American Gothic

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.

Broadway type shit

It’s giving high school Christian school theatre production

Like listening to an overdramatic musical.

Discount Neil Diamond does show tunes.

Freaking musical

Que decir. Escuchar partes de comedias musicales americanas. Copia a neil diamond. No me gustó. Me aburri

Did not like

Never heard of this artist. Not a fan at all. Don’t like his voice, don’t like the music, don’t like the lyrics (too much a book-style and not very lyrical), not very melodic. Somewhat depressing lyrics overall, political or, if not political, social commentary that I just was bored by. Will never listen to this again. Ever.

Süß, aber nicht gut.

Neil Diamond gone wrong! No no!

Hujiwe

Goodness, this album sucked so much more than I thought could be possible. Comparisons to Joni Mitchell? No way. This guy sounded like Pete Seeger and Gordon Lightfoot’s less-talented cousin, and the arrangements and ensembles were comical.

I have no idea what that was. Grandiose theater?

When I saw this album cover I thought “Cool an early 70s cult following singer songwriter thing” and then three songs in buddy is singing a song about sailing ships, and putting on a little sailor voice to do it, and then a couple songs later a song opens with “THE NIGHT… BECKONS HER WITH ITS CALL” or something, and then I’m certain I’ve been tricked into listening to some sort of Theatre Guy album again. I listened to the whole thing, but I can’t give stuff like this more than 1 again. Can’t do it. Ute Lemper is got lucky, 50 albums back.

Da’fuque did I just listen to?!?

I did not enjoy this album at all. Not a single track was interesting to me. The entire album sounds like a live theater performance or a subpar Disney soundtrack. Not my style at all. Favorite Song(s): N/A

No like

0 stars. Hated it. Like the soundtrack to a bad local super religious play. This album was so bad I'm not going to give any other albums the benefit of the doubt and will start skipping albums as needed.

So much no.

Who's the luckiest man in the music industry? I know. You're thinking Ringo, right? Wrong. The Beatles wouldn't have been the Beatles without him. The luckiest man in the music biz is Bernie Taupin. For some reason he has made a career out of setting laughably bad lyrics to Elton John tunes. Check out the nonsense of Yellow Brick Road. And then he produces this crap and it somehow makes this list. It's a bloody travesty.

This sounds like a pirate musical revue at a Renaissance fair.

Um. No. He sounds a bit like Neil Diamond. He's too dramatic and grandiose. Showtune-esque.

Never. No

I understand that people enjoy listening to this album and type of music. But for me it's a bit too much theatre kid, it just isn't my thing really

Couldn’t finish it

Not for me. Maybe his voice sounded a little like Neil Diamond.

This is really bad. I'm not sure I liked any of it. And some if it I downright hated.

I did not care for this album can see why they are searching for an audience.

This album is described as having "never found its audience." Well, it still hasn't because it's not me. The guy has a good voice, but I just didn't enjoy this. 1.5/5

the stories and themes could be good if they weren't getting sung by some lounge singer. Of course Elvis Costello counts Ackles as an influence...

This is the first album I strongly considered not listening all the way through. It's like Neil Diamond wrote his own version of The Night Man Cometh.

En bra låt! Love’s enough

Just can't get into it. no flow, lacking vibrancy. Dull. Goddy.

A.J. This guy sucks

Is this some kind of joke album? This is one of the worst pieces of trash I've ever heard.

Its like an even worse version of Neil Diamond. I mean seriously, how does anyone find any value in this? I had never heard this before, and I was better off not knowing about this terrible shit. 1/5

Oudbollig en klote!

Nick Cave doing cabaret showtunes, definitely not my jam.

Wat is dit, Neil Diamond met een hersenbeschadiging? Toen ik het eerste nummer opzette moest ik controleren: heb ik per ongeluk nog een ander scherm open staan dat muziek maakt? Zo ontzettend passen de diverse instrumenten niet bij elkaar en ook niet bij de stem. Vaak is het domweg vals. Dat laatste nummer is een staaltje pathetiek zoals je ze niet vaak hoort. Is dit een parodie? Outsiderkunst? Of oprechte incompetentie? En wil ik dat wel weten?

Een aanstellerig theaterstuk over hoe kut Amerika wel niet is, voorgedragen door een soort babbelzieke Neil Diamond. Wikipedia maakt er (terecht) minder woorden aan vuil dan snobvoorman Robert Dimery, die hier blijkbaar een persoonlijke favoriet door onze strot probeert te duwen. Als een schimmelende pan macaroni die Bernie Taupin had weggezet en vergeten was en niet meer aan Elton John durfde op te dienen.

Tooooooooooo slooooooooow

He's trying to sound like Neil Diamond but the songs just aren't as good.

If Billy Joel and Elton John had a baby and then forced him to sing Neil Diamond songs, that would be this album

He can’t pull a single one of these songs. He doesn’t sing like he really loves the songs, he’s just getting through them. I don’t believe him. Never heard of him and for goos reason it seems. Lyrically, stylistically, and vocally, he sounds like he is copying other popular artists of the time and fails at every turn to capture what makes them special. It isn’t quite unbearable to listen to, but damn near. Even the structure and instrumentation were choppy and poor. I can’t think of a single plus to give this album, except that maybe the theatrical parts were a little interesting. Sorry Davy. 1/5

Todo lo que tuve que leer fue Country para saber que no me gustaría. Es una pérdida de tiempo.

what have these sad showtunes got to do with the famous painting?