Reviews (page 6 of 7)
I'm sorry, but he's rhyming "Warn ya" with "California" It's not for me
I LOVED "Love's Enough", but the rest of the album sounded like it came straight from a Broadway musical. Not that I mind that normally, but it didn't work for me here
David 'ACKLES
Exactly like all the other vaguely weird vaguely boring 70s crooners that are on this list. They are indecipherable from one another
I don't get it. Like an over the top Neil Diamond?
Eh, sounds like a less interesting Scott Walker. DNF
At the suggestion of another review I went and listened to another album that should've been on this list instead. Go check out Nina Simone's Little Blue Girl
Olipas kamalaa. Onneksi sitä ei tarvitse enää kuunnella.
Disliked very strongly. Not for me and I'm not sure what the audience would be. 1.5
tedious
Mix the worst of Billy Joel and Barry Minilow and you end up with this.
Tried it. Did not care for any of it. Reminded me of Broadway show tunes from one that I'd never heard of.
Bad musical vibes 1/10
Bro this was so buns
Aburridísimo
Christ, this is shit. It sounds like a High School self-written musical being performed by a Neil Diamond impersonator. There are moments where it is a bit Scott-Walker-doesJacques-Brel, but without any of the charm (plus those are the crappest Scott Walker songs too, generally). Bad, boring, and not worth my time.
This is a shitier version of Niel diamond
Terrible. Maybe if he got someone else to sing it would be tolerable but this is pure earnest schlock.
I was excited to hear something new by an artist I'd never heard of. But this ain't it. Frank Zappa said once that we were better off with record execs who didn't know shit about popular music and I can see that this is the consequence of that lol. Not that Zappa was wrong!
1/5
Reading the description I was SO hopeful this was going to be a new discovery for me that I’d fall in love with. It was awful.
The fuck is this?
American Gothic is a little too showtune-y for my liking. I generally hate showtunes and this is edging right up to that. Ackles's voice is not bad, and that's pretty much the only good thing I have to say. It's all just so boring and uninspiring to me. It's not completely irredeemable, but I don't really want to listen to it ever again. Nah, you know what? 1 star. I was excited when the album was done, and that's never a good sign. I think I'm learning to really despise the "singer songwriter" genre. God help the next one that comes up.
I don't like bargin bin Billy Joel
Who starts an album like this? I just sat down. It opens with a song about a woman prostituting herself for some new shoes and her wino husband looking at porn and how their marriage is rough. It largely doesn’t improve from there. The album feels like a musical that would’ve closed in the first week. The music is well performed, that’s really the only positive. It’s just bizarre all around and I don’t know how this made the list.
This album has a cover that completely suits the content inside. A man in a rowboat outside a house and a woman sitting on the veranda. Sounds like a good idea but it's a terrible photo and looks completely random. And that is my summary of the music as well.
Terrible. Stupid.
Nope. Just nope. How is it possible that this album made this list? Was it chosen by someone that is completely deaf? Well I think so. No, i'm 100% sure about it. Just for David Ackles his effort: 1/5
The classic painting American Gothic features two farmer folk in front of a colonial house. It became famous because people thought it was a satire of traditional Americana. Turns out it was painted in earnest and completely misunderstood. This album has the same sense of disingenuous sincerity. The songs are so ironically campy, they must be a joke - but it would appear they are intended to be very much sincere. This is the original cast album to a musical I hope will never be made. It is powerful bad.
Genuinely hated this.
‘British music critic Derek Jewell of The Sunday Times described it as "the Sgt. Pepper of folk." ‘ British music critic Derek Jewell needs hearing aids.
Not my thing.
hate
i like literally nothing about this album. it’s Neil Diamond but with zero pizazz and no passion. just No. Sorry David.
Listens: 2 Standout Tracks: None Listen, this guy, David Ackles, might have been inspiration for the likes of Elvis Costello, Elton John and Phil Collins, but that doesn't make him or the music good. I'm sorry, but show tunes is just not high on my list of music I seek out and want to listen to, and judging by the catalog and the low volume of listens on popular music platforms, most people probably agree with that assessment. Did I hate this? Not exactly, but hate is a strong word I try not to throw around too much. This was not fun to listen to. I took no pleasure in it. I found it to have very little in redeeming qualities. I don't loathe it the same way I loathe country music or 2000s top-100 music, but its not too far behind either.
This felt too much like an over earnest Broadway singer. I cannot imagine listening to these songs a second time.
Not a fan
Yet another terrible singer-songwriter album, another miss for me. Sounded like Burt Bacharach doing songs in the style of Peter’s Dracula puppet musical in ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’. I did not enjoy a single song, the lyrical structure was disjointed and almost silly at times, it made it impossible to connect with the music or any themes he was trying to convey. I hate to do it two days in a row, but rules are rules, I hated just about everything on here: David Ackles will enter the Hall of Shame as my 12th 1/5
Wat zijk muziek
Not a fan of this one. Felt more like a musical, not a country album
Like a worse Neil Diamond, and I say that as someone who can't stand Neil Diamond.
Very bland album that tries really hard. Standout song American Gothic
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.
I already wasn't vibing with this one but now I'm forever gonna associate it with my uncle dying
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
did not like
Not my thing at all. Not sure how this made the list.
A musical that both takes itself too seriously and fails to commit. Not offensive but what is going on here. Write a hook man...
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.
Has the bones of something good but not remotely there. Terrible and uninteresting lyricism especially.
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
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?
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
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
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.
if bob dylan had a saxophone
No va
Hated it. Too much like shit broadway tunes.
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.
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.
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
Best way to describe this album is Temu Billy Joel but terrible
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.
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.
I'm not a fan of musicals in general, but this one sucks even more than most.
Ages like an open bottle of Fresca.
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.
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?
Unbearable arrhythmic bellowing. Absolutely unbearable.
This must be the 1001th album, has to be
Jesus show tunes. Really awful.
NO
This was boring and confusing.
Nope
Well this is just way too much. No thanks.
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.
Woah. Tom Waits lost his raspy voice. And he still sucks.
I do not understand lol not for me
Too theatrical and annoying for me to even tolerate
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.
The guy who said this was budget Neil Diamond did irreparable damage to this album
Second rent broadway. This makes me trust men less to make and judge music.
Not that interesting Best = Love's enough Skip = Midnight carousel
1- Stars (1/15)
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.
Could not make it through this album. Just bad...
I had never heard of him before... I can see why he made an impact but I couldn't really get into his music.
Gear: INAWAKEN Twilight-DS Artwork: ️🚣♂️🏚️🌳 Production (US Internet Release): 🕰️👂😖 Music: 🎹🎭😂 Rating: 🛶(🛶)/5
One of the worst things I have ever heard.
not my thing 1/5
Sounds too much like Harry Chapin or Neil Diamond. I know people who might like this but its not in my wheelhouse.
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.
Very Broadway
Ew, David.
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
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.
This is trash. Agree with all the other bad musical theater comments.
David Ackles putting the Cunt in Country
Country.
Theatrical.. But not in a good way.
Gack. No.
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.
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.
Broadly speaking, there are two categories of artistic failures. The most common these days, especially in risk-averse, commercially-dominated fields like the music industry, is to play things too safe, to produce something tolerable to the broadest possible audience. But every now and then we get an example of the opposite, where a truly intrepid (or delusional) soul indulges their ambitions, throws caution to the wind in pursuit of greatness and goes down in a blaze of glory. American Gothic belongs definitively in this second category. Conceptually, this is an album dripping with potential. A richly orchestrated reflection on the character of America and her children blending the sounds of the folk singer-songwriter with the theater - Ackles was clearly a man looking not just to reserve his spot next to Gershwin in the pantheon of American music, but to be grouped with Twain and Steinbeck as interlocutors with the country’s soul. In the end, the problem that he encountered is that the art needs to be worth viewing, the story worth reading, and the music worth listening to, before it can influence a nation’s view of itself. Strangely enough, the album is at its best in its least distinctive songs. Love’s Enough is a wistful piano ballad with a melody charming enough to have been written expressly for Barry Manilow, and One Night Stand laments the romantic sacrifices of life on the road. Ackles’s lyrics also have some moments that border on compelling. His tales of characters in tough spots provide a template for some of Springsteen's best songs. But the narratives here lack the universality of Springsteen, the humor of John Prine, or even the personal connection that Harry Chapin brings to similar songs. There are also repeated cases where Ackles takes a song that could be thought-provoking, then removes all ambiguity or possibility for interpretation, with the Ballad of the Ship of State being the most cringe-inducing example of this. In plenty of cases I'm willing to look past uneven lyricism if the music is there to make up for it. Unfortunately, this album is quite a mess musically, with most of the traits that distinguish it falling flat. About a third of the songs are generic piano ballads like those mentioned above, with some marking relative success (Love's Enough), and others verging overly sappy territory (Waiting for the Moving Van). They aren't offensive, but they give the feeling of a poor man's Neil Diamond song. Then there are the showtunes, which certainly stand out, but are almost uniformly ill-conceived or poorly executed for one reason or another, whether it is the truly awful choral vocals on Family Band or the offputting jazz backing on Blues for Billy Whitecloud. There are some instances where the orchestral arrangements support a song, but in most cases they feel out of place, and Ackles isn’t a good enough singer to pull off some of the more ambitious vocal attempts on the album. I won't say that it's *complete* unmitigated trash - there are some redeeming points - but American Gothic is definitively not good music. I have quite a bit of patience for the theatrical influences Ackles plays with here. But for this theatrical approach to be successful, it is necessary to pull those pieces together into a cohesive sound, and he doesn't do that here. I have seen quotes from some artists I think highly of suggesting that Ackles was producing brilliant work that just didn't find the right audience. But just like genius and madness can be separated by the finest of lines, this record has potential that Ackles just wasn't able to fulfill. The album may have ended a failure, but I have to give Ackles credit for the attempt.
It's like a really boring man who writes terrible musical songs, sniffed a cocktail of cocaine and glue. The strive to be earnst and profound is a little annoying, if there's humour in this musical flan I haven't heard it. If there's musical innovation or sonic experiment its not evident. Literallly the front art work depcits his wife putting him in a boat and telling him and his songs to fuck off down the river!
"it waits to be rediscovered" This is destined to be endlessly 'rediscovered' and then immediately recycled back into the bargain bins of charity shops where it belongs. Nice album cover though.
I don't know about this one. Ackles sounds a lot like Neil Diamond, who I generally like, but it's like Neil at the height of his really schmaltzy period filtered through a really corny Broadway musical. "Love's Enough" is probably the best thing here, but it's not really enough to save this. 1.5 stars.
Broadway stars usually have the pipes or the personality to back it up. Not this guy. It's astonishing that Apple Music has the audacity to compare this cheesy crap to Elton John. This asshat deserved every little bit of his obscurity.
I like Broadway musicals. If I wanted to listen to one, I'd find a cast recording, not some guy recording himself in a studio. This blows.
Wow, no. Between this and the Big Star selection, I'm starting to question this list.
Sucks.
Oh Dave, no thank you. No thank you very much indeed. I really didn't enjoy this at all. Sometimes a one star is for something actively disgraceful, and this isn't quite that, but I think sometimes you have to dole one out if you feel that your time has been so absolutely and thoroughly wasted.
Something felt off about this album to me. Unfortunately, I didn't review it right away, and it didn't stick out enough to me to listen through it again. I believe my favorite track was "Midnight Carousel."
eh piuttosto noioso mi dispiace
"Listen to meeee" What if the worst boomer you ever met was a Theatre Kid™ 🤮🤮🤮
What the fuck was that....
Weird. Just weird and sophomoric. Don’t quite understand how this made the list.
Wow - when you read the notes and they’re comparing it to Elton John and others you’re really thinking this is going to be something memorable. And the you get, boring, pretentious, and tedious. I listened to the whole album with no skips, but never again.
1. gothic - 0 2. love - 2 3. zhip - 0 4. Night - 1 5. California - 1 6. Friday - 1 7. Family - 0 8. Midnight - 0 9. Van - 1.5 10. Blues - 0 11. Montana - 1 Terrible WTF
WTF. It is like Neil Diamond is singing a parody album of show tunes. Terrible show tunes to boot.
This was just a musical soundtrack. I guess it's good but not something I'd listen to literally ever again.
Oh. Um. Uh. ??
I was looking forward to this as I had never heard of it before. I very quickly realised it was not for me. It sounded like the birth of musical theatre - wordy, too thick a texture, and melodies that wandered all over the place. I was glad when it got to the last track, less glad when I found that track to be 10 minutes long.
There was a musical theatre production at my school every year and we used to have to watch bits of it in assembly. This album made me feel like that (derogatory).
This was really really really really bad. Like that musical that Jessica day wrote with bear claw bad.
Easily one of my least favorite albums on this project so far. I feel like putting it here was almost a more "I'm cool because I think this is good when everyone else will hate it" move. The title track, American Gothic, has instrumentals that clash with each other, and the spoken-word type lyrics don't seem to properly match the beat and tone of the acoustic accompaniment. Most of the album has this sort of feel, and I cannot express enough how much I dislike it. The Wikipedia article for this album has the following quote: "In its retrospective review, AllMusic wrote 'American Gothic remains one of those great albums that never found its audience. It waits to be rediscovered.' " I posit this counterpoint: This album never found an audience because it is bad. No one wants to share it because they don't want to look foolish for recommending it. Considering the incredibly low listen rate on YouTube Music, I feel like I have a more correct view of this album than AllMusic.
This felt like a badly earnest musical. Unlike say, Bat Out of Hell, there is no campiness or humor. Just self serious trash.
Occasionally your devastatingly original hot take is shared by.....every other reviewer. Soundtrack for an imaginary musical.
You know, whenever you see lists of great 70s singer-songwriter albums you never see this one included. That's fair... this sucks.
ass
First impression pre listen: So apparently this is weird as hell. Loved reading the one star reviews for this thing. Either it's gonna be fun or it's gonna be torture. Looking forward to it none the less. Individual track notes: American Gothic Musical theatre vibes. Not exactly sure what to call it. Very strange and over the top. It's very difficult to follow the plot. I'm confused. Average. 2.5/5 Love's Enough A sweet piano ballad. It's pretty enough, but not too interesting. Average. 2.5/5 Ballad of the Ship of State Overly conceptual. Annoying writing style. Feels like yet another part of a fever dream of a musical theatre performance. Manages to be way to bombastic and grandiose while also being quite boring. Awful. 1/5 One Night Stand Not sure who this is for, but it gives me an ick that will not go away. Creepy uncle vibes. Awful. 1/5 Oh, California! Okay they were right. This is beyond obnoxious. I guess the orchestra is alright, but god damn someone needs to come get their grampa. He's making musical theatre again! Strongly dislike. 1.5/5 Another Friday Night I can appreciate a dash of theatre in my music, but if it's too much it feels unearned. Being bombarded with orchestral rises, crescendos and over the top performances gets really tiring. He's more than adequate at what he does, but it doesn't help that this style sounds super corny outside the musical theatre framing. Awful. 1/5 Family Band Absolutely no comment. Literal cult vibes. Awful. 1/5 Midnight Carousel This is not a review. This is a warning. Stay away. Awful. 1/5 Waiting for the Moving Van Kinda pretty I guess. The crooning and the cliche piano is whatever, but I think the lyrics are fine and I like the slightly more down to earth atmosphere the track has. Definitely listenable. Fine. 3/5 Blues for Billy Whitecloud Yeah no thank you. Wtf are you thinking man writing that... Awful. 1/5 Montana Song I've got nothing nice to say so I won't say anything. I just want it to be over. In what world did this album need a 10 minute long closer. Awful. 1/5 Final review: How I even managed finish this is beyond me. I'd like to meet whoever this is for, because I'm sure they'd be a fascinating person. To me this sounded like a literal trainwreck. Proof that even your most senile questionable family member could have the ability to accidentally record an album. I can't even call it laughable, because that implies even the slightest bit of ironic fun. This is a boring slog with its greatest achievement being its one concise and listenable track. It's over the top, dated sounding and really fucking weird. Has plenty of those "good ol' 'merican family values" that honestly just confuse me. The songs are grandiose and overwhelming, with lyrics that are both annoying to follow along with boring at the same time. This guy's storytelling ability is virtually non-existant, as he lacks the charisma, ability and personality to keep a listener interested. Instead this feels like a self-indulgent vanity project that went far off the rails. An album I suspect I'll never forget. Obnoxious and frustrating. 1/5
I used to think, "what could be worse the an Neil Diamond song?" innocently forgetting that perhaps there might be a cut-rate Neil Diamond wannabe somewhere with fresh ink on a record contract.
No. started but stopped. Not liking the guys voice. Not a must for me.
I hear where this influenced people who claim him as an influence. It sounds like adult versions of Disney songs though. I didn’t finish it.
Why is this generic knockoff musical theatre on this list? It has 7k listeners on Spotify per month. I wonder how much of that is from users of this list? Also... wtf is up with the penultimate song, "Blues for Billy Whitecloud"? "For an Indian, you're not so bad"?! What is going on with this record
I can’t begin to express how awful this is. No redeeming qualities.
Laughably bad and in contest for some of the worst singing yet (and I'm 1032 albums deep). What a monumental waste of time. Keep in mind that there is so much content out there and yet this shit got on the list. 2/10
Interesting album cover. The music didn't live up to the cover. I did not like this. Something about his voice, made this hard for me to listen to. Nina Simone is who I would go to for ballads, with great vocals and a better vibe.
1.4 1x catch up 11/13. just kinda weird
Sad fuck boy in 1972 "pours his heart" into a record, nobody cares...
This is what I’d imagine Billy Joel would sound if he was bad
p271. 1972. 1 star. This is what you get if you splice Randy Newman on an off day with Neil Diamond. There are a couple of lovely songs, but there is too much filler that strays into sub-par musical theatre far too often.
Oh hale no. This has just taken the top spot on my most hated album on this list. Pretentious, boring, and utterly pointless. No idea why it is on this list.
Meh.
Not really listenable
Stuck between giving this one a 1 or a 2. The first song, “American Gothic” is so comical that it actually made me laugh. It paints the woman as a shoe hungry villain, and the worst part is that I I think they expect you to take it seriously. For that reason it’s my favorite song on the album. Everything else is just forgettable, boring, bland and bad. This is listed as Country, I wasn’t aware Country could sound like this, but I do not like it. I’m having a generational run on bad music, surely a banger is coming my way soon. You know what, I only made it through once before I wanted to turn it off. It’s a 1 out of 5.
1.5
1,3/5
The most random depressing songs
Meandering musical and vocal arrangements. Vague and impressionistic lyrics. Not particularly compelling.
tacky and trite lyrics dripping with era-typical misogyny + overwrought delivery + unremarkable instrumentals. get me out of here.
Why? Why? WHY??!!
I tried on two different days, but I could not get into the headspace where I could enjoy this. This ain't for me (or most people born after, like, 1970).
Keep looking for that audience, Davey
Yea naw not for me in the slightest
#587. Weird. Boring. Where do you people even find half the shit on this list? 1/5: shit
Not for me 1/5
Lame and tame ... the schmaltzy horns, the bad-toupee piano. Randy Newman's theater-major uncle, one assumes.
Campy, with a capital C
This was a struggle. When artists get all theatrical, they tend to lose me. If I am going to listen to music I won’t be reaching for show tunes so when I hear albums that fit that genre I groan. To clarify, I’m totally on board with an artists displaying theatrics like Bjork, Kate Bush, Bowie does it but when your vocals revolve directly from it and the music accompanying it is the same, you lose me. Scott Walker, Divine Comedy and now David Ackles, they all do it. This album even made a song about a ship sound lame. Song about ships shouldn’t sound lame at all. This was obnoxiously grating and I hated it. 1 star
Eli minun täytyisi kuunnella jonkinlaisen proto-nickcaven esittämä musikaali ilman, että oikeassa yleisössä istumisen synnyttämä häveliäisyys pakottaisi minua keskittymään? No, kuuntelin.
Fuck. This. Album. David Ackles can eat a shit burger for this hot garbage. Bernie Taupin should stick to songwriting with Elton John. If you hate yourself, then give it a listen. I cannot recommend this album any less than I already have. I wish I had my 44 minutes back.
There's an extremely obvious reason this album wasn't a huge hit and it's immediately apparent starting at track 1. If you're a non-completist and skip albums occasionally, this should be one of those.
Felt like a washed up theater teacher.
If I hear another medieval troubadour wannabe, I'll get ready for a joust and a melee.
Awful
This is what I might have made fun of my parents for listening to when I was a kid, but my parents had better taste than to listen to this. Just the worst schlocky crooner.
1 stern
With this album, my main question is, "Where do you play this?" Most of the songs, aren't really songs. Just talking over the same piano variations, and orchestral stabs littered throughout. Seeing that Taupin produced this makes it make more sense. This sounds like rejected Elton tunes with American themes put over them. This album, isn't good. I have no idea what context you'd play any of these songs for someone.
More albums from 70’s guys I’ve never heard of. Will this go the way of the Tim Buckley Greetings album? Or some other 70’s album that was actually good. I can’t recall the decades. What is my head filled with? Either way, the list’s favourite year throws another album at me and I’m hoping the canoe plays into it heavily. Not enough songs about portage. American Gothic - Oh it’s Leonard Cohen lite. Very odd and operatic poetry over frantic piano. This is interesting, I’ll give it that. That’s about all I’ll give it. Love’s Enough - Ummm is it? What about the simple pleasures of a fresh slice of toast on a cold winter’s day? Have you forgotten the laughter of a child at the slip and fall of a beleaguered hobo clown? Yeah this was a stinky ballad. Ballad of the Ship Of State - the Opera needs to be shuttered forever. Defund the arts. This musical theatre opus is incredibly cringeworthy. The oddity factor is intriguing but the execution has me dreaming of the guillotine dropping through the tracks above me. One Night Stand - Instead of the yarn Davey boys is spinning here (I’ll take things that didn’t happen for 200, Alex) I’d like to imagine that this song is about 2005 (and to a lesser extent 2006) wrestling PPV event “ECW One Night Stand.” Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka trading brain contusions to the uproarious delight of the sold out Hammerstein. Hits me much better than the idea of this guy doing a playbill reenactment of a sexual escapade he imagined in an assuredly empty ballroom in Wichita. Buddy is as virginal as the audience at the aforementioned wrestling show. Oh, California! - we hardly knew ye. Ragtime honey! Nyah, you’re in California now, see? Get yourself a transfer from the garden station to Hollywood land. Make yourself a star kid. Now to the big close!! Please? Another Friday Night - I guess I’ll go to town. I would love to turn this off and hit the dusty trail myself, but I am shackled to this desk like a dog, despite my job providing nothing of value to society. Oof, we didn’t want to re-record that note at 2:20?? Man. This guy oozes ill-gotten confidence. Family Band - This should be family banned. We put the parental advisory label on the wrong music. Midnight Carousel - odd music which is cool, but this vocalist needs to be put down. I don’t mean as if he is a sick dog, but insulted more. I like to think the woman in the background on the cover is thinking he looks like a dick. Editing, my good man. Editing. Not every idea needs to be stream of conciseness drivel. Hey. Wait a second. Waiting for the Moving Van - Another boring song about things that never happened. We try again. Blues for Billy Whitecloud - Fuck there should be a blues song for me. 160 albums into this thing with a sub 2.5 rating. I have laboured in the mines of horrible music and this feels like the final slab of limestone crushing me. Where is my WCH claim sheet? Montana Song - This week on Bonanaza, a shitty 10 minute western themed solo from the most egotistical guy in musical theatre. I can imagine the other people at improv camp rolling their eyes and packing up their coats in an attempt to subtly inform this man that nobody is enjoying this. Man that was rough. An artist who drew comparisons to a man I once believed to be a living sandwich, Hoagy Carmichael, was so incredibly disappointing and hard to listen to, that I have already forgotten large swaths of this album. David Ackles has two posters in his dark, dank bedroom above his parents garage. The first. A large PLAYBILL poster featuring a ballerina or some other pseudo-artistic image. The other? A zoomed in fedora shot. Who is donning the fabled brim of destiny you may ask? Who else but our Canadiano Poet Pal; Lenny Cohen. Just outside this - the world’s saddest bedroom - is the canoe photoshoot. American Gothic is a tribute to mediocrity and failed hero worship. Tear down the posters and bring that canoe in to dry. There will be no theatre troupe fishing trip this year. Too much America and the kind of gothic that has me reaching for the razor blades. 0.5 HIGHLIGHTS: Under the lights we’re all just dreams manifest. Use the energy my star child. Fly!! As high your wings shall take thee.
What the fuck is this?!
Some album suffer here because they are the second or third stinker in a row. This one, however, truly is awful.
Cheesy dreck.
Jaahas. Näitä singersongwritereita on moneen lähtöön. Tähän lähtöön en lähde. Oli liian taiteellista mulle
Wow! This is not good! It even pissed the missus off! Bernie Taupin with a swing and a miss!
Rating: 2/10 What a heinous album.
Boring whiny Americana.
This album is not waiting to be rediscovered, but rather it is waiting to have a reasonable vocal melody sung with enthusiastically in key. David Ackles tries to be interesting avant-garde with Ballad of the Ship of State but it comes off as pretentious.
Dog shit
I was not the audience for this one.
Yuk. Not my style
Boring theatre kid shit
It’s like Neil Diamond tried to write like Harry Chapin album and failed miserably
1.3 Oooo been a while since my last 1*'er. Songs from a musical that no one has ever seen or will hopefully for their sake ever seen. Just listen to the lyrics for One Night Stand. What an absolute bellend.
I don't know what to say....shit ?
I really did not enjoy this album. It was sappy to a fault (the word I encountered for it is "maudlin") and had a repetitive tone and subject matter between songs. I also do mot enjoy the musical style where a singer kind of sing/talks over music and there isnt much alignment between the sound of each. Still- there were some more compelling elements. The instrumentation / piano work was good. But i still found myself not enjoying the songs or the background singers that supported. Overall- probably 1.5/5 but I am remiss to give it a 2, so it becomes a 1
Losing faith in this list.
Someone has played an elaborate 43 minute joke on me Favourite Song: American Gothic Least Fav Song: Family Band
Boring. Not a fan of the vocal style/delivery. Highlights - Ballad of the ship of state & Oh, California! Very low lights - Midnight Carousel
Hi. California. Hi, California! HI CALIFORNIA!!!!
This was unlistenable. It sounds like this guy was really trying to make it in the musical theater realm but couldn’t and so just made an album. Are there profound lyrics here? Maybe. I couldn’t tell u because of how much I wanted to stop listening.
Yuck
Don’t like the musical vibe of the songs, especially the first song. Had a few decent moments but nothing to write homemade about. Feels like a strange collection of songs that don’t quite work together
Was this album trying to be a musical? I'm not really a fan of musicals, like I'm not a fan of this album.
Horrible and strange. 1/5
wow this sucked
Schlocky garbage. Couldn’t get through this album.
Though there were some stirring moments in Family Band and Midnight Carousel, I felt like I was listening to a musical theater recording. Too much emphasis/reliance on the lyrical sentimentality/profundity. Felt thematically antiquated and musically affected, even for 1972.
I absolutely hate songwriting like this.
Not good, not many people listened to this anyway.
Um. Well. I'm not sure this is one I'd recommend bothering with. It's kind of crazy in its ambition and reasonably flat in its execution.
Pathetic.
What is this album?? It is not that good. Like thank goodness it is a short album and over quickly. 1 star
Just awful! This is the sort of music that feels like a punishment to listen to. The compositions are heavy-handed, like show music with a singer who's trying to copy Neil Diamond, but missing the mark. I detest Neil Diamond with a passion, but it turns out I hate a second-rate Neil Diamond clone even more, which I would never have found out if it wasn't for this turd of an album. I got a little bit of Nick Cave on some of the later tracks, but only if he lost half his range, became tone deaf, and sang deliberately flat. There's a terrible, staggering inevitability about these songs, with the singer trying to brute force each song, failing to admit he has literally no talent in singing whatsoever as he lurches from one badly sung verse to the next. I see Elvis Costello is a fan, which explains a lot. There's nothing here I liked, the lyrics were simple stories, with no meat to cling onto, the music was annoying, and the singing is just dreadful. One of the worst albums I've heard so far on this list and fully deserving of only 1 star.
The orchestration is lush. If you play it really quiet so you can't make out the words, it's not bad. Unfortunately, the words are still there.
I'm annoyed
Rambling. Author must have found this in a bargain basement
sounds like a dreadful amateur dramatics revue. 1
Trying way too hard to make a statement about America only to have it sound cheesy and laughable. On top of that, his voice isn't great. This was a dreadful listen. A waste of time.
John nailed it with the Nick Cave gone vaudeville. Really didn't like his sub par Billy Joel piano ballads. Enjoyed it when his songs had a bit of Broadway swing and swagger. When he's not being a proper weirdo this is alright in parts. Standouts: I liked the instruments on the first track Oh California - Nice jazzy swing. Bit of a song and dance man is old David. Another Friday Night - nice dynamics and as close to an epic song we're going to get here Midnight Carousel - Sounds like OG BC,NR singing a operatic song about a creepy Santa, in a good way. Low Points: Love's Enough - Got a bird have we mate? Ballard of the Ship of State - can't even make head nor tail of this. Just mad. Family Band - might have liked this if he wasn't bible bashing so much Blues for Billy Whitecloud - yeah, pretty problematic mate. I also don't think racist attacks on the Native American community and the bombing of children should be this jaunty. But hey, that's just me. Can see why this guy was never famous. Odd fella and dodgy lyrics. Was an experience though so cheers Koffi
Not a fan. Comical in parts, racist in others. Blues for Billie Whitcloud is problematic and Montana Song is just weird. This album is very much of its time. It’s not a vibe anymore.
His voice feels separate to the music
Singer-songwriter. Sounds more like he is talking in a singing kind of way.
This sounded like show tunes.
Not a fan. It's like the parts of Blood, Sweat and Tears I like the least, but distilled and even more obnoxious, with the occasional Dixieland accompaniment. Never again.
An "American" album is the last thing I needed today. And on top of that it's not even that good.
"Can I borrow a feeling" by Kirk Van Houghton vibes. It isn't "waiting to be discovered" it's just horrible and shouldn't have been anywhere near this list.
Jesus Christ this was like a Ute Lemper throwback. What the eff even was this. I endured this. I didn't enjoy a single song. Weird, lame, cringe. Made me mad. Was it another show tunes album? I don't understand. Just irritating
God that was awful. What was it supposed to be? It's one of these random albums we've had that sounds like the songs to a musical. I feel like I was really missing out though because the cover is cool, the song names are good and occassionally I liked a short bit of music but it was so random I didn't know what to do.
In the 2008 film 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' the character played by Jason Segel wrote a musical for puppets based on the life of Dracula. I didn't realise it at the time but it was based entirely off this album.
Worst piece of shit I may have ever heard. lol
What is this? At first I was annoyed, but then I had to laugh during Midnight Carousel because it’s so bad.
Jesus, what is happening with the piano in the background on track one? Why were 70's artists so obsessed with old-time sailors and tormented women with unfulfilled dreams? I'm not able to answer these questions.
This follows Bjork? Woof. Ready for something that will make me smile. Then Dirty Roses on the way.
1.5 Lmao my first reaction to seeing this album pop up was trying to figure out if the woman on the cover is one-legged or if she has her leg crossed, and the second-highest review on this site answered that question for me. Shoutout to that person. Anyway, never heard of this dude, but it seems that he was going for some kind of Norman Rockwell-esque depiction of America with this in the form of what sounds like a musical penned by Billy Joel and sung by Frank Sinatra - and it’s awful. Like, Ballad of the Ship of State may be up there with the worst things I’ve ever heard. And yet, for as cheesy and overdramatic as the whole thing is, it still manages to come off as generally uninteresting - it’s almost like a Hallmark film, but without any of the goofy charm. I found myself sick of this one pretty quickly, so ending with a ten-minute number about Montana felt like a giant f-you. I guess this dude is considered one of the greats who just never found his audience, but I’m just really not sure who his audience would be. For the most part, he just sounds like a lesser version of better artists from this era - if you’re someone who is more into musicals, maybe this would be up your alley. I’ll end this with a fun fact - this guy was apparently the opener for Elton John at his famous American live debut at the Troubadour in West Hollywood (great venue if you ever get a chance to go). That performance connected him with Bernie Taupin who would go on to produce this album, though, I’ve gotta say, knowing that has made me reconsider if Taupin was truly the secret weapon behind John’s music. Welcome back to the list, Alex!
Makes me feel like I can and should create music.
Another list failure. I wish I could rate negatively.
I don’t even know what that was. It sounded like a bad musical but made no sense.
Over 40 minutes too long.
Remember watching those boring history videos in school, and having to listen to that grossly cheesy "patriotic" music in the background? David Ackles is the CEO of that music. Favorite Song: "Midnight Carousel".
This sounds like an uncool guy trying really hard to be cool, and not being successful. I guess he (or Bernie) spent some time travelling around the US, to the point where he even namechecks Buffalo! This is wrongly classified as country music, as American Gothic gives country a bad name.
Very good to weird. I would bother.
total shit
I’ve slogged through 220 albums in this challenge so far. It’s been a wild ride—discovering weird, unknown tracks, revisiting some familiar bangers, and talking about all this music with my friends and fellow challengers. That part has been awesome. BUT, this week? This week has been a relentless parade of shit. Seriously, these albums have dragged my Friday spirit right into the gutter. If I hit this 'Rate' button one more time and get served another pile of musical shite, I’m seriously rethinking my place in this challenge. I can't take it anymore!
Awful - just a horrible steaming pile of shit. I think this has been the lowest voting week of the challenge so far (1,2,1,2,1) This album has so few listens on Spotify, if you go by voting numbers anywhere from a quarter to half the listens could be from this challenge
The number of Spotify listeners/streams on this album would imply it's probably not that important of an album. Even AllMusic wrote "it never found it's audience". Probably because if you're looking for classic singer-songwriter fare, you'd be somewhat disappoint by this way-off-broadway theater schlock. I though I was going to get something along the lines of Jackson Browne or Dan Fogelberg or James Taylor, but instead I was "gifted" with odd stories about wishing something was a one night stand or rain in California, flat vocals, disjointed lyrics and a musical production more suited for the high school play it sounds like it was conceived for. To quote Mr Horse from Ren & Stimpy; "No sir, I didn't like it"
This is getting ridiculous
🎧The longer I listened the more I disliked it. A mish mash of things in their worst possible form—musical theater, Cabaret, Bill Murray lounge singer-type fare, bland sentimental crap. It’s all there and it’s all bad.
I didn't get this at all. Was a bit chanson, a bit I'm-not-sure-what. Could be why it "remains one of those great albums that never found its audience". I certainly wasn't sure what to make of it, but I guess at least it had the oddness factor going for it.
Show tunes 🫤 just really not my kind of music man. Some well written stuff and David has a great voice, but I just do not like this genre.
It's like one man trying to do a musical about.....I don't know what. But it was not good or interesting.
Yuk
Nope.
This fucking sucked.
I didn’t see why this was made It was the oddest compilation I have ever heard. Sounded like open mic night at the local dive bar Too harsh?
Opening title track is very theatrical, the piano dominating and horns in the background. Love's Enough is a quiet piano ballad. Things continue in the same vein, if anything leaning more into the musical theater sound. There's some interesting atmospheres here, but I still feel like I'm listening to a play. The last track, Montana Song, is so long and such a chore to get through that it dragged down my already low opinion of the album. Really bad lyrics too.
Didn't finish the first song
This album is what happens when you can't decide if you want to be Stephen Sondheim or Billy Joel, and you're not talented enough to be either one. What a slog to get through. "Love's Enough" wasn't terrible, though it was a little cheesy. The rest of the album is something between Randy Newman and Tom Waits as this guy attempts to make a concept album about the lies of the American dream but doesn't really have anything new to say. There's a song about a starving artist who laments that he can't stay to get to know a woman he's had a one-night stand with because he's a touring musician and has to leave town — it features such subtle lyrics as, "I wish this wasn't a one-night stand." -_- There's a song about a man reflecting over the dissolution of his marriage and having to start over. There are a few songs critiquing the mythical ideal of the wild west/frontier and imagining the harsher reality of several characters' lives — this includes a cringey song about a Native American man who leaves his reservation for the city and ends up an impoverished and imprisoned alcoholic because, apparently, tone deaf, on-the-nose stories about the plight of the "Indian" man was a thing white dudes just loved to sing about in the 70s. (Looking at you, Elton John — Oh wait! Of course it was produced by Bernie Taupin! Now it all makes more sense.) There are a ton of schlocky orchestrations somewhere between a Broadway play and a carnival. There are obnoxious choruses singing vocals you'd expect to hear in an old Hollywood film. There are corny country-western sounds. And over it all is a guy whose voice is somewhere between a Sinatra-style crooner and Neil Diamond. None of it was very pleasant to listen to, and I couldn't wait for it to end. 1/5 — I thought about giving it a 2, but I'd honestly rather listen to Slayer over this.
I tried it with a lot of goodwill. After four pieces, the music got on my nerves, so I stopped. I really didn't miss this album. 1/5
JESUS this sucked.
So not for me. Ugh.
# 264 : When your only claim to fame is that you are in this list…
Not for me
This really isn't for me. He gets credit for some of the music, or perhaps the ambition of some of the music, but I find the whole thing really annoying. The conversational delivery of the singing winds me up, and the more dramatic moments are weird and disjointed. And I wrote the above BEFORE he laid down the overt Jesus track. Maybe this didn't find it's audience because it's simply shit.
Cringe lyrics. Cringe instruments. Cringe album. Delete
not music
Goofy-ah pirate musical type beat
tyvärr för dåligt
This is music made for getting old vegetables thrown at you.
pretty economical way to make 44 minutes feel like 90
Old boy chatting about jesus. Don't care sorry
Awful.
Sounds like empty nester dad poetry
Turned it off. Haven’t done that often.
Oh, another one for my collection of album covers with brownish photographs of the artists! Cool!
If Leonard Cohen decided to perform cabaret, it would sound something like this. Theatrical like a musical, it is whimsical, spanning Americana themes and utilizing rock and folk, giving us a somewhat accessible format, yet still corners itself toward those into both piano ballads and musicals. Too bad the tracks are messy, repetitive, directionless, and just dull. Could not even pick out a song I liked, only the two I could bear the most. Favorites: Ballad of the Ship of State, Oh California
Not my kind of thing at all
- did not vibe with this - the guys voice was okay but this was overall boring tbh
Really nothing even worth commenting on
It wasn't my least favourite listening experience but this could be my least favourite so far. This is a straight up ludicrous album, overblown theatre kid energy with bland lyrics. I usually get the appeal of straight-shooting folk story style lyrics, but the stories and themes here are so boring and shallow that it simply doesn't land with an ounce of anything worth listening to. Save from a couple of nice piano melodies and arrangements I hated this album and I truly hate that it is on this list, even if someone enjoyed this album i'm sure they'd agree it has no place on this list. This artist has 4000 monthly spotify listeners for a fucking reason. 0.5/5
Hated this one. Too much like show tunes.
Sounds like a musical. Hard to justify this album among some of these absolute classics.
Oh boy... This is another one where I'm thinking: why is this on the list? Pretty much sounds like a musical. It doesn't seem to have had any major impact or influence on any music I'm familiar with. Maybe Nick Cave? The singer reminds me of him a bit. Either way, this was not an enjoyable listen.
Gay
1star because less than zero isn’t an option.
The voice is irritating.
I think I've just heard too much folk in my life. Found this one boring.
Nee. Dit is hem niet. Tegenovergestelde van wat ik leuk vind.
Utter dogshit.
Lyrics are a bit of a downer, melancholy-ish. Music sounds like it could be (maybe is), in the background of few movies.
This is painful to listen to. Corny, creepy, overly theatrical. Like listening to an amateur musical theater production.
Seems somewhat influential on modern chamber pop, but still didn't care for it at all. 1.5/5
This album sounds like a bad musical with a lead that sounds like Neil Diamond. Didn’t like this at all and couldn’t wait for it to be over.
As someone who are more interested in music and melodies than lyrics this is a pretty boring album. i feel the music get's the backseat for the singing (or sometimes more dialogue than singing). if the focus is the lyrics, why not write a book or a poem.
could i write poetry to this? n
There’s a reason I’ve never heard of this guy and it’s because he’s no good
Probably a 1.5 because of a few interesting moments, but I thought this was pretty annoying.