Reviews (page 7 of 8)
Like, this just isn't for me. I don't need to listen to English minstrels. Good voice and such, but there's no need to revive old music and pretend it's new. Also, points off for encouraging Bob Dylan to sing music rather than just write lyrics for other bands.
Here's what I'm never gonna do: listen to Joan Baez sing House of the Rising Sun when the Monkees did it perfectly, listen to Joan Baez sing I Know You Rider when the Grateful Dead do it better. She's got a decent voice I just don't like it. Also the mixing on this is way too heavy on vocals. I understand that's intentional, I just don't like it or want it. Vibratos are overkill is kind of annoying.
Don’t like her singing style. Like the guitar playing.
Man, this is boring as shit. Someone said how they love how her guitar is used to enhance her voice, but I have issue with that because I don't particularly like her voice. It's way too soft and floaty. But mostly, the album is just so earnest and twee, and it rubs me the wrong way.
Warbling folk songs. I don't care for her voice.
Somehow this was just too folk for me which surprised me. Maybe I'm just not in the right mood, it just got annoying
It's not a bad album, but it's not for me.
I'm sure this is lovely in smaller doses, with a couple of crushed up paracetamol.
How can I give this a 1 without people thinking I'm a complete jerk.... ?
I know objectively that Joan Baez has an amazing voice. I just don’t personally care for it most of the time.
Joan Baez has a beautiful voice but ultimately I tired of the sparseness of this album's sound (which I think is the main draw for many). I also can't help but question whether an artist who mostly arranges and sings other people's songs deserve a spot on this list even if they were a cultural icon?
I know who Joan Baez is, but never listened to an album. I can’t even say I know any songs. “Silver dagger” is folky and yet I hear modern artists like Ani Difranco at the same time. I definitely see why this album was important to the 60s and I love the guitar work.
Too folk style for me
So this is more a history project than an album. Covers of historical folk songs has validity but she gets no points for writing. She also gets no points for singing. I find her tone pretty shrill. Am i sexist because i can look past the voices of Dylan/Waits and not Baez or Mitchell?
great voice, just not huge on folk music i think
Folk music reminds me of home, but that can only last so long. Joan's voice is super shrill on almost every song is marred by her weird delivery.
I enjoy folk music, and I like a lot of Bob Dylan’s music, but for some reason this album was a hard listen for me. Joan’s voice is beautiful, but every song sounded exactly the same, it was kind of hard to get through a straight hour of it. I enjoyed Girl of Constant Sorrow, I don’t know if this is the original, but I really like the one from O Brother, so it was cool hearing this from 40 years prior. I hate to give this album 2 stars, but honestly for me, I feel that’s what it deserves. 4.5/10
Probably pretty but her voice made this very hard to listen to. Right genre, wrong singer for me.
Jeg kan bedre lide Joni Mitchell. Men tæt på det sammen. Lidt kedeligt.
As a lifelong fan of traditional bluegrass music, I have already heard versions of nearly all these songs and I was kind of excited to get this album. I'd never really listened to Joan Baez much; so, this would be a first for me. Not a fan, though. Should have been titled "Vibrato: The Album." She has to end every note with an obnoxious, ear splitting trill. You know how sometimes, you're trying to sleep in on the weekend but there's a mockingbird outside your window that won't shut up? That's Joan Baez. If Tiny Tim made a folk album, it would've sounded like this. Kudos to her for bringing these traditional songs to the masses in the 60's, though, and for that reason alone, I'm giving it 2 stars.
Ich finde das Album herzig und man spürt Herzblut und Emotion in den Songs. Leider finde ich die Songs sehr langweilig und ihre Stimme gefällt mir nicht. Donna Donna ist allerdings sehr schön.
Her voice is a bit much for me. Too much vibrato. I did enjoy a couple songs though
I know many people like her but I just can’t get along with her histrionic warbling. Not my thing at all
Pretty long album for long winded and slow singing. Parts were very beautiful but it’s a bit of a grind. I like her overall but not a ton of variety with the pacing here.
this album wasn't really my cup of tea. I respect the artistry and the voice, but I wouldn't really put this on again for another listen. I could see a time and place to whip out Joan Baez, but I'm not really the guy for it. I don't usually bring time up as a component of what makes a good album, but this one was a bit long and it ended up feeling like a slog to get through. no disrespect, but it just ain't my jam
I decided to go back to this album because I just watched “a complete unknown” about bob dylan and Joan Baez is very prevalent in it and in his life. She was clearly very important in the folk music scene at this time but the movie emphasizes how folk music was stagnant in just doing covers of old songs time and time again which is present on this album. Wild to learn that house of the rising run is actually a traditional folk song and not just by the animals. She sings this in the movie acapella and honestly gave me goosebumps it was so good. Her actual singing voice unfortunately is such of a product of its time where it just really had not aged well. Maybe it sounds better live but on a recording it gets kind of abrasive.
I really do like this genre of music! I give this album a 2 for a few reasons. I thought that the voice was too loud relative to the guitar. It was a bit jarring a lot of the time because the voice would be very piercing while you couldn’t hear the guitar at all. She took a heavy storytelling vibe throughout the album and it was super consistent, but I felt as if it was fairly monotonous as well. I would’ve liked to see more variety and distinction between each song.
I feel like I should acknowledge her solely on the fact that she's a huge name in folk, but this was a pretty meh album to me. I can appreciate her guitar playing and her singing, but most of the songs were same-samey with only occasional tracks that caught my attention. Worse, on close listen I found myself pretty uninterested. It's not that anything's bad necessarily, it just doesn't do much for me and is often a little too renaissance faire for me. I'll at least acknowledge that it belongs on the 1001 for its historical importance. Tracks that caught my attention: East Virginia, Little Moses.
I enjoy her voice, but this album is full of dirges. It was interesting to listen to, in my effort to cover a broad spectrum of music. Great guitar work. I imagine it's much more powerful in person.
I don't deny what she's contributed to female artists in terms of influence and talent. The sound is definitely not up my alley.
Interesting precursor to folk popularity.
I had high hopes when it started but it never really hit for me
[3/10] This is one instrumentation change away from being straight elf music
Beautiful Voice! Not really a big fan of 60’s Folk Music
Gewoon echt heel saai
Struggling with her vocal style.
I couldn't do this. This is the kind of folk I absolutely can't stand.
I've been wrestling with how to rate older albums that just can't grab my interest and comparing them to video game consoles has given me solace. A Joan Baez album is like a Super Nintendo. Top of its class at the time, but as advancements in gaming happen, new things are just better. It will always hold nostalgic value but certainly the ps5 is better as it can just do more. You couldn't blame a kid for not enjoying a SNES after growing up with a PS5, and similarly you can't blame someone for not enjoying a record like this because it's from before their time. 2/5
Interesting voice for a couple of songs. For a whole album… er, I’m ok thanks.
This kind of folk music is not really my cup of tea as a genre. I love the storytelling of old folk songs, but the arrangements here are just too simple to really hold my attention It is well executed though, with strong, clear vocals (she kind of sounds like a theremin sometimes with all the vibrato haha) and the sparse guitar accompaniment which really adds to the songs without distracting from the stories For me, I prefer folk that embraces some more modern instrumental embellishment (see Liege and Lief) - in one word, this was boring.
This is the album you hear in purgatory right before your family pulls the plug on the ventilator. 2.5/5
Not my thing. Her voice is too high pitched and annoying, with no break. Clearly a great musical persona, though.
Don't really care Will I listen to again: 0%
Folk and pleasant
While her voice and guitar playing are top-notch, the album is boring overall. It's a very personal album for her but never hits the highs of what I expect from folk music. Many of the songs fall flat and become forgettable. However, there are still some tracks I enjoyed, and I was definitely thrown off by finding out she did House of the Rising Sun before the Animals (though I'm aware hers isn't the original either). Favorites were Silver Dagger, House of the Rising Sun, and Rake and Rambling Boy.
Her voice is really nice, but unfortunately I found this one to be boring. There are definitely highlights namely Silver Dagger, House Of The Rising Sun, All My Trials, and Wildwood Flower.
Kinda waily
Now that's what I call music to fall asleep to: 1960's
Not for me.
Miksi näin pitkä… Menee siksi aika puuduttavaksi - heräsin vasta, kun kieli vaihtui espanjaksi. Sinänsä kivan kuuloista. Baezilla on mukava ääni, aika stereotyyppinen tässä genressä, mutta ehkä stereotypia pohjautuu häneen.
En välitä artistin väreilevästä melodramaattisuudesta, mutta pidän hetkittäin hänen folk-mollistaan. Vika biisi myös jees yllätys.
The vocals are outstanding , the instrumental is very simplistic and doesn’t add much . The album itself sounds kind of dated and the story telling doesn’t resonate like some of the oldies to me . It’s a strong listen but with little replay value for me
Kasarin lapselle käy pitkäveteiseksi ja levy painuu negatiivisen puolelle.
Vähän kävi tylsäksi, mutta toimis luultavasti rauhallisessa ympäristössä taustalla
Not my style, I see the appeal
It's hard to rate this album. It came out on 1960. She's covered a lot of folk music and it's several years before Woodstock and even the Beatles. I appreciate the time and circumstances surrounding it. But...it was a really tough listen. I couldn't finish it. Her voice over almost all instrumentation was brutal after about 12 songs.
I'm sure it has its place in history or whatever but oof, this was a tough listen
It isn’t bad, but it never really gets out of gear.
Not a bad album, not a good album just a bit bland and boring. Joan Baez is a great musician and very talented but nothing really holds my attention on this album.
She’s good at it but an album made up exclusively of some folksy singing and guitar strumming will never be my main bag.
Never knew this is where the House of the Rising Sun comes from. She has a very clear and beautiful voice. Pretty good but kind of boring at the same time
You’ve got to be really spectacular if you’re coming at me with 13 covers of traditional folk songs on just a voice and guitar. She’s a good guitarist but the arrangements are nothing to write home about and she’s a good singer but the constant vibrato just gets annoying. El Preso Numero Nueve was the most exciting moment as you try to understand what it means in realtime. Sorry Joan but it’s just not that essential or interesting to me.
She has a fantastic voice, and I can absolutely see why she was as influential and groundbreaking as she was when she debuted. That said, I'm not a big fan of folk music. I didn't hate the album but I wouldn't seek it out again.
Not for me unfortunately.
Album 526 of 1001 Joan Baez - Joan Baez (1960) Rating : 2.5 / 5 Just does nothing for me. I realize the place she holds for many in music history and I can tolerate her but this just doesn't move me one way or the other.
mah nsomma alla fine un po' noiosetto
Beautiful voice for sure, but very dated… not a favourite
This is very simple music, and somewhat effective. In fact, I consider this to be one of the peaks of the folk-singing-with-acoustic-guitar genre (which has wider scope than you'd think). The main problem I have here is that there's so little musical variation, and adherence to the idea of an album experience, that it's hard to seriously engage with this as an entire album. Add to that the fact that there aren't any noticeable hooks in the guitar part (which is the only non-vocal instrument) and you're looking for some sort of variation in the singing, which just isn't there. Let's talk about the singing. Joan Baez's voice is very strong, but in my opinion she heavily overuses vibrato, almost to an operatic extent. There's something just a little off-putting about melodic ornamentation (e.g. vibrato) that, rather than decorating a melody line, makes it sound kind of off-pitch. I like Baez's use of modes, though, and it's one of the strong points of her vocal part. Fun little nods to English and Irish folk music are present. I do think other artists in the genre, such as Joni Mitchell, pull off what Baez is attempting much more successfully. I would've liked to see some original compositions on here, too. House Of The Rising Sun is a fantastic (and heavily covered) song, but it can get old after so many artists cover it. 2/5 Key tracks: Wildwood Flower, House Of The Rising Sun, Donna Donna
I guess she has a beautiful voice and is a good songwriter. But to my ears it comes across as warbling. I’ve really tried to like Joan Baez since she’s so highly acclaimed and influential to artists I love, but I just can’t do it.
Ugh - not a fan of hers at all. Don’t get the hype
Twangy, whiny voice
not my thing but i can respect it at least
I see why she is influential, but this genre is really not my thing.
Good music, just not for me.
Ok in places but not for too long
Nit my style
I could never get into Folk music and this was pretty much how I expected it would be. I'm sure it's great for fans of the genre, but I found her voice a bit grating after a while
I now know what Joan Baez sounds like. It's not for me, but this is why I'm doing this list.
Not great.
I guess, technically, it’s good to have heard Joan Baez once, if just for reference. I already had. I’m good.
The kind of voice that is like nails on a chalkboard. I never got how people could get into this kind of music - really any folk music of this era. I get it - it's poetic and inoffensive but just not my thing at all and if it wasn't for the grating voice I maybe would've scored it higher. Also detected at least one cover song which is just so lazy to include on a studio album (House of the Rising Sun). 3/10.
Wasn’t feeling the trills
fine, I guess
Meh
Jag kände att detta inte var riktigt min grej. Säkert fina texter men jag orkade inte fokusera något på dem. Sparade vissa låtar men det var för att de var bra Easy Listening. Hade det vart på svenska skulle jag nog ha gillat det mycket mer.
A bit too minimalist for me.
I went into the listen thinking it would be singer / songwriter and had high hopes. All the songs were so old timey lyrics and not written by her. The voice pleasant at times with just a guitar became very boring. This album was released almost 20 years before I was born, feels like it is a relic of the past.
Very traditionally-minded, but a bit one-note and after about halfway through I "got" it. Very powerful voice, but not much else to speak of. Favorite track: "House Of the Rising Sun"
Gods music let down by screechy vocals
Rating: 4/10 Nah.
I wanted to like this album, but it's just too bland and boring. Great human and I respect and admire her accomplishments, but this was a struggle for me. She has a beautiful voice, but folk is outdated and dreary today. Probably why Dylan went electric. Big contrast to the Crickets album we just heard that's full of life and raw.
Joan Baez is a badass political and social activist. Her song selection and writing is impeccable but her shrill voice is like nails on a chalkboard. This album felt like an extended play of church camp Kumbaya, and that’s not my jam.
Just okay
Not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Folk music, sung high.
This album is what I would refer to as “excessive folk.”
Not an album for a rainy Saturday morning unless you want to kill hourself…
Beautiful voice - sounds like a theremin. Appreciate the talent but not really my kind of music.
2 A lot of folk lately. I don’t mind the genre, but it hasn’t been great gym music. This was especially tough at the gym this morning, and unfortunately it didn’t get much better during subsequent listens. I’ll give credit to Joan for this - the sound of this album feels a bit ahead of its time being that it predates artists like Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell by quite a few years, but man, I just didn’t find anything about her take on the genre here interesting. The fact that these are all covers doesn’t do her any favors, and while I think she at least deserves a shoutout for doing House of the Rising Sun four years ahead of The Animals, it’s nowhere near as good as their version. The one aspect I’ve seen a lot of people praise Joan for is her voice, and while I agree it can be beautiful at times, it changes to the most piercing thing you’ve ever heard on a dime - I had to adjust the volume on my speaker multiple times while listening because of it. And the more I listened to this album, the more shrill I found her voice to be, to the point I kind of dreaded putting this on again. There are definitely some enjoyable aspects and charm buried in this, but as an album, it’s just too long and not overly interesting - the only song here I could point to you as having somewhat enjoyed is actually the Spanish song El Preso Numero Nueve. I was impressed with her fluency of the language (granted, I’m not fluent, so can’t vouch for that), and it’s probably the best vocal performance of the whole album - or it might just be the only one without any of those grating high notes. Maybe this is just the kind of thing you need to see live to get, but this album wasn’t it for me. I could maybe see myself being somewhat of a fan of her work in moderation, but even then, I don’t think I would opt to listen to any of this over stuff from similar artists. Sorry Joan - I hope your music picked up a bit after your debut, but I’m not going out of my way to determine that anytime soon.
It is the singing that drives these recordings and I'm not a fan of that, especially at the high notes.
It's all very wholesome but her warbles bring on a migraine. Not for me
Perfect example to me of how it’s possible to appreciate music, but not like it.
I really wish I could praise this, because nothing about it is explicitly bad. I understand if people find her voice annoying, especially when she belts, and I also get that this style of music can be boring if you don’t like folk. And while I think those critiques are fair, I also don’t mind anything here. Not to say I would revisit this frequently, but it has its time and place and purpose, both historically and in someone’s record collection. But then I factor how frequently I checked my phone while this was on. Not only to see if the song was over yet, but to do other things. I paused this to go on TikTok for 20 minutes. Twice. I paused this to do chores. I changed the song to listen to other artists not once, but three times! And I think that’s the things – this album is important, but Baez is also incredibly boring. The fact that she doesn’t do anything unique [by today’s standards] with her traditional folk songs suggests that maybe, in the end, while there’s nothing “wrong” with this album, there’s also nothing particularly good about it, either. The only songs I actually enjoyed were “El Preso Numero Nueve” and the CD-reissue bonus tracks. So while I could argue apathy but say it’s still enjoyable enough, I also don’t truly believe it’s actually enjoyable. Important, sure, but I never want to listen to it again.
Shrill, dated, and not my thing at all.
Not my thing. She's got a nice voice. But desperately dull.
could i write poetry to this? n
If you strip away those high, shrill vocals, there's some really solid acoustic guitar work and melodic interpretation here. But that voice... I just can't... It's so high, and so very, very shrill. After over thirty years of listening to "I Know You Rider" via the Grateful Dead, Joan Baez' version is painfully disappointing.
2.5 stars. Rounded down because sometimes her voice is unbearable.
Typical 60s folky album. Good for a couple of meaningful tunes but the album just felt a little whiney and samey as a whole.
Reading Ms. Baez’s Wikipedia page, she seems like a very good and genuine person. She was obviously a skilled guitarist even at 19 when this album was recorded. “Silver Dagger” “House of the Rusing Sun” and “Wildwood Flower” are pretty good songs. Now that all the positive stuff is out of the way, this sucks and I hate it. I hate her voice. I don’t like hearing Colonial Williamsburg music. If I hear about the “salt sea” one more time I’m going to scream. Fuck all of this.
Folk. Mit ein paar bekannten Songs. Aber ich habe schon besseren gehört.
Non si può dire che non sia brava, ma non è il mio...
Not my thing. Never got it. There is good folk music, but not this.
The dog hated this. I can see why.
Found it difficult to listen to.
I liked her voice and the music was nice, but nothing I'd listen to regularly and I probably won't again. I did like Silver Dagger though.
I like the idea of Joan Baez and she has a feel songs that resonate, but this album was a little too whiny and not enough Joni.
This album hasn't aged very well...
Extra star for her influence by I find her music to be unbearably boring.
Had I been around in 1960 this may have played well for me. But growing up in the 80s, this is what they made fun of when they made fun of folk music. It's really hard to take it seriously.
Joni > Joan
Genre: folk Instruments: 2/5 Modern Translation: 1/5 Dance Potential: 1/5 Listening Location: chadstone Heard it before: no Favourite Song: house of the rising sun Made me feel: her voice was beautiful, it cut through me, but started to sound too whiny by the 4th song. Impressive range but wouldn’t listen again.
Loved her voice.
She has a nice voice and this album feels simple -- just vocals and guitar. Not really enjoying it though, maybe I need to hear the instrumentation come through more, 2*. The vibrato in her voice I found a little jarring after a while. Super repetitive, many religious lyrics.
Listened Before? No Long folksy album. I expect I'll lose focus quickly, but will reserve some hope that this exceeds expectations. 6 songs in, this is a bit of a snore fest for me. In execution it is fine; very stripped down acoustic + vocal arrangements of (mostly) traditional folk songs. She's clearly talented, I just don't care for it. Maybe I'm just not in the mood for this out of the gate on a Monday morning, but there is no way I'm going to go the distance on this nearly hour long slog. Perhaps if I was sitting on a hill covered with daisies on a sunny Spring day, I might be into this, but for a cold start to the work week, I'm just not feeling it. 2 / 5 Added to Library? No
She is talented but this isn't my jam. 2.5 stars.
Good voice. That's about the only thing I really liked about the album. Everything else was just not in my personal taste. Not very exciting as it's really just a guitar and a voice for an hour. This one is falling under a similar rating to Depeche Mode where I think the music is objectively good, but it doesn't resonate with me personally. Another plus to this album is that it was recorded in 1960 and it sounds flawless. That is impressive especially because there is no mention of remastering.
There is nothing wrong with this album in any way, just kinda boring to me as I feel a lot of singer/songwriter artists are to me. 2.5
I appreciate the place this album has in history but I struggled to get through it. I just don't care for her voice.
Really dislike her voice and the way she stretches out each note... Unlistenable. 2/5
Thought I would enjoy this more. But, alas no.
Wasn't for me. Respect the voice
Such a beautiful voice
Echt goed gezongen, paar mooie nummers, maar ging uiteindelijk wel echt vervelen
Nah. Whinny folk.
pleasant but boring
Girl and guitar. Nothing else in this album. Great voice, great playing but quickly bored. Quickly forgotten. 4/10
Not sure why she was such a counter cultural icon. The music was nothing special...just average traditional folk. 1.5/5
Thought I would like this, given I like early Dylan, but just didn't do it for me, mainly due to the Falsetto singing. Guitar was great though.
Old twists on old classics. Singing is good, but good lord is it slow.
Hard to listen to with headphones. Feels shrill and too much vibrato.
I liked Henry Martin. This is a nice folk album but I don’t really enjoy the warbling in her voice
If I was in the ‘60s, sat in a field, toting in a doobie, this album would have been awesome. However, today it felt dated.
Her voice is just too wobbly. Reminds me of that Antony and the Johnsons album we had previously; would have been much more enjoyable and effective if they'd saved the vibrato for a moment where it could have a proper impact, rather than every time they held a note. It's apparently very influential on the US folk scene (the Spotfy blurb puts her as second only to Dylan in terms of importance of emerging US folk artists at the time), but it's not something I'll listen to again. 2/5.
I liked this more than I thought I would. Her voice and guitar playing are beautiful. While I appreciate the beauty in her voice, I would prefer it in smaller doses. A whole album of her lilting soprano grated on my nerves a bit, probably the opposite of what this type of music should do for the soul.
A name I’ve heard for a long time, but never listened to. Not into the warbly voice. Not into the deep cut songs from history. The guitar was good, but this felt like a really dry documentary.
Nice enough
Really enjoyed Silver Dagger, great song, and she’s a great singer but wasn’t my type of music.
Niet mijn ding maar ook niet echt aandacht gegeven
Didn't really enjoy this too much ngl. Sounded the same from start to finish.
One of the worst singers ever. Makes me wish I was deaf.
3/16, 19%
Her voice is amazing but this started to wear on me after a while. Those high notes are HIGH and that vocal wobble is everywhere. It’s very simple, stripped back, and beautiful but it’s not something I’ll likely come back to very often.
Solid.
A style of folk I've never really enjoyed. Wanted to like it more.
Gesang und Stimme gefallen nicht.
Pues me he aburrido bastante, y eso que estaba con ganas de escucharlo. Ni siquiera las canciones más conocidas me han llamado la atención. Lo intentaré con otros discos de ella ya que me gusta como toca la guitarra y como canta.
Don't love her voice...
Nice to listen for about 4 songs. The high pitch tones can grate. Good cover of house of the rising sun
Eh. It was fine. Most of the songs sounded the same to me though. I don't think I'd come back to this one either. 2.49/5
Plenty of other singer songwriters throughout history who could do a bunch of traditional folk covers to this level
I have no opinion on this, because I could barely pay attention to it without falling asleep. Absolutely not my kind of music, but at least it didn't assault my ears.
Dit voelt als kampvuur muziek voor mijn moeder in de 60s, niet mijn vibe!
As I'm listening to this, sometimes I feel nostalgic for my early childhood or even impossibly a time before my birth. And then sometimes I feel like her fluttering voice makes me want to jab my ears repeatedly. Still - she was just 19 while recording this which is/was impressive, and it was absolutely a different world, and so a lot of credit should be given. Just that it's impossible to translate to today in a lot of ways which is probably a tragedy in some ways. So it's sort of an interesting document of a long-ago time, and for me occasionally it's fascinating to hear a simple recording of voice and acoustic guitar, but being blunt I don't really like these *songs* much - is it because they're all covers? - eh without much more self-analysis this is a one-and-done archeological dig for me... 5/10 2 stars.
This wasn't the first time I listened to this album. I thought it was just fine, but it never really really clicked with me that much. I guess I prefer folk from the 60s on mostly, and in general find originals more interesting. I do find her voice a bit grating I places, but she is very talented at the same time, and I recognize the cultural importance of the album.
Not really for me. Her voice is very high pitched, but not pitchy.
She has a great voice.....except her vibrato sounds too much like she's grabbing the skin on her Adam's apple and shaking it back and forth; that gets old fast. And all of these songs are the exact same song. My problem with folk, as with most Christian music, is that the artists get too preachy and heavy-handed in the delivery. Believe what you believe, but be subtle about it and stop shoving it down our throats.
This is all very lovely to listen to, but I’ll admit, I turned it off half way through. It’s very repetitive. If you’re a sweet old bird that loves to sit and crochet to the sound of tweeting budgies and Joan Baez, I feel you. But that is not me.
Ehhhhhh
Nope
Classic folk album; i.e. just guitar and voice. The latter of which is quite good - Baez is famous for her clear voice, though I find it overbearing and overdramatic at times - she's using too much vibrato for my liking. Apart from that, the song selection is uninspired. Diamonds & Rust this is not. Well, maybe Rust ... 2/5
Es algo aburrido. Solo hay unas 3 que valen la pena escuchar y, por encima de todo, su voz no me agradó del todo, no es que sea fea, pero a lo largo del álbum, son EXESIVAS las ocasiones en las que sostiene la voz y termina siendo molesto. Fuera de eso, no se si sea solo la versión de Spotify, pero, a veces, cuando cantaba, el audio rebotaba de derecha a izquierda y viceversa, cosa que me pareció horrible y espero que no haya sido intencional.
Vibrato acapell-no.
Lame ass folk music. It’s exactly what you expect when you think of 60s folk and I was so tired of it by the end. However it doesn’t get a 1 because this is the pre-animals house of the rising sun is pretty good but fucking what. I guess it’s just a traditional folk song so it’s not originally from this album either but it’s still wild that there was a semi-big version of it before the one everyone knows. Also girl of constant sorrow is the same way but both of these don’t hold a candle to the animals and soggy bottom boys respectively.
I'm still finishing this album but man...I really thought I'd like this as while folk music doesn't usually top my charts, I do enjoy it. So the first song, Silver Dagger, plays, and I'm like, okay, this is cool. Then East Virginia plays, and I'm like...okay, same song, but not bad. And now I'm like, 8 songs deep and Joan just gets shriller, and shriller, and SHRILLER! You know, that 70's, high-pitched warbling sound that singers tended to do. Woof. This is a tough one to get though. But I'm close. Did like a couple of the songs though...
folksy, lots of talk about maidens. This feels close to that medieval revival type music, but I think its still more like american folk music. I wonder how many people were inspired by her, but I don't think I would listen to the songs often. After reading her wiki page she is a great person, and I love that she was an activist.
not my jam but solid folk
A collection of slightly bland folk covers
i must include a disclaimer that i am not a huge fan of folk music. but here, joan baez has a positively beautiful, soulful voice. it's commanding yet not overbearing as baez weaves her stories. it's hard to get a voice so sweet but strong, but she sure is perfect for the folk genre. i admire the desire to include a spanish song here, which couldn't have been easy to convince the record company of in 1960. even for someone who isn't well versed with folk music, i can recognize the importance and influence baez still has to today. i certainly respect and appreciate her music, but i couldn't get completely into it--and i did enjoy this more than other folk music!
This album exists somewhere between what I call "renaissance" folk, and then of course the pop/rock folk of that was pioneered in the 1960s and 1970s -- it straddles both worlds. Joan Baez was clearly one of such pioneers in the 60s/70s folk space, and I can appreciate that. But what can often come with this territory is a proto-sound that is great from neither perspective, in this case, a renaissance perspective OR a 60s/70s perspective, so I did find myself a little bit underwhelmed with that. But it wasn't bad to listen to. I just wasn't particularly into it or moved by it.
kinda latin, kinda singer songwriter
I respect Joan Baez but I find her singing style monotonous after a couple of songs.
Fav song: El Preso Number Nueve
Didn’t love this and found her voice annoying most of the time.
Charming folk album with familiar tracks such as House of the rising sun and Girl "Man" of constant Sorrow. Her voice wouldn't feel out of place with medieval instrumentation it's very timeless and ethereal though I wouldn't really go back to listen to the album again I appreciate her talent - favourite track - Wildwood Flower
Just not my thing.
Bof. Trop simple et tropnde lamentations. Très ordinaire.
Think 2 is a bit of a harsh rating for this one as I oddly enjoyed it. But it’s not something I would listen to normally and one listen is enough for me. Could definitely see someone like Tarantino using one of these songs in a film of his or something for some reason
Not something I would put on but I did like her voice. Found it half spooky and half ‘tiptoe through the tulips’
I've been hearing Joan Baez's name all my life but never bothered looking up any of her music. So while I'm not sorry to have heard this album, man, I did not enjoy it. I'm not dead set against folk in all of its forms but this album is a pure distillation of all of the aspects of folk that rub me the wrong way. I do feel compelled to at least offer one bonus star for her obvious talent and deep sincerity.
Another artist I’ve never heard before. Folk music (based on albums I’ve listened to so far) seems promising though, so let’s listen! Songs I already knew: House Of The Rising Sun (although not this version) Favourites after listening: Mary Hamilton, El Preso Numero Nueve Well I stand corrected. First of all, this album was very minimalist, with mainly guitar and vocals and nothing more. The nature of this meant it did not particularly excite me. Her voice sounded very “church-caterwauling”. You know, like when old ladies sometimes sing so high pitched it makes dogs be sick, with so much vibrato it makes your eyes shake. This was especially prominent in Fare Thee Well. There were a few jauntier, more interesting songs, but I think it’s fair to say I did not enjoy this as an album and I do not plan to return to it at any point after this first impression.
1.5/5 stars. I actually kinda liked some of the lyrics and melodies. Almost like a deconstructed folk song. Was missing a lot of instrumentation
Folk idk man I need time to get used to it
Meh
I love that voice. But this particular type of pure folk has something in it that turns every intimate story into an annoying drone.
Never listened to this before. Ugh. Not for me. It isn't horrible, but I'd be good never hearing it again. 2/5
A lot of tunes sound the same. She has a wide range, but that’s something that is not as appealing to me.
I guess somebody likes this stuff.
I can definitely acknowledge her talent, it's just not for me.
Excellent guitar playing but the difficult listen. My ears just can’t do the warble on the high pitched singing.
Kolejny katalog tradycyjnych folkowych kawalkow, tym razem w zenskiej aranzacji pani Baez, ktorej tak jak w ogole nie kojarze, tak nie sadze zebym po przesluchaniu tych 55 minut materialu to zmienil, bo pomimo tego, ze folkowe brzmienia to teraz zdecydowanie moj jam, ale sa to utwory juz tak osluchane u innych artystow, ze nawet kobieca interpretacja ich nie ratuje, bo nie tylko wokalnie slychac tutaj plec piekna, ale zauwazylem ze niektore liryki zostaly troche zmodyfikowane, bo przeciez zazwyczaj sa to pierwszoosobowe opowiesci, wiec jest to logiczne, zeby protagi songow rowniez byly zenskie, jak nazwa sugeruje jest to debiutancki album pani Joan Baez, calkowicie akustyczny folk grany na dwie gitary, druga gitara jest tutaj Fred Hellerman, na plycie zmiescilo sie 16 utworow z czego nawet jeden po hiszpansku, a wiki podpowiada, ze w ciagu swojej 60 letniej kariery pani tworzyla az w 6 jezykach, co nie dziwi, bo brzmi dosc przekonujaco na el preso numero nueve, wiec odkrywczego na plycie nic nie znalazlem, wokal rowniez nie przypadl mi szczegolnie do gustu, za duzo zaciagania w gore, ale jednak jest to akustykowy folk, wiec dalo sie przesluchac, ale jednak nie na tyle zeby cos dodac na plejke, bo ciezko znalezc utwor, ktory od poczatku do konca byly wystarczajaco dobry lub unikalny, bo jak nie wokalne szybowania, to jakies felery podczas nagrywania, bo jest to plyta z 1960, nagrywana w ciagu kilku sesji, wiec nie dziwia drziwne wirowania na kanalach, zwlaszcza w tych nieszczesnych wysokich partiach
very much of its time, folk standards sung with her distinctive voice. not my thing
she has a nice voice but this simply is not for me
Not my cup of tea. Not offensive just not for me. Cover art 0/5.
Not my favourite use of the female voice
I wish I enjoyed her music, I really do. But I can't stand her voice. I totally understand why people find it beautiful, like I said I hope I can get my head around it someday, but for now now her tremolo and use of dynamics are just giving me a headache. I'm sorry Joan.
Je ne suis pas toujours partant pour du folk dans le genre mettons C'est bien fait, elle est juste et est solide à la guit. C'est diatonic harmony 101 mettons mais c'est des trad alors c'est normal et c'est bien exécuté. J'ai skippé house of the rising sun au premier they called🤣 bref, trippe pas sur son haut registre. Pas grand chance que j'y retourne mais je comprends que ce soit sur la liste
Assez minimal. Vraiment pas mon genre habituel, mais ça s'écoute bien au moment bien choisi. Un album féminin fort qui a sa place sur cette liste.
I get why this is on the list and it’s a really important folk album, but I just can’t get on board with her voice not one I’d come back to.
I tend to like folk music, but this one was hard to get into. Her voice can be a little grating, but the lyrics are very pretty. Interesting version of House of the Rising Sun, but I will not be going back to this one anytime real soon.
Sleepy, doesn't feel like there's much variety to the songs, and especially the vocals. This can be explained as the album is from 1960.
Pros: - Really beautiful melodies and voice - "Henry Martin" has some great chromatic / out-of-key notes around 00:23 in the melody and it's refreshing to hear. Would have liked more of that. It's haunting! - A song in Spanish was nice! - Covers are really really great. "house of the rising sun" and her variation on "girl of constant sorrow" (i might have missed another) Cons: - I don't connect particularly well with this album for some reason or other. It's a nice album; it's nice to have on and to simply enjoy. She is definitely someone who has inspired many many other artists and is unquestionably important to modern music. Misc: - Kind of limited instrumentation and arrangements, but it's 1960.
voice of the lady is more annoying than beautiful, there are some great songs but I didn't enjoy it too much overall. 2,5
This is aggressively 60's haha. It's good, just too shrill for me, grated and dragged after an hour.
That's some pretty good mandolin playing. (I think). Not a big fan of her super vibrato voice. I think I'd rather hear some more traditional versions of e.g. East Virginia. It sounds like something that might be on the Anthology of American Folk music. Yeah, no.
I'm sure it's lovely. It's just not my kind of lovely.
Meh
Simple but effective.
It's surprising how English folk this sounds at first, less so once you find out most of the songs were English/Scottish folk songs. When it's just guitar and voice, you've got to love the voice.... Bet there's no Vashti Bunyan in the 1001
not for me
good lord, do i hate joan baez. that said, i've always loved wildwood flower, though i generally prefer mike ness' version - or maybe anyone's - over joan's. see: https://open.spotify.com/track/7gMx2U4OEJsgvYbsSRVjvh and donna donna has a kind of a weird place in my heart because of a long-ago relationship with a woman who sang it kind of a lot. i'd never heard it before or since, so it was nice to finally know what the hell it was. apart from that, and i know it's not her fault...i just hate this album, i hate everything i've ever heard by her, and i more or less can't stand her in general. i mean, i assume she's a very nice person, so i guess i should really say i can't stand her voice, her music, or her annoyingly soulful guitar. in the interest of gender-fairness, if you were to look over my other reviews, you'd see me hating just about anyone whose music sounds like hers. just wanted to say that part out loud.
may need to give this another chance
Folk, nije losa, glas tehnika i gitara, zvuci zanimljivo. ali nisam posluso sve, nije legla iz prve niti je moj dir..
Fantastic track list, but I dont like her voice
Sweet voice, not my style of folk.
It was ok. Nice to listen to but kinda wanted to listen to other people’s versions
Man I really tried, but folk just isn't for me. Favorite track might be East Virginia
An amazing voice, but Folk is not my thing
Like a less melodic Joni Mitchell who also grates a bit.
Very much like Joni Mitchell it gets a bit exhausting listening to a whole album with the type of voice she has.
Not my thing.
Didn’t hate but didn’t necessarily enjoy either
Not bad, but a bit too scream-y for me. I'm also not a big fan of vibrato. Didn't hate it, but probably wouldn't listen to it again. I liked the Spanish song the most I think.
Not for me
Alright I hate folk but this was alright. Her voice is soothing and it sounds like theres background banjo the entire album.
A bit much
I was not familiar with this album and didn't really care for it. There have been better versions of The House of Rising Sun.
Joan's voice is beautiful, but I struggled to get into this album.
Didn’t really like it the high notes sounded awful I like folk music but this was something I won’t listen to again
not my thing
It was fine. There is other folk music that I like better
A very young sounding JB. Before she went big she apparently was a vanilla folk singer. Glad she grew into it
Man, I know she's an American treasure and all, but I cannot appreciate these vocals. The song-writing and lyrical content is great, however.
I'm a recovering wanna-be hippie (Gen X, so not a real hippie) so I know that in that culture Joan Baez was enormous. I think she's a super-cool and interesting person, I can appreciate her powerful voice, but...just never really enjoyed her music. (Sorry, my dear fellow aging tie-dyed folk!)
Не мое. Видно профессионализм, но такая музыка не для отдыха или расслабления. Сложный мелодичный ряд. Голос и стиль на любителя. Бормотание, монолог под музыку, сложно и неоднозначно
Everything sounds the same. Pretty voice, though
zawodzenie, 2/10
2/5 there were some good songs, but only a few
So folksy.
I'd shag her
Dennis Bergkamp
Gute Geschichten, muss man schon zuhören. Vielleicht etwas zu viel klare Schönheit in der Stimme.Ungebrochen und daher nur 1.9
Hach, die singende Säge ... aber immerhin nicht ganz so schlimm wie befürchtet. 1,7
Nicht für mich
too folk
Great singer, too folky for me
Clearly has a pretty voice... but the hummingbird droning at the end of each note gets old.
not for me
House of the Rising Sun
eh
I didn't make it to the end of the album. Not for me.
Nice voice but pretty boring songs. 5/10
Great voice but the songs were so boring
Reminds me a lot of Joni Mitchell. Definitely something I want to listen to when I'm sad. Gets worse as it goes on, too much vibrato and volume increase in the upper register
Pretty sure every song was the same
The warbly stuff just sucks
Not for me. 1/5
I found this to be very difficult to listen to simply because it's so boring.
Schlecht gealtert. Gefällt mir nicht (mehr).
I hate that near traditional folk sound of the 60’s.
Just can’t handle this singing style
Not doing it.
Malo
I've always found the soprano voice singing "folk" songs a tad jarring. Mean I know but I've never been a fan. I think Dimery needs a list which is "Artefacts" to give these records a nod of acknowledgement but there's nothing about this that is great. Just on House of the Rising Sun, every time I hear one of the many versions from the time I'm reminded of the Mike Jeffery/Alan Price scam on the arrangement royalties, to think Price is still getting all the money after all this time, what a prick.
Unfortunately her voice just makes every song sound the same. It became background music after the second song
Ack
mmmno
I love folk but I find this a bit too sweet for my liking. Baez's voice is very shrill and I really couldn't enjoy it as my eyes kept twitching for some reason. Just not my cup of tea but grateful to give her a shot as I'm aware many view her as legend. Some of the guitar work is nice though.
really not my thing my shortness of patience couldnt make it thru this one i think her voice just isnt my style. someone might like it tho
Nope. 1
Incredibly boring
I really can't stand her voice...and I like Bob Dylan.
So far she sung one note change in a particular way that I liked, but the rest just reminded me of why I don't like hippies.
I've read that Psy-Ops groups will use heavy metal or EDM as part of torture programs. I get it; because after 20 minutes of Joan Baez' voice, I'd be tempted to betray my own Mother. I'm genuinely astonished that people choose to listen to her sing. It's the shrill head-voice with the spasticating vibrato set in a Ren-Faire vibe with absolutely no hint of irony, or soul. I’m proud for having suffered all the way into All My Trials (although - full disclosure - I had to hit >> when I realized she was ruining House of the Rising Son). But at that point the discomfort became too much to bear.
Sounded like a medieval bird turned human
Escuche 3 temas y lo saqué. Me recontra emboló. Ella canta increíble igual. Quizás no es el album que deberia escuchar yo
Totally not my jam
I recognize that Joan Baez is a very accomplished vocalist. She has a classically pure voice that is able to cut pretty cleanly when she is in it. While I applaud Joan Baez for being able to maintain a career that is mostly just her with guitar and her voice I just don't get that much out of it personally. I'm sure it hit differently in the 1960's and maybe as I age and get into my own 60's I may identify with this more. However, at this point in my life there just isn't much for me to take out of her debut album. It's a handful of traditional folk song arranged around Joan Baez's personal style. The songs are OK I guess (John Riley probably best song I guess) but I quickly shrugged my shoulders and tuned out as I had to get through the remainder of the album. I recognize that it is no small accomplishment to keep a crowd entertained with only a single guitar and a voice. I understand why this album is on the list but I don't ever need to come back to it. She's talented no doubt, but many other artists are also talented that I have zero interest in. 1.28 stars
Just fucking boring as fuck. With the exception of El Preso Numero Nueve for obvious linguistic and stylistic differences, I wouldn’t be able to differentiate one song from another. If you played me 100 Joan Baez songs to me, I’d be completely unable to tell you if any of them came from this album they’re so nondescript. Hard pass.
Not for me.
If I saw this woman on stage I would throw so many tomatoes at her. Big fleshy ones. I never thought I’d be one to throw tomatoes but this one inspired me. Kudos.
Painful. That voice. That guitar. They will haunt my dreams for weeks.
Folk, 72 eme album =>1/5
I can't. it's not Joan; it's me. I don't like her voice
not my thing at all. I recognize she has a great voice but her music doesn't appeal to me. 1/5
Oof. I would like to meet the person who enjoys listening to this.
Joan Baez’s debut album is a cornerstone of the folk revival—her influence, song curation, and activism ripple far beyond the record itself. While her shrill upper range hits my ear the wrong way, I still respect the purity of her delivery and the cultural weight of her work. I often connect more deeply with her songs when interpreted by other artists, where a different vocal texture brings out colors I don’t hear in her originals. Best cover: "House of the Rising Sun" - The Animals or "John Riley" - The Byrds
i dnf'ed it. I found her voice to be too grating and the music repetitive
She has got far better stuff out there! This album was bloody awful, her voice was way too shrill. It hurt my ears and my head. Got on my nerves so much I wanted to hurt something.
2/10… folk / singer-songwriter / *1960
I don't like her voice