a big fan of this guy and he was signed to Columbia Records for his fourth album. I dunno how he didn't gain any fame or anything. I can see why Elton John likes his music because isn't his whole thing musical theatre-ish? I feel like I definitely want to listen to this album again because I think I'll appreciate it even more the second time. "Montana song" is easily my favorite on this album. * American gothic: "they suffer least who suffer what they choose" is a really cool line. I really liked how he built the story of how the husband and wife were separately suffering and then brought them together in the song. * Love's enough: this felt like a very comforting song * Ballad of the ship of state: horns! I REALLYYYY like the melody on this one * One night stand: I just watched the movie "The spook who sat by the door" and this reminds me of the scene where Dan sleeps with the prostitute and he tells her she looks like a queen. * Oh, California!: Pete Seeger talks about this better. The orchestra at the end is gorgeous though. * Another friday night: A little country funk sprinkled in. Oh and soul? This song feels like a Broadway level production. * Family band: Jesus music? This sounds like the song that everyone sings at the end of a Sunday in church with all their hands linked together. * Midnight carousel: I really like how dramatic it is. * Waiting for the moving van: ya * Blues for Billy Whitecloud: Billy likes those peanuts. This feels like a song I would hear in Princess and the Frog. Beautiful and clear piano! I really like the story and the way his voice sounds, he sounds kind of cute. * Montana song: This melody and orchestra in the background makes me feel like I'm strolling through the countryside or that I'm in an old Disney movie like Fox and the Hound. "I found what I came looking for". I love how he starts the song and ends it with the same lines. Perf. "Taught his sons as he knew how, but could not make them stay". EDIT: I have been listening to this album over and over lowkey... I realllyyyy like it. I like it except for Family Band I think because that's a little to christian-y for me. But I LOVE all the other songs.

I started out with my interest piqued. OK I thought, sounds like David Clayton Thomas of Blood Sweat & Tears taking on material somewhere between Scott Walker and Randy Newman. I might be able to get into this. That held my attention for a fair few songs, but it never really went anywhere. Bigger ensemble here and there, but the songs still seemed more driven by narrative and as a result the melodies seemed a bit convoluted and hard to get along with. I’m sure all my criticisms are of just the kind of aspects of this that people love and if I were to go back for more listens, the charm may reveal itself to me. My instincts are usually pretty good though, so I can’t see me putting in the effort. It is something a little bit different and as such I can see why it’s probably got its fans, but it’s not going to be a wonderful new 1001 discovery for me I’m afraid.

First time I’ve heard of him or any of his music. Skilful enough, but just a bit sickly or cheesy for me, somehow. A bit too polished and theatrical. Feels like a musical soundtrack. Kind of Neil Diamond on broadway and just doesn’t do it for me. If you like this, imagine it’s a good version of it but I’m done by half way and just 3* for me, for its skill at what it does. ‘Family Band’ finished me off and is maybe the epitome of this album.

An interesting folk album that has some Broadway and Vaudeville feels to it. Highlights: “Waiting for a Moving Van”

Very ambitious, well written and performed. Most of the tunes worked for me. Some didn't . It grew on me as I progressed through the album. Definitely worth further listenings.

Nowhere as bad as the reviews and ratings on here suggest. It was a totally new name and album to me and was pretty impressive, if not a total success. The orchestration by Robert Kirby of Nick Drake fame gave it all a quality sheen and he's definitely a wordsmith (Taupin produced but everything I've seen suggests Ackled wrote all the words and music). I'll come back to this in the future so it's a 3.

Feels like one man stage musical.

First reaction: awful lyrics, all tell and no show. This is not how story works. Music tending to overblown pastiche. Voice and delivery from an amateur dramatic production. Love's Enough is bearable, but there's a reason some albums get lost to time. Some of this is hilariously bad. Very hard to take seriously.

Lots of B-tier singer-songwriters of the 60s and 70s didn’t know they could just write musicals! This is so theatrical! Every song sounds like it’s a showtime from a different Broadway show. Which is fine! I like theatrical; I am a theatrical guy. But genuinely I listened and thought “damn this would be a good audition song” during many a song here.

Highlight: Love's Enough In a nutshell: sing us a song, Mr Piano Man Supposedly Elvis Costello and Elton John are fans of this guy. And a critic declared this album "The Sgt Pepper's of folk". I really don't see it. It's reminiscent of Scott Walker and Neil Diamond for me, *maybe* Nick Drake, Tim Buckley and Leonard Cohen. Lyrically, Ackles is great. Musically, it feels more suited to a Broadway show. Americana never sounded so despondent. Overall: 3/10

if bob dylan had a saxophone

Damn I was game in the beginning. I thought this was going to be some hidden gem. But it quickly dissolved into muttering hillbilly show tunes. Pretty disappointed, 2/5.

No va

Hated it. Too much like shit broadway tunes.

I really like this album cover. It’s a great photograph. And with an album name like “American Gothic,” there’s a lot of pressure on the album art. The photo nods slightly to the painting by featuring a man and a woman, but it also offers something new. The composition and colors are great. And the location is distinct. Looks like a rundown house that I would love to stay at. But I guess I like the album cover more than the music. This is a very theatrical singer-songwriter album. His voice is nice, the production is nice, and the arrangements are nice. But I don’t really know who this is for. Songs about sailors and family histories, with an almost cabaret style on certain tracks. It’s not for me. 2.5

I'm a big fan of Father John Misty and I think that David Ackles here is like a precursor to Misty's sound, which is awesome. I never heard of him before but these songs are theatrical and cinematic and have a lot of twists and turns and fun energy to keep you tuned in. It's also packed with great vocal performances, and really nice arrangements. I do think it lacks a little bit on the composition side, like "Love's Enough" is a really nice song on a basic harmony + melody level, and I think I would have liked more songs that are that quality for the rest of the record. More songs where I can listen and think "this piece would sound great if it was broken down to just the harmony and melody and was played on piano and vocals". Regardless, it's a really nice listen!

Cool album, couple tracks stick out

Guy who wanted to write short stories but didn't have a pen, only a piano. Old fashioned pre-rock pop but with the pompous knowingness of doing it in a post-rock world.

The 1001 Must Hear List strikes again. David has put together the sappiest collection of show tunes that somehow are spot on. And poignant. And a bit sad. Solid piano, effect french horn, and worthy clarinet (which is tough to do.) Each song has a message and makes you think. Would have loved to see a live show at the Old Town Theater or similar (maybe the Ground Round with a couple pitchers of beer.) Glad for the exposure. (3.65*s) He trades the milk for booze, and Molly wants new shoes..,

I'm going hard on this album. I can't believe this gets an honorable mention. Talk songs from a long, elaborate screenplay. David Ackles is not special. Every track sounds the same. I swear you just need to speak poetically about the hardships of a struggling artist with a light orchestra behind you to get the attention of a smug critic and make this list. "One of the most beautiful but rarely heard albums of his era"...American Gothic remains one of those great albums that never found its audience. It waits to be rediscovered." Faack off. This has been done repeatedly and I'm sorry David but you don't have any magic here. 0.8 stars.

David Ackles seems like he is trying his absolute hardest to take seriously something that mostly came across as a ridiculous pastiche of aged songbook tunes. He is imposing so much gravity into something that just doesn't feel like it can carry the weight. However, the vocals are so earnest that you can't help be charmed at moments. At times this felt like a parody of a washed up broadway star trying to maintain his Tony award winning status from 20 years ago while doing a children's show at Chuck E Cheese. It's like a respected classicly trained actor appearing in a Sandler flick and trying to prove that he still has the chops to act despite showing up in a bad wig and making a fart joke. One of the more puzzling entries as I just can't imagine who the target audience for something like this is. Although I was not a fan of American Gothic I'll admit I was entertained at times. Maybe it made more sense in 1972 but nowadays it was hack-y and cheeseball, but also kinda stupid and bad-good. It is so far down both ends of the spectrum that I have no idea how to rate this. For some reason I feel like South Park or Family Guy could nail a ridiculous David Ackles-like singer character and it would hit perfectly. 1.99 stars I guess?

Uneven. The title track was off putting, but the following ballads made up for it (Love’s Enough and One Night Stand). Like a strange cross of Randy Newman and Charles Aznavour. Not bad.

A lot jazzier and poppier than the album cover would have you expect. Very poetic lyrics.

"Brel!" I said out loud as this started: he has the rhythm, though wears a cleaner suit, and the production adds textures that amp up both fanciness and discordance. I like it, Broadway gone wrong (the only way it could go right for this mind), and his voice is appealingly unadorned, but I have only had one go through, so a placeholder: 4 in hope.

Not sure how I feel about this one; part American chansonnier, part great lost singer-songwriter, part overwrought musical theater. His story is a sad one, but I can see how this was overlooked. Entertaining nonetheless.

Sounds like an album of show tunes. Might’ve enjoyed it if I was old enough to live through the Great Depression, but definitely not my thing

Love's Enough is good, reminds me of John Denver. I wish a John Denver album was on this list instead of this. I'd give it a solid 1.5, or even a 2. It's campy and ridiculous but necessarily in a good way, more in a way that makes me want to shake my head in confusion.

Weird, but very enjoyable. A good mix of songs on this one. I really liked the sailing song. Very theater like.

Best way to describe this album is Temu Billy Joel but terrible

folk rock, singer/songwriter, 1972 -> 2

I’m not sure how to rate this one. On the one hand, I don’t like it. On the other, it’s at least interesting, which is more than I can say about most 70s singer/songwriters. Also apparently very influential on folks like Elton John and Elvis Costello, who to be fair, I also don’t really care for, but both are unquestionably talented and know their shit, so there’s that. What I find challenging about this is that it’s not really musical in any conventional sense, at least not in its totality. The music kind of follows the vocals, it feels more like it’s improvised to spoken word than anything written as song. This is why a lot of people are saying it’s like listening to amateur theatre. Sonically this comes closest to Scott Walker, though, again, without the musicality. Some of Ackles’ observations of the mundane remind me of John Prine. And then there’s the gauzy 70s singer/songwriter songs like “Love’s Enough” that takes it firmly out of the weird. And I guess when it comes down to it, I want this to be some kind of weirdo outsider album but it never gets there. This might be one of those albums that grows on you over time, but I’m not inclined to give it that much of a chance. I’m not upset at having heard it though.

Fav- blues for Billy whitecloud 3.5/5

Un álbum extraño, pero siempre interesante. Empieza siendo country y según avanza, va tomando unos niveles de epicidad que hicieron que lo sintiera como algo muy teatral, algo que anunciaba que aquí hay alguna cosa tan enorme que no puede caber en un solo disco. Habrá que escucharle más a Ackles, sí consiguió sorprenderme.

Dramatic and not in the good way

Reminded in places of both Scot Walker and in a larger part Randy Newman. Wasn’t particularly bowled over

# Album Name: American Gothic # Artist: David Ackles # Rating: 2/5 # Comments: Absolute snooze fest..... ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz # Top Tunes: # Would I listen to it again? No

This is very show tunes adjacent. It's got some nice piano playing and is well recorded and arranged. But I don't think that makes it all that great.

It's like someone collected all the bad parts of pre-1975 Genesis and made a whole album out of it. I'm not saying at old Genesis is bad but real Heads will know what I'm talking about. Anyway, I felt 2nd-hand embarrassment.

Not very my style, it sound like a musical play.

A strange album, I am not really sure what it is doing on the list. Happy to listen to it a couple of times, but not planning to come back to it

I'm torn by this one. I liked the orchestral, cinematic feeling of some of the songs, but on others it was almost cheesy. The lyrics were beautiful and really, really sad.

Loved it. The drama of the instrumentation complements the storytelling.

that one was for the theater kids wow. I loved the full band orchestration and how present the piano was. Some really sad stories

I listened, but it was a struggle. Dreary little tales with a lack of melody, rhythm or any redeeming qualities whatsoever. Surely must have been self- published, no reputable label would touch this nonsense.

Instrumentals were such a treat!

Some decent nothing special

mag ik Downloading The Repertoire van Jack Mudurian aanbevelen? is heel wat interessanter dan dit

Weird as shit, but kind of in a good way. Can’t really see how it made this list. There probably 1001 similar records that are better.

Sounds a bit like jeremy irons. Not a bad album, not my type of.music. plink6 plonky piano, gospel backing singers

I don’t know if there’s more to it, but it’s an objectively strange album. It’s theatrical with specific details in the lyrics making me think I’m watching a play, but in the wrong order and I’m the only person in the audience and I’m blind. 1.5/5.0

I did not like this

7/10

Sounds like listening to audio book over piano playing(which was decent). Not that bad. But I’m not a fan of this storytelling approach.

Epätasainen paketti, joka kuitenkin paranee edetessään. Ärsyttävimmät biisit olivat kuin suoraan jostain musikaalista, mutta tavanomaisemmat pianobiisit olivat ihan jees. En nyt kuitenkaan ihan kolmea tähteä vitsi antaa.

217/1001 David Ackles - American Gothic Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ I didn't mind this, but definitely wouldn't go back and revisit it. It's a Southern folky sort of musical, which kinda works, but equally doesn't for me.

I'm not a fan of musicals in general, but this one sucks even more than most.

yeah this was surprisingly really fun

Fairly dull singer song writer stuff

This is not an album; this is a cast recording of a musical. A musical that sucks.

This was a Midnight Carousel, whatever that is.

There was some interesting stuff I here but nothing that I was head over heels for. Just a solid singer songwriter record from the 70s. It fits right in there. The instrumentation was the real interesting stuff. The vocals themselves were passable. Nothing to crazy. Just ok. Not really for me but I can see this being a banger for someone else

Meget mærkelig blanding af noget vildt gammeldags, 50'er-agtigt, noget nærmest musical-like og noget helt over i Nick Cave-stil... Tror ikke, jeg forstår det ...

Ages like an open bottle of Fresca.

Meh. I mean, it's not as bad as some of you all are making it out to be, but it's not particularly enjoyable either. American Gothic is definitely one of the albums of all time. I will defend the album by saying that it isn't terrible or even particularly bad, but it is absolutely not a must-listen. Just because Elton John and Elvis Costello (BECAUSE IT ALWAYS FUCKING COMES BACK TO ELVIS COSTELLO) liked it doesn't make it important enough to music history to be here. It's just too obscure for a list like this. I'm fine with listening to music that's obscure to potentially find a hidden gem, but unfortunately, this isn't what I'm looking for. I'll give it this though. The album starts off decently enough. The opening title track and "Love's Enough" are pretty solid. Dare I say, those songs are actually quite good. After that? It's horrible, but it gets kinda annoying. The instrumentation is just... too much some times. I don't know how to explain it, but it's too much. It's loud and a bit discordant at times and I don't think it's a style that works for me. The album's also just a bit too long and drawn out. I feel like this could've been maybe 8 minutes shorter and not much would be lost. The writing's somewhat interesting. Not crazy interesting or impactful, but there's stories and symbolism and such. David Ackles does say the phrase "10 years" in three separate songs though, so that's something. Of course, I only noticed this because any time I heard him say it, all I could think of was the "10 years in the joint" meme from Yakuza. If you know, you know. His voice is fine. Kinda reminds me of the guy from Blood, Sweat & Tears. It took a bit of time for me to think of that though. I just knew that he kinda sounded like someone but I wasn't sure who. Overall, despite my complaints, I can't exactly call American Gothic a bad album. I think David Ackles clearly has some level of talent, though I don't personally vibe much with this album in particular. Light 3/5.

wow as of now 18thousand reviews let me guess they are not british. It is actually pretty chill and cool. Very soft have to say! But pretty cool. However not much music comming from the instruments.

A very distinct and idiosyncratic balladeer, which sometimes works and sometimes annoys

I like this--the style reminds me of Will Wood. Very theatrical and dramatic, sometimes sounds improvised

Based on the other reviews and descriptions, I thought I was going to hate this. But it’s actually quite good. Some great storytelling through songs with a bit of a melancholic streak. Very 70s singer-songwriter in the best way

Yea not sure what that was about

Incredibly uncool album, everything feels heavy handed and sketched with the largest pencil around. The slut shaming is not great either, but ok, different times. What I can't excuse is the half measure between country music and broadway musical, the I'm gonna talk about real people around but in the most dramatic fashion I could think of. I am also convinced that he has no idea what he is talking about, I found it so unsincere it's crazy. Big poser, and lame to the point of exhaustion, hated that.

I'm always excited when I get an album with low global ratings, or any divisive album with polarized reviews. It usually means things will at least be interesting. I didn't join this project to reaffirm my opinion about albums I already love, but to be exposed to new, strange music I wouldn't encounter on my own. First observation : this is very nice ! I really enjoyed it. Well, not all of it, some songs were better than others – but considering I'm usually allergic to "singer-songwriters", that’s already a big surprise for me. I liked the old-school jazz / cabaret approach, maybe because I feel culturally closer to it than to traditional Americana. I’ll take theatre music over country-folk any day of the week, especially when it’s so gorgeously produced. Second observation : contrary to what some reviewers are saying, there is absolutely nothing weird about this album. If you think this is weird, you've just not listened to enough music in your life. So what if it sounds theatrical ? Music has been intimately linked with theatre for centuries (ever heard of opera ?...). I'm actually disappointed by the fact that Ackles didn’t embrace it more radically – it could have been even better with more operatic strangeness. Conclusion : not bad at all. I was almost tempted to give it a 4* just to bounce it up a bit in the stats. It's not exactly my kind of music, I doubt I’ll spontaneously listen again, but it absolutely deserves a place on the list. I’d rather get this than a umpteenth insipid album by Dylan or Neil Young. 6/10

In its retrospective review, AllMusic wrote "American Gothic remains one of those great albums that never found its audience. It waits to be rediscovered." Wasn't discovered around my part.

I really tried. This feels like a folk album, a bit crooner, with a touch of New Orleans that vaguely reminds me of Tom Waits, but without the depth. There are a few intense, almost thrilling moments… and then the rest just wears me out. It’s honestly not bad. You can feel the good intentions. But I’m not American. And I’m starting to get tired of albums that only speak to Anglo-Saxons. It’s like forcing Cabrel, Sacha Distel and Brel on a bunch of Americans and expecting them to feel it. And on top of that, I read that this record barely sold. So… why?

1.82

Unbearable arrhythmic bellowing. Absolutely unbearable.

It was ok, some of it reminded me of musical theater a little bit.

Idk I kinda enjoyed it.

Quite an enigmatic listen. Had to give it a couple tries. I really like David's voice, and was surprised to more or less enjoy the tracks with more of a show tune quality (up to a certain point--Ballad of the Ship of State was a bit much for me). It's not a style I'll revisit regularly, but I was surprised to enjoy it as much as I did.

you don't see a lot of folks writing musical soundtrack albums so this definitely gets points just for being different. it's beautiful, it's dark, it's kind of weird, and I love it when artists make something weird. it's a 3.5 with bonus points for being so unique.

There are a lot of singers of this style that should be on this list before this dude. 2 stars or D-.

This must be the 1001th album, has to be

Jesus show tunes. Really awful.

NO

This was boring and confusing.

Nope

Repetitive, but not horrible. Its below average though

I was a bit worried going into this album, seeing as a lot of the reviews were quite negative on this one. But to be fair, it pleasantly surprised me. It's kind of a Broadway musical in album form, and I very much dig it. My biggest gripe with it is that although it sounds grand and majestic, it doesn't really seem to go anywhere. Should this be on the 1001 albums you must hear before you die list? I'm not sure, but it is definitely better than the reviews made it out to be. 7 / 10

приятный голос и меланхолия и те слова что я сосредоточилась и ухватила, наверно стоит потом проверить)

Like if Neil Diamond wrote Broadway songs with no hooks. Well-executed musicianship, I suppose, but I don’t get it.

Quaint little hidden gem. Your favorite piano playing singer-songwriter’s favorite piano playing singer-songwriter. Bernie Taupin’s production has a deft touch. I can see why this wouldn’t work for someone, but it worked for me. Will revisit.

Ну и скукота

Well this is just way too much. No thanks.

Dated. Musically uninteresting

not one that i'd like Play In The Background While Doing Shit but i like these kinds of narrative songs

Done

What the hell was that? I could've easily made it to death without that.

I like his voice

I had to google this album because I thought it was show tunes. I don’t even really know what show tunes are, but I think they’re like this. Did not like.

so sincere and raw idk. i didnt think i wouldve liked this much but yay

Ballad of the ship of state

199/1001 :: David Ackles - American Gothi Heard before? ❌ Would I revisit? ❌ Rating: 5 Listen before you die: No Something really interesting about this album. The album plays like a broadway musical. Which is what’s good about it and bad. There’s some complex arangements here and some interesting story telling. I’m just not sure I really want to listen to this. And frankly while I thought it was good (for what it was) it was a slog to get through… I bet theatre buffs love this shit.

idk i kinda listened, singer/songwriter that deserves more credit than im givong him, this album experiment wearing on me

AllMusic said "American Gothic remains one of those great albums that never found its audience. It waits to be rediscovered". After listening to this boring and forgettable album, it's not difficult to see why it's still undiscovered more than 50 years after it's release. It's not terrible - I've heard far worse - but why is it in this list?

Valjda ja toliko mrzim country da je ovaj koji je ljudima inače lošiji meni puno bolji. Prvi country album za koji mogu reći da me nije smorio totalno. Ima nekih dramatičnih i uzbudljivih kvaliteta.

You know in the film Forgetting Sarah Marshall where Jason Segel’s Dracula musical for puppets is described as sounding “like a dark, gothic Neil Diamond?” I have to imagine it sounded like this. I’m not going to lie though, I’m into it.

Woah. Tom Waits lost his raspy voice. And he still sucks.

This album is beautiful. There are many great songs on it, and wonderful instrumentals too. It's great as a storytelling album too. I've enjoyed it so much. It's a very theatrical and dramatic album, with some musical changes in the songs, giving them more depth. It's a pretty strange and delightful album at the same time, but it has made me love it. It is absolutely a highlight for me.

8/10 Favorite: Love’s Enough

Wonder if he’s related to Jared Ackles

This is like if Mr.Rogers put out an album of him sort of singing. Mx it with Warren Zevon and you’re good to go. This is a peaceful album. I don’t think you could fall asleep to it but you could definitely put it on and forget that it’s on. It has enough of something to keep it from irrelevance but if you asked me what that was, I’d be lost in explaining it to you. Like, I want to move on from this but something deep in my psyche keeps me listening.

Compelling theatrical voice. Had me at the self titled AMERICAN GOTHIC, lost steam with some of the slower numbers.

Surpassed expectations

I do not understand lol not for me

Too theatrical and annoying for me to even tolerate

I can see why someone like Elton John would be a fan of this dude. Very theatrical, but that ain't a bad thing. 4.5 bumped down to 4.

I was at a 5, then “Montana Song” punched it all the way up to a 10. My goodness. I mean, it doesn’t start perfectly. I think it takes a moment to get used to the shifting tempo / pace of “American Gothic”, which isn’t the best way to start an album, but once you settle into this album’s more cinematic / Broadway-esque tones, that push & pull feels extremely dynamic, and give each track way more of a gravitas than initially expected. “Love’s Enough” might’ve been the more trusty opener, given that it has a sort of Nick Drake vibe to the instrumental, & it just feels lovely overall. If this album had started with “Love’s Enough”, I think it’d have much higher than a 2.48 on the site. The only real minor misstep here is “Ballad of the Ship of State” – not that it’s a bad track, but it’s the most lyrically confusing to me, just in the way its structured. Instrumentally, it feels really bombastic in a striking way, but I couldn’t exactly piece together the plot here – obviously there’s some abandoned soldiers (presumably for World War II or the Korean War), and people who stumble upon them, but I don’t know if they went with the people who found them, if they took over their ship to leave them to the same fate, or ultimately decided to stay where they were since their country had already abandoned them in their minds to begin with. If the track’s plot were as clear as the 8 tracks that follow it, it would be even better than it already is. After that, the album just glides brilliantly. It feels like a mix of Nick Cave, Scott Walker, & Todd Rundgren, with aspects of who he inspired (Elvis Costello, Elton John, Phil Collins, maybe a few more) popping up along the way. “One Night Stand” is somber, yet plain, and it just feels really nice. “Oh, California!” has a sort of Toy Story vibe to it, with a kind of whimsy that just gives off a happy & bright energy, like the sun he keeps praising in the track. “Another Friday Night” just feels like a working class anthem, with a sort of plucky underdog vibe to it that feels like a Broadway track. The lift of the instrumental, along with the “Rocket Man” vibes around the 2:30 mark just struck me really nicely. “Family Band” feels really relatable – I’ve grown out of faith to a degree, but sometimes hearing the gospel music I grew up on brings back a calming vibe, and this track just spells that out in a way that clicked for me. “Midnight Carousel” is intimidating in the best way, with the religious people around the protagonist scolding her for chasing after this one true love. The ambiguity of the relationship itself gives the whole track a super captivating vibe, and whether or not she’s truly been seduced by the devil (or the “man in red”, whoever he is), she’s clearly pleased & satisfied either way. “Waiting for the Moving Van” is beautiful. The way the lyricism slowly reveals the nature of his homelife, his relationship with his kids, and the pain of a 10-year marriage falling apart, all whilst being forced to focus on the immediacy of his move, while the somber piano tries to occasionally lift itself up… it feels like a Pixar track, in the best way. It just struck me really nicely, since it felt so vivid & lived in. “Blues for Billy Whitecloud” is a fun blues track, with the crazy twist of Billy building a fucking bomb & destroying his school at the end. I can’t blame him, given how they treated him. “Montana Song” could be a play unto itself, and it’s the reason this album is getting a bump up all the way to a 10. It’s a track all about finding those connections in person, with the protagonist traveling to Montana just to find his grandparents’ graves, getting mentally swept away to the past to see how they lived, with the tragedy of his grandpa’s sons just leaving him & his family farm behind for the hustle & bustle of city life in the early 20th century. He died practically alone, with almost nothing. The little details of the track make it feel so incredibly lived in, especially the detail of a presumed daughter who stayed being the one to write out the note of the grandpa’s death. My dad was a very big believer in ancestry, finding one's roots, & trying to get as good of a feel for the past as he possibly could, and while those records still exist on the computer I’m using to type this, they’re buried under passwords I don’t know & software that’s incompatible with modern operating systems. In a way, I wish I could be in touch with my ancestry as this song is, and the cinematic / Broadway-esque tones of it just clicked wonderfully for me. I think it uses all of its 10 minutes as effectively as possible, and it’s a great capper to an 8-track stretch that elevates this album all the way up to a 10 for me. It is an undiscovered classic, and while I understand that the shakier start to this album makes it easier to give up on it, seeing it through & truly *feeling* these tracks as they are reveals something deeply enriching. I think it’s a fantastic discovery, proving that even 740 albums in, there’s some superb diamonds left to find. It’s not going to click this nicely for everyone, but for it to have clicked with so few people that this only has a 2.48 on the site is utterly ridiculous to me. It’s at least a 3, bare minimum, and for me, I simply have to give this a 10. It’s just that good.

New artists to me. Ok

David Ackles – American Gothic (1972) ist das dritte Studioalbum des US‑amerikanischen Singer‑Songwriters, aufgenommen im IBC Sound Recording Studios in London und produziert von Bernie Taupin. Stilistisch vereint es Elemente aus Folk, Americana und erzählerischem Songwriting mit orchestralen Arrangements und einem Hang zur musikalischen Theaterform. Die Songs entfalten eher szenische Atmosphäre als klassische Hits und zeichnen ein vielschichtiges Portrait von amerikanischen Bildern und Stimmungen. Das Album enthält elf Titel, darunter die prägnanten Stücke „American Gothic“, „Love’s Enough“, „Ballad of the Ship of State“ und das ausgedehnte „Montana Song“. Die Produktion ist dicht, arrangiert und legt den Fokus auf erzählerische Dichte statt auf radiotaugliche Singles. Insgesamt bleibt American Gothic ein introspektives, konzeptionell geschlossenes Werk im Bereich Americana/Folk‑Rock. David Ackles’ Stimme und die orchestralen Untermalungen tragen zur Theatralik des Albums bei, das trotz seiner musikalischen Ambition und dichter Kompositionen bei Erscheinen wenig kommerzielle Aufmerksamkeit erhielt und heute als einflussreiches, aber selten gehörtes Werk gilt.

Blind album and artist. To quote AllMusic, "American Gothic remains one of those great albums that never found its audience. It waits to be rediscovered." It's still waiting cause I ain't it.

Its fine, another one of those that sounds like a musical ive never seen. It is what it is, and what it is is meh.

This is regarded as a great undiscovered gem. I think this can be left well alone. Ackles voice is too high in the mix, it sounds less of a collection of songs and more like sermons from the mount. Well intended lyrically but this album is on the wrong side of irritating.

Gave me a bit of a Neil Diamond vibe. I enjoyed the album over all even if it’s not my usual go to for style.

People really don't like anything out of the ordinary. Crazed Neil Diamond sounds like a great idea to me. I hear Neil Diamond crossed with Jacques Brel.

too theatrical

“American Gothic” is undoubtedly heavy stuff. David Ackles' songs are not that inaccessible, but they don't quite come together to form a coherent whole. One moment it sounds like Broadway and even briefly reminds us of Frank Sinatra with its vocal range, the next moment we find ourselves in musical theater à la Kurt Weill. Some lyrics are wonderfully dark, others lose themselves in naïve, explicit triviality. This album could have been so much, but in the end it's just an astonishing experiment by Ackles and Bernie Taupin. It's actually impossible to evaluate it meaningfully. But it's impossible not to, so it gets 3 stars.

The guy who said this was budget Neil Diamond did irreparable damage to this album

Much to my surprise, I absolutely loved American Gothic. I'll typically check the Wikipedia page and reviews before my listen, and I first thought "great, another slog of an album that I'll inevitably rank 2 or 3 stars and forget about within 36 hours. To my surprise, I instead was greeted with a sentimental album with excellent lyricism. If typical singer-songwriter stuff doesn't appeal to you, this won't be your thing. I adore folk and experiencing imagery when I listen to music, so this hit all the right notes for me. Considered giving it a rare (for me) 5 stars, but unfortunately Ackles' vocal performance isn't perfect. Will definitely listen to this again in the future.

A bit pretentious, but still rather lovely

Second rent broadway. This makes me trust men less to make and judge music.

Not that interesting Best = Love's enough Skip = Midnight carousel

Interesting, Neil Diamond/Elton John channel their Tom Waits wannabe through the medium of amateur dramatics showtunes. Not sure it really work but yeah it nearly does, suppose it depends on your view on almost amateur dramatics. Still very Understandable why it remains obscure and only on the 2nd hand market it seems, of the early 70s singer songwriter boom it’s just a little bit off, some of it is quiet mainstream and then other parts are very very hammy, and the almost 10 minute last track almost killed it all stone dead for me, but will give it 3Star

1- Stars (1/15)

I’m sure this is a great album if your into this kinda thing, I just don’t really enjoy folk music all that much.

I wanted to like this one better. There are some good refrains in this but it's just too repetitive. However, it's fairly good, almost like an old school musical, especially on "Oh, California!" This concept album of U.S. states gets a three. Top tracks: "Oh, California!," "American Gothic"

--American Gothic...we got storytelling. not what I was expecting. it's interesting --Love's Enough...simple and sweet with a touch of sadness. nostalgic --Ballad of the Ship of State...four years before "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"! --One Night Stand...pretty melody, nice piano. elegant --Oh, California!...downright vaudevillian! --Another Friday Night...nothing special but it builds nicely --Family Band...old school christian tent revival music. sincere or cynical? (edit: Wikipedia says it's sincere) --Midnight Carousel...could be from a musical. a good musical --Waiting for the Moving Van...the production throughout is very satisfying --Blues for Billy Whitecloud...bravo to the person that arranged the orchestration --Montana Song...you got a new fan today, Mr. Ackles

Not for me. Scrubbed through the last 10min song bc there was just no way. Still not into big band type music, and this one was also corny and boring. Kind of interesting lyrics/themes to some of the songs.

The opening track caught me off guard in a pleasant way, although I still prefer 'Ballad of Ship of State.' While the instrumental arrangements are the highlight, the rest of the album feels quite strange and could easily be replaced by many of the records that didn't make the list.

Linda portada de álbum. La única canción que me gustó (hasta ahí) fue la tercera canción; Ballad of the Ship of State. Las demás canciones me recuerdan a cuando te despertas en los creditos de películas de Pixar o inclusive las de Disney de antes de los 2000, no te quedas escuchandolas, solo sacas la película. No están tan mal pero no son mi estilo.

Not a fan of the voice, but it's not bad. Just not for me.

Very surprised by how much i enjoyed this. Mystical instrumentals, poetic lyrics and great voice. Favorite songs: american gothic, one night stand, another friday night 7.7/10

Wasn't bad but didn't have any parts that I really liked.

Could not make it through this album. Just bad...

Fred Neil showtimes if he got more into Christianity than dolphins

I had never heard of him before... I can see why he made an impact but I couldn't really get into his music.

Odd

Why?!

As I would expect with Bowie: some greats, some strange, and some OK, but well done.

Voice sounds a lot like Neil Diamond...but that's the only positive thing I can say.

Gear: INAWAKEN Twilight-DS Artwork: ️🚣‍♂️🏚️🌳 Production (US Internet Release): 🕰️👂😖 Music: 🎹🎭😂 Rating: 🛶(🛶)/5

Elvis Costello and Elton John both rave about it, but it’s no surprise that this grab bag of unused musical theatre bits remains obscure. Even my friend, LD, who knew everything hadn’t heard it when I brought it to him. We immediately agreed to cover the remarkably overwrought Midnight Carousel on the album he didn’t finish before he died. Very American Gothic. But, honestly, I haven’t - and couldn't - much listen to the album beyond that absurd track, but it was fun to go through today, even if nothing else is quite so extreme. Half sounds like Blitzstein’s Cradle Will Rock, which places it a little behind the time. Half sounds like the rock band musicals that would dominate the 80s and 90s, so, in that regard, slightly ahead of its time. What a proper, intelligible musical from David Ackles would have sounded like, I don’t know. Would have Costello and John like it so much if it was in its complete form, rather than its current presentation as a failed singsongwriter album? Probably not. But that is the time in which it was released: 1972, the height of California singsongwriter stuff. It is unfair and unedifying to consider the album in that context, but that is the only context in which it has been given to us. 2.5 ‘They suffer least who suffer what they choose’ (American Gothic)  Today the Generator has bestowed David Ackles upon us. I have an original vinyl copy in the house, which my father gave to me years ago. It is one of only two among his hundreds of vinyl records that he has gifted me. Glenn Frey’s ‘No Fun Aloud’ is the other. I requested neither, nor even spoke kind word about these albums in his presence. This is mere trivia, you understand. I am giving this album 1/5 but it’s nothing to do with my relationship with my father.  David Ackles lyrical instincts are a unique mixture of Walt Whitman and Ringo Starr. Although there is nothing as good as the best work of either on Ackles’ album we can credit him with that voice. Not a good singing voice exactly but at least one brimming with confidence in the boundless profundity of his work. A strong voice in the sense that you will hear what he is singing on the other side of the prairie, even with the wind blowing. The enunciation is consistently good. The music, overwrought and pompous, would be funny if the lyrics weren’t so oppressively witless especially in those moments in which Ackles actually attempts levity. You can actually hear him smile to himself at times. It’s not gothic it’s just grotesque.   I understand my father. When a man retires he has time to do things at home like really take stock of the quality of his record collection and perhaps even attempt to perfect it. He wasn’t recommending David Ackles, he just didn’t want it in his house. And what harm could it have done to the quality of the record collection of his son? Sure my father knows rightly the sort of shite that I listen to.  1/5

Ton Waits but clean, shaven and with a proper job

Pretty cool stuff, it’s albums like this where I am thankful for this website

One of the worst things I have ever heard.

not my thing 1/5

водевильные песенки весьма странные))

Sounds too much like Harry Chapin or Neil Diamond. I know people who might like this but its not in my wheelhouse.

It just goes all over the place and nowhere at the same time.

I gave up during Family Band. I hoped that after the first track, it would get better but it didn't. However, I imagined Mr. Fischoeder singing Ballad of the Ship of State, so that was entertaining.

It's the Decemberists! I enjoyed every track that I heard. It was great, really unexpected. Some tracks I thought fell a bit flat, and could've been better or more bombastic, but they were twisty and fun and I really liked them.

Nick Cave lite with terrible lyrics. Some of the music was ok but I couldn’t get past the lyrics!

Very Broadway

What an interesting album. The weird thing is that it's like a musical but also is just normal in a way. Some of the songs just when you are like "yeah this is ok" turns to be weird. Some of the piano key choices were very interesting. I did some research and people said it had glowing reviews when it first came out, but yeah I think it just didn't age well. I was between a 2 and a 3 for this one because SOME songs were ok at best, but I ended up leaning closer to the 2 because it just couldn't save itself.

Gražus balsas, bet nelabai įdomu. Skamba lyg būtų skirta vaidinimui.

The third of four albums by an idiosyncratic singer-writer who was considered to Tin Pan Alley and was underappreciated in his own time. Sometimes these pan out for me and sometimes they don't. This feels a bit like a one-man, dramatic Broadway musical that I'm missing context for. It's a committed performance but it's bewildering. My old music teacher described music as a tension between the familiar and the novel: too much repetition and your music is boring; not enough and it's inaccessible (and, ultimately, also boring). This contains not enough repetition and, as a consequence, the conviction and seriousness of it sound pretentious (the pretense being that I have any clue what's going on). Anyway, it's some 70's music with a rambling singer, a piano and a bit of orchestration. It's like if Neil Diamond had no bombast and couldn't write a refrain. 2/5: not painful to the ears but a bit painful to my sense of patience. Note: after having read some user reviews, I feel the need to establish that I wrote the above *before* reading everyone's thoughts. We all hear Neil Diamond and musical theatre, apparently -- and in the worst way.

awful. not my thing at all.

theater kid ass music...but somehow also boring. bernie taupin you will begin to cough in seven days

Sounds a bit like Scott Walker mixed with Leonard Cohen but not as good. There are too many songs where he is doing an over dramatic style that reminds me of a theater production. Reminds me of William Shatner on The Transformed Man when he would do very serious, loud, speak-singing. In other songs though, he shows that he can sing bout them the songs just aren’t catchy. How this was a hit at the time, I’ll never know. 3/5

Sounds like the soundtrack to a musical. Meh.

The sorta album that your elder friend David claims he made half a century ago and you act like, “sure you did, David” only to look it up later and it’s actually real only it doesn’t entirely suck so you feel obligated to listen to the whole thing and have an opinion on it.

American Gothic was a very good surprise that I enjoyed. David has a very nice voices that calms you down and puts you in the Christmas mood that’s coming up at the moment. Most songs sound the same but that isn’t really much of an issue seeming I like it. Nothing much to say I don’t mind singer songwriters they are alright and this is one of the better ones I’ve heard. 7.6/10 3.8/5

Ew, David.

Kind of a strange one. Never heard of this guy, but that's apparently the trend. Reminds me a little of Gordon Lightfoot at moments, but then in other moments it's just something totally unique. Maybe it's just his voice and singing style that is Lightfoot-esque. Ballad of the Ship of State is definitely on the strange side. And the strangeness doesn't really stop. Sounds like a cheesy movie soundtrack. Undiscovered genius or just random experiment from the early 70s gone wrong? I know which one of those options I choose. 2/5

Well this is new. Says a lot that in 53 years I've managed to never hear this before.... And then track 1 started and I completely understood why. Poor mans Neil Diamond at its best. Some of the backing tracks are rather pleasant, but then he starts dribbling on and ruins it. 1 - will not be returning to this again

At last, an album I’ve never heard that I’m actually glad I’ve heard before I die! Elements of Scott Walker and Nick Cave, it’s a keeper

This is... ok? It's interesting, but it's super theatrical. Too much so for my liking. It sounds like Neil Diamond and Gordon Lightfoot got together and made an early America concept album. It's... a lot. I won't come back to this one. 3/10

I found this to be totally cringe. I am glad that has been mostly forgotten. It sounds like bad community theater.

Loved this! Opening song made me feel like I was seducing an international spy with a cocktail in hand. The rest was a great selection of sweeping big band ballads. 4-5

Felt like I was listening to stage play ballads. Pretty cool. Essential listening for fans of Nick Cave or Tom Waits.

This is kinda ass. It would make an ass musical and it’s an ass album.

Very interesting album. Never heard of it prior to listening.

There is NO WAY that this belongs on this list. On top of that, terrible, and could not finish.

Absolutely no reason to listen to this before you die. I don't like a lot of these albums but they have high download numbers. No-one listens to David Ackles.

If I had to listen to this more than once I wouldnstop listening to music. I think Morrisey stole his dissonant offline singing style. I hate hate hate it

Not bad per se, and kind of a cool secret, but the theatrics are a bit much. Ackles strikes a balance on four or 5 songs here, and I really like the title track, but sometimes, I just *can’t* do it. Like, the music plus his Sinatra crooning makes this sound like it’s off Broadway sometimes Oh, California! in particular is kinda insufferable. I guess I’m glad I know about this now, and it’s cool to see what else Bernie Taupin is up to, but I just don’t think I’ll be revisiting this.

Dark and sometimes brooding. It is quite a hard listen.

This is trash. Agree with all the other bad musical theater comments.

1.5

David Ackles putting the Cunt in Country

Don't be afraid, David Ackles! Make your broadway musical!! Maybe I am just more of a theater kid than I thought, but I really jived with this. I thought the entire concept was well executed, the songs were sometimes funny, sometimes sad, mostly relatable. Family Band made me queasy...The titular track and Ballad of The Ship of State caught my attention the most.

I might need to give this a more thorough listen in the future.

Really weird mix of country/baroque sounds on this thing… didn’t always know what I was listening to. Liked the last song

this album was soooooo weird, i can def hear the Bernie Taupin production on this thing!

Country.

It's hard to say that it's a bad album, it's not, I quite like it, but it's just so simple and not trying to be anything more. There's a hint of trying a little bit here, and there, something bigger, but no fun writing, no fun moments, it just is. It's not bad for what it is, but it should try to be a little bit more on this list.

Theatrical.. But not in a good way.

This project is to discover obscure, forgotten albums like American Gothic - an album usually I would have never discovered on my own. And I am glad I listened to this album. It's different, odd, a but overblown which is not often my taste but it kept my interest throughout and it was a pleasant listen. Robert Kirby conducted the album, he worked with Nick Drake around that time and a bit earlier and I can hear his influence on the album. At first listen a strong 3 star album.

A very sad album but sometimes that is a great thing. Moving lyrics and good singing but its not very often I find myself wanting listen to this kind of music so I cant in good concience give it a higher rating.

What a great album to have in this collection. It's exactly the sort of thing that I would never have even considered, and it's not really to my taste (too music-hall/show-tune for me), but it's also a pretty distinctive album and musical style, and I feel better for having heard it, and having read about David Ackles, before I die. I didn't really have any favorites among the tracks, although the title track does a good job setting the tone for the remainder of the album, and both "Another Friday night" and "Midnight carousel" are an interesting mix of dark lyrics with almost upbeat-sounding tunes. Reading about his life and career is also pretty interesting. I can totally picture him with his sister when they were kids finding really obscure folk songs to perform as a folk duo (the pair having started out doing vaudeville acts). And given his challenges getting his songs to get any traction, I'm glad he met Bernie Taupin (who produced this album) when he opened for Elton John in 1970 in LA. A shame that the most everyone seems to say about Ackles is that he's (still) waiting to be rediscovered, a great sound that no one's heard.

Wild getting this album so soon after getting Jacques Brel and Scott Walker. Though I didn't like Scott Walker much, David Ackles is a different story--he's the closest I've heard to an American Jacques Brel with complex songs, lots of nuances and intonations, interesting music, etc. This album didn't really appeal to me (same with the Brel choice for this project) but sadly, unlike Brel, there's not a lot out there to love. I went back to listen to Down River which seems to be one of his most covered songs--lovely. Wish he'd hung in with his music longer.

Gack. No.

I don't even need to listen to this one (I still did). American Gothic doesn't belong on this list. The streaming numbers are some of the lowest I've seen in the Dimery docket. Stylistically, very concert-hall-esque. It's definitely outdated, even for its time (remember how much Lennon scorned McCartney's "granny pieces"?), but it's still charming in its own way. After 6 or so tracks, though, that soft-spoken rambly concert hall style gets old *really* quickly. Tracks like Family Band and Waiting for the Moving Van just lack that punchiness or creativity most listeners are looking for somewhere in an album. By the beginning of Montana Song, you're breathing a sigh of relief, thinking, "okay, just one more track. I can do this." In a sinister twist of fate, though, Montana Song is over 10 minutes long, and doesn't showcase any sort of progressive element to make up for it. There are some minor ups and downs in energy/texture, but absolutely nothing that justifies taking up almost a quarter of an already questionable album. Love's Enough sounds like something off the Billy Joel debut record (the year nearly matches too) but with a different vocalist. Neil Diamond, maybe. The whole record is like a sack of Diamond trinkets created after he went completely mentally off the rails. Another reviewer described Ackles's delivery as "manic" and, though it's subtle, I have to agree. It's a weird, fevery, mildly uninteresting sound that I don't see myself revisiting. Nor do most other listeners, it seems. Wikipedia notes AllMusic's mini-review: "American Gothic remains one of those great albums that never found its audience. It waits to be rediscovered." That feels like a cop-out comment for unpopular albums, and doesn't consider the possibility that maybe people haven't heard it because other people didn't enjoy it. 2/5 Key tracks: Love's Enough, Oh California!, Another Friday Night

Truly horrible, musical theatre bullshit.

I’m gonna wind up loving this aren’t I. LOL NO WOW THIS IS HILARIOUS THIS SUCKS. This joins the ranks of so bad it’s good albums on here which are rare but I do love them. Fuck me.

Albums like this are what this project is about, and it’s a shame there aren’t more in this vein - offbeat, unknown, or from a clearly articulated voice/pov. I dont need a ninth Elivis Costello album (and I like him!) or endless generic late-90s dead-end British alt rock bands that are meaningless to musical history. I have no idea if I will ever listen to this again but I enjoyed it once and it has broadened my exposure to musical history.

underrated to say the least. A shockingly enjoyable listen reminiscent of Randy Newman at points, then tom waits at others.

Half the time his singing was so badly out of tune it was painful, or rather it sounded like he was in pain. The songs themselves were, well naff really. It just wasn't an enjoyable experience. But strangely enough was not as bad as the ones I have awarded recently. But on looking back, nowhere near as 'good' as the 2s.

Tortuous

This was like some sort of vaudeville Neil Diamond. Truly awful.

As the wiki page suggested it was unknown to me, really enjoyed

This was bad lounge / off Broadway music. Somebody will love it, just not me. 2/5

3.75