Reviews (page 6 of 8)
Chill pop I enjoyed
It's alright, but I could have lived without listening to it.
Kind of music only played at restaurants for old people. Absolutely juiceless
Completely new to me. Vibey.
Only Love Can Break Your Heart Nothing Can Stop Us
Bright, warm. pop love songs with electronica. You could dance if you wanted to. Or relax with a fruit flavored drink of some sort. Could possibly help relieve you of any paranoia developed from listening to other more cutting edge music. Well done overall but do watch your sugar levels.
I liked it.. interesting. Didn’t love it but I might listen again
Great 80s band
3.5/5
Surprisingly solid.
Not sure why this is on the list. Its a perfectly fine album but essential seems a stretch.
I really ended up liking this a lot more than I anticipated. One of the better chill out albums I've heard on this list so far. A bit of trivia: At the time of recording, Sarah Cracknell was not fully part of group, and as a result she does not sing on Only Love Can Break Your Heart, which is sung by Moira Lambert.
#53 - nice easy listening 90s
Only Love Can Break Your Heart is still a classic. Stoned To Say The Least is great too. Rest of it is just ok 3/5
Fun album. Not much to say
Interesting in a way, but nothing so mind blowing that I would be scrambling to relisten unfortunately. Didn’t know what to expect from the outset but quickly became fairly typical Euro pop reminiscent of what I remember from the time
bella mina
Not terrible. Just boring
Meh. It was fine for the most part.
The shit
Welcome to the most boring dentist office
Just drifted into background music. Why this album?
Yet another record that sounds like something you’d hear in an upscale/hip hotel elevator or bar/lounge. It’s not offensive, it’s pleasant, it doesn’t distract or draw attention.
I didn't mind this, but the only thing that stuck out to me was the cover of Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Another album I was fairly bored listening to. It's sort of pretty, at times, but overall not my cup of tea.
1. radio - 1 2. heart - 2 3. uuilzon - 1 4. zleep - 2 5. girl - 1 6. zpring - 1.5 7. the one - 1 8. get real - 1 9. ztoned - 1.5 10. nothing - 2 11. etienne - 1 12. london - 1 13. kizz - 1.5 14. zuuallouu - 1.5 15. diluuorthz - 0
It's fine but I think this far into it I don't get why there needs to so much middle of the road 90s Brit electronica. I've heard it before. 3.5/5
just bland
Interessante Musik.
This was a quirky electronic pop album which was generally quite enjoyable. The style sort of reminded me of Massive Attack, and while there were a few filler sections that felt a bit long-winded, the album was worth my time overall.
Sort of hipster techno
A little to bland for my liking.
twee
she's cool, funky and dreamy
Dreamy pop music with pleasant vocals. Not my cup of tea really, but also not bad.
Maybe not an essential album but still very cool. Like the use of samples and cool bass lines. Would listen again!
Seriously does not need to be on this list.
I missed this when it first came out. To me sounds very of its time and didn’t age as gracefully as, say, Massive Attack or Portishead.
Pretty good album considering the genre. Never heard of it before.
gay witch music
Nothing that I enjoyed but I wouldn't say it was bad. Maybe a high 2.
Eh this one was ok.
mmm
A good mix of 60s style pop, trip hop, and house music. Sometimes all on the one track. An interesting band I wasn't familiar with before. What a great outro on this album too.
Apparently, repetition & sampling is not my preferred genre. Kinda relaxing...I could maybe put this on while working...but not very enjoyable to listen to in any engaged way.
Sooooooo long
A bland boring collection of background music. “Oh what a perfect album to halfway pay attention to while you do other things” is about the best you can say for this.
Absolutely amazing phenomenal i love this so much. Psychadellic chilllll realness
Boring sounds. Boring music. Boring lyrics.
It was weird. But in a good way.
Eh
Pleasant 90s
Electronic music is just not my thing. It's fine, I found myself bobbing to the beat a few times, but it's definitely nothing I'd listen to regularly.
Very catchy and groovy songs. "Only Live Can Break a Heart," "Spring," "nothing Can Stop Us," and"Kids and Make Up" are favorites. The interstitial of guys at a poker game was ... a bit too long for me.
Liked this a lot.
Inoffensive background music. Bass lines with reasonable melodies over the top. One step up from muzak, but nothing to hold my interest. I don't remember any of it, except for the very poor version of 'Only love can break your heart' - if he heard this, I suspect Neil Young would be inclined to change his mind.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzz
Hitillä sisään, loppu olikin sitten fiilistelyä. Hyvin kesäinen, siitä kiva, mutta en nyt ihan syttynyt, ei vedonnut (paitsi se Only love can break your heart, tosi hyvä). Vahva kaks puol mutta jää kakkosen puolelle
Myönnän, että he ovat bonganneet jotain uutta Neilistä. Mutta tämä levy: miten näin kevyet biitit voivat muovautua näin raskaaksi objektiksi?
It's fine. I think it's time someone told Robert Dimery the definition of the word "need".
Absolutely sucks. Can't see how this made it on the list. Experimental unlistenable garbage.
I actually kind of like this album and have absolutely no idea how to classify it. There is sampling and rhythmic and melodic repetition, but not to the point of being overdone. I suppose it is Indie in spirit but not in musicality.
Some bops. Some missed ops.
You’re in a bad way is great Beyond that nothing particularly stands out
Hey!!! I never thought I'd see St. Etienne on here! This is a treat! First album I had of these guys was Tiger Bay 1994. Pretty sure I got it at Rockin Rudy's or from Columbia House. I don't think I've listened to this whole album. But I have heard at least one song from it. Man her voice is so pretty. I've really liked this so far. It's light and airy. St. Etienne holds a special place in my heart so 5 stars
Only Love Can Break Your Heart + Carnt Sleep are good, and Like the Swallow is incredible (though it feels incredibly short despite being 7-minute, mostly due to the fact that the short verse is preceded and followed by minimalistic instrumental work), but otherwise not much here grabbed my attention.
A pretty solid 3 star record for me - the vocal performance was a bit weird -> flat and mopey and sad... actually a fair bit of dance music from this era was like this. the ‘keys’ parts esp are very jazzy! The blurb talks about the blending of “1960’s London” and the 1990’s dance music scene… I think this really works! It’s got all the high points that like Portishead and Groove Armada and even Moby traded on later in the decade. Neat to see where that ‘came from I found Kiss and Make Up kind of a nice stroll through that early 90’s dance sound memory
First full listen, even though I'm a nineties kid through and through. Some great stuff on this.
Not what I expected. I think the dreamy elements of the album were broken a bit with the hip hop inspired drums, but it was still a good listen. Fav songs: - Only love can break your heart - nothing can stop us
Geggjað
Great
Parece muy adelantado a su tiempo en algunas canciones y en otras muy de principios de los 90. En un universo paralelo, habría escuchado muchísimo este disco.
Only love can break your heart je klasik ali ostatak mi i dalje ne leži nešto
Halfway between thinking it was pleasantly enjoyable and thinking it was not very interesting
Alternative dancetrip hop. Francesa. Está chulo.
Not my thing at all.
Honestly super enjoyed this. Felt like Massive Attack met Dream Pop
Wow.... This hit me like a truck, talk about good timing. Had no idea bout any of this band and music, but I'm hooked. Transportative and stimulating in all the ways. I will be re-visiting this artist and album for sure
I generally like stuff like this, and I can tell a lot of stuff I like was influenced by it. But I generally found it hard to get into. Felt dated istead of timeless.
Only Love Can Break Your Heart reminds me of something that I cannot put my finger on. Downtempo, dusty electro-pop built around a wandering piano melody -- feels distinctly 90s and I dig it. Did not connect that this is a cover of a Neil Young song... Love the sample looping around which Wilson is built. Makes for a surreal atmosphere with the fuzzy electronic "presence" and overlaid echo effects. The vocal effects and electronic style on Girl VII reminds me a lot of Park Hye Jin's early work fused with Peggy Gou. Stoned to Say the Least is a straight up groove. Cyclical bassline with standard high-hat propulsion and some synth plonk. I have a soft spot for trip hop and early 90s electronic in general, and this album has plenty along those lines to please. This was a pleasant surprise. Strong 4 / 5.
Started out fairly reminiscent of Boards of Canada. The beginning was definitely a bit better. The back half wasn't bad, but it felt like it moved to a bit more of a poppy sound. The songs are a bit repetitive, but for an album like this, that's kind of the point. Maybe a song or two in here were 4 star quality, but the rest was solidly a 3.
This is very good music to have on in the background, but I don't think I would like it if I was actively listening. Stoned to Say the Least was the best song on here it had some really cool beats.
Enjoyed the different take on Neil Young to start us off. Some middling music for me until Stoned to Say the Least which brought this back up for me. What a trip of a song. Nothing Can Stop Us is such a fun song! That flute tho… Had some highs I loved and lows I hated. Middling 3.
Easy listening. A pretty, poppy kind of a sound.
Love it.
I love the opening to this album with a retro French football TV show intro cutting abruptly to the opening bars of 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart'. Beyond that this is a cool indie pop dance trip hop record from 1990. Rating: 3.5/5 Playlist track: Only Love Can Break Your Heart Date listened: 20/05/24
Well, for some reason the version of the album on Spotify in the UK omits the two best tracks. Harrumph! We spent a fair bit of time at uni chewing over signs, signifiers, simulacra and the ilk. All that chat seems to coalesce here, a dream pop album that features ghostly hints of many different shapes and forms but ultimately floats untethered in its own soupy little bubble of ephemera. Some silly words to describe what is ultimately an inoffensive, okayish listen. The club culture aspects sound horribly dated. The Neil Young cover sucks. You know who did a good electronic cover of a Neil Young song? Neil Young, on his masterful (you read it first here, folks!) Trans album.
3.5 stars. Whimsical dance-ish indie pop. Groovy beats. Standout is "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" as well as "People Get Real".
Wow this is so good
Great.
Painful
The musical equivalent to a Coffee table book. Its just there.
Nogal vage muziek, het kwam mee op de golf van de easy-listeningmuziek zo te horen, creatief maar ook met een zeker 'wat moet ik hier nou weer mee'-gehalte. Voor 1991 klinkt het ondanks de filmsamples en de computerbeats nog best modern eigenlijk.
Dit album is gemaakt om te loungen. Al weet ik niet of die term in 1991 al zo gebruikt werd. Dat zegt wellicht dat 'de heilige Stephanus' een voorloper was. In dat licht hebben ze gezien een toepasselijke naam. Muziek die wat weg moet vallen; dat maakt het wel moeilijk om met een 1001 antenne goed te ontvangen. Je stemt af op dingen die er uit springen. En die zijn er niet zo. Het concept lounge is sterk uitgevoerd dus. Als oordeel dan ook geen 4 of 5 sterren, maar dat lijkt ook nooit hun inzet geweest. Zij gingen juist voor de 3. Die wil ik hen best geven.
Loungy triphop rijkelijk versierd met samples, uit films blijkbaar. De openingstrack doet me meer denken aan NOS Langs de Lijn of Radio Tour de France. Dat doet wel goed voor de nostalgische gevoelens. Jammer dat het over Frans voetbal gaat, wat dan weer beresaai is. Verder is de muziek wat kaal en klinkt het af en toe wat gedateerd. En dan bedoel ik dat het ouderwets is voor die tijd, dus het doet me denken aan de 80s (ik hoor er zelfs Madonna in), terwijl dit een (early) 90s plaat is. Ze waren hun tijd dus niet ver vooruit lijkt het. Dat ben ik niet echt gewend van de snoblijst. Waarom dit er dan wel in staat, is me een beetje een raadsel. Ik vind het maar saai. Ze schijnen in het vervolg van hun carriere ook afgegleden te zijn naar nog meer ambient muziek. Een soort Brian Eno adepten dus, en daar hebben we hier een hekel aan. We hebben al veel betere triphop en lounge muziek in deze lijst mogen horen, dus ik ga streng zijn met een 2.
Pretty good album from a band that I have never heard of before. It reminds me slightly of the early Chemical Brothers, similar, chilled style, cool beats, really nice vocals, just an above average package. I think this is the best hotel lounge music on this lost so far.
Was cute for a little while, but got boring and then was too long. 2/5
Goddamn, it’s been a long time! I like this better now. The hits still hit.
Pleasant ambient stuff. Got off to a bad start but improved. Nothing really to write home about a solid 2.
Perfect summer time listening that, just as the weather decided to play nicely. Such a fantastic mellow trip-hop style. 4 stars!
Neil Young - that is how your song should be sung! But its not just a better cover than the original, OLWBYH was one of those songs that make up the soundtrack to my life in 1990. The other single, 'Nothing Can Stop Us' proved to me this lot werent one track wonders. The rest of the album is equally mellow and a nice summery set of tracks. A 4.
Not for me. Bland and uninteresting and boring and repetitive.
It's the '90s and dance music is all the rage. You can see why from just the beats alone; they're peak. Foxbase Alpha's approach, however, is somewhere between the upbeat house and the chilled out downtempo. It's not bad! I don't think there was ever a point where the album really grabbed me, but I appreciate it's approach to dance music in the wash of baggy and drum & bass. Dance music for people who don't like to dance. Wait until they get a hold of Aphex Twin!
I'm starting to consider skipping anything I haven't heard of from the UK during the 1990s. This is another perfect example of an album that does nothing for me from then and there.
"Yo, Robert, I've been thinking... shouldn't we have some electronic music in here? I mean, this stuff kinda blew up in the 90ies?" "Hm, you're probably right, but I don't know any." "Me neither. Shit. What do we do?" "There must be chart hits from some albums, let's look them up." ____________ And here we are. In my memory I had put Saint Etienne somewhere close to The Cardigans. Which is wrong but it's also not. Fox Base Alpha may well be The Cardigans, but after they'd been off their tits on some rave the night before, hungover, drowsily playing with a sampler. On cheap opiates. Don't do drugs, kids! In 1991 this may have been the shit, or some shit, but those early electronic albums "YMHBYD" are like a child's drawing of a house where the chimney is perpendicular to the roof. And I'm not a proud parent here. Bad. Not good.
This is pretty nifty. Not sure 1,001 albums material, but I do dig it a lot.
Gud så tråkigt
I 100% did not have to listen to this album before I died.
Min reaktion til alt det her 90'er electronica er meget afhængigt af mit humør tror jeg... jeg var i humør til den her. London Belongs to Me var en banger
Jeg er med Claus, jeg synes sgu den her var kedelig!
Virkelig 90'er og virkelig ikke mig.
With a name like Foxbase Alpha, and a cover like that, I prepared myself for something special. Just off appearances, I was expecting to hear some underrated hidden gem. It’s happened before, and I’ve been really wanting it to happen again lately. Bad idea. That’s not what this is. In the broad spectrum of downtempo and dance music that I’ve heard, this lies right in the middle. It neither excels at any one thing, nor fails miserably with any particular idea. A good example? The drums. They aren’t terrible by any means. But they just sound so flat. No impact and no punch. And no real flavor or unique sounding beats. Which I feel is sort of necessary for any album adjacent to the house and dub genres. The vocals also don’t really provide much. This could be fully instrumental and wouldn’t sound much different. She can sing good, but it doesn’t matter if I barely notice her voice is there. Sampling seems to also be a big part of the production style here. And again, it’s middling at best. Sampling isn’t easy to do. Not everybody can be a DJ Shadow or a Madlib. But I feel that if you aren’t going to fully commit to it and really attempt to go the full nine yards, might as well not have it at all. Because if you don’t, it can end up sounding something like this. Most of the “samples” are more like chops of some random person talking, looped on repeat. The most egregious example is Wilson, which I actually like because the rest of the song sounds good otherwise. This record isn’t god awful. I can just think of many from the same genres that I would rather spend my time listening to. But truthfully I am in no position to tell people how to make music. I’m just good at talking about things I like and dislike in songs. I wouldn’t write these reviews if I thought my opinion mattered anyways. Rating: 5/10
Chill, fakker med d
Elevator music, but the good kind. I'm never sure how I feel about these repetitive types of beats. Favourite track: Spring.
Exemplifies a lot of new trends from the early 90s including trip-hop and incorporation of dance beats. Probably goes on a bit long with several filler tracks able to be removed.
Very chill sample heavy electronic music - pretty sure I've heard the cover of Only Love Can Break Your Heart while shopping at Gap or something. I actually spent most of today revisiting the early catalogue of The Aquabats - tremendous.
Oh well. A touch of pre-trip hop intuitions--including some deep dub-like basslines--a large serving of EDM / house music drawing from renowned names at the time--whiffs of Orbital or 808 State abound--and a generous slice of 60s influences through those vocals reminding all those naive girl groups of that already bygone era (with naive and clichéed lyrics indeed). Well-crafted generally speaking, but with a somewhat similar mix of influences, Broadcast would achieve a far classier, more cohesive, and certainly more impressive result ten years later. With also far more intresting lyrics. Worse, parts of this debut are already plagued by a few unfortunate slices of cheese: all those commercial "dance" arrangements à la Lisa Stanfield that would be even more annoying on Saint Etienne's subsequent LPs--and which aged like sour milk not even put in a fridge. Finally, you have an endearing curio as the first proper song of this album with that 4/4 cover of Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart", in a style fitting with this album (but not with the "Loner"'s original intentions, lol). 2.5/5 for the purposes of this list, rounded up to 3. Which translates to a 8/10 grade for more general purposes. Number of albums left to review: 219 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 338 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 199 Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 251 (including this one).
Bardzo fajny edm z dawnych lat. Dobre brzmienie w tle.
I listed to the entirety of this album on a long walk, and it was perfect for that. It's a sleepy little album with some deeper themes of jealousy, heartbreak, and love. It didn't completely wow me, but it was an enjoyable listen still. Best Songs: Carnt Sleep, Spring, Nothing Can Stop Us Worst Songs: Wilson
not my cup of tea.
💖 nothing can stop us 🗣️ 8️⃣
I liked this more than I thought I would.
I don't hate it, but I don't get it.
The fillers were fluffy and light but doubt they work on repeated listening. An album of mixed styles that is jolly in places, feisty in others and mundane elsewhere.
Fine
Why is this in the top 1001 songs. How do you call a replay of movie clips or tv clip a song. This was not enjoyable.
I understand the talking parts but I don’t fully grasp how they fit in maybe I just was not paying that close of attention to it
This was, once again, not an album I needed to hear before I died. It was boring, uninspired, lackadaisical, and generally kinda stupid. I could not tell you what the point of the album was at all. The samples were just strange (the one asking Willy if he wanted any sweets was particularly stupid and annoying). Was this supposed to be revolutionary or impressive cause it was neither. Does not deserve to be on this list at all.
nope. not my style at all. too many samples, repetition, and didn't care for vocals or lyrics
This album was alright, fairly easy to listen to, some good bits, but not really memorable, in some parts I found the singing a little bit difficult
Love the instrumentation
Foxbase Br
Some of it is interesting but mostly just repetitive and simple sounding stuff. Really edges you on Hey Jude with the loop on Wilson, just have to put that on after to finish.
Intro sai karvat nousemaan pystyyn huonolla tavalla, mutta loppulevy olikin ihan viihdyttävää settiä. Sopii hyvin töiden, autoilun tai videopelien taustamusaksi.
Vähän lame pilluunpuhaltelu. Paikoin 3 tähden toimivaa, mut ei riittäny
Fun poppy dance music.
2.5 - This could maybe be a three? But I'm gonna leave it at a 2.5 because, while I didn't mind the songs that weren't the hit, they aren't super memorable to me. I wish everything was as special as that hit, but alas, it's not.
2.5
Eh
Not my favorite but an interesting listen
Great!!!
It was decent enough that I want to look at their other stuff. I like house/electronic vibe usually but got pretty bored on some of the songs. Rating: 3.0
I went into this record fully aware that "acid-house" music is not a genre I listen to. But I tried to have an open mind :( But... Do I actually have to be on acid to enjoy some of these tracks? The second song, repeating "Would you like some sweets willy" is the most obnoxious god damn thing I've ever heard. I'm happy to hear some of the other songs rely on some singing and some actual MUSIC beyond the same sample over and over again. But again and again it happens where it's just the same shitty sample replayed ad nauseum. This will never be for me.
Fun. especially the Neil Young cover. I trailed off a bit in the back half but it was mostly nice.
Their cover of Only Love Can Break Your Heart remains one of my favorite songs of all time. The rest of the album feels like 90's dance schlock.
Dance music, not much bass
So 90s
2.85
Five whole stars for this slice of early 90s indie house. Just sublime in places, with Sarah's voice bringing a whole load of sunshine. The standout for me is London Belongs To Me, which could easily have been on an early Belle and Seb album and not looked out of place, albeit with some amazing house beat behind it. When this finished, their mix of Jackie Collins Existential Question Time came on, and that was quite a way to carry on the fun. A big find, and one I want on vinyl ASAP.
Interesting, but not excessively so. I confess I don't get house/techno that well. This is OK, maybe it's just my mood today, rainy, overcast, and I'm tired.
It’s nice enough, I guess, but nothing to write home about. It seems like we’re getting many more of these ethereal moody albums than is really warranted.
Kinda just went by me. Not my genre, seemed ok though Will I listen to again: 0%
Interesting album, I really liked the vocals and I ended up listening to the whole album 2.5 times. I probably wouldn’t recognize their songs if I heard them again though. 3.0
Enjoyable, but not super memorable.
I liked this album more as I continued to listen to it. It definitely had some good vibes and would accompany a drive or a workout very well.
I gotta say, Foxbase Alpha was a pretty darn good album. The songs all had their own uniqueness to them and fit different moods like groovy, relaxing, somber and all of that stuff while still feeling like they fit well together. The voices of the two female vocalists also work well with the songs too (if you don't know, Sarah Cracknell did not sing \"Only Love Can Break Your Heart\" which was sang by Moira Lambert). Its a good album and is definitely worth listening to. Best Song: Spring Worst Song: Wilson
Not my favorite genre and kind of all over the place for me as an album. I’d give this a 2.5 if I could but rounding down due to the likelihood of me listening to this again (low).
It’s a perfectly-serviceable sample-heavy dance record of the alternative variety. It is not an album I must listen to before I die. Give me Weezer. Give me The B-52s. Give me Dr Dre or Snoop Dogg. Give me Lady Gaga. Give me Minnie Riperton. Jesus, give me The Shaggs if you’re going to give me something mind-bending. Stop giving me mundane genre exemplars.
This was alright. Kind of fun at parts. Not something I would come back to though. It drags a lot.
3.5
#167. I kept getting bored listening to this. I ended up skipping the end of a lot of the songs. I feel like drugs might make this more tolerable? 2/5: two Song added to playlist: Only Love Can Break Your Heart I've created a playlist on Spotify that consists of the best and/or my favorite song from each of the albums in this book. This list can be found here if you are interested: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7MAXDGLWlwLkFLb8veGfkA?si=FqkQQPgZTFWG0jAUJXLFZA&utm_source=copy-link
What an up and down album! The start had me worrying a bit, but I found 'Girl VII' to be a pretty cool song that pulled me attention to it somehow. Then followed a couple of pretty nice songs, along with 'Stone To Say The Least' and 'Nothing Can Stop Us' which were really nice. I don't know why, but they just brought me to a nice place, being nostalgic about something I can't put my finger on. They also just fitted very nice together and created a certain mood. I'm drawn to putting a 4 star rating since it was long time ago that I was surprised like that, and there were a handful songs that really grabbed me for some reason. But there are also quite a lot of really boring songs that draw down the whole album, like 'Etienne Gonna Die', and 'Wilson' for example.
This was a cool album. It's like a mix of pop and trip-hop. "Only Love Can Brake Your Heart" has a really good beat from the get go. Then the following songs are a bit boring but "Girl VII" was kind of fun and reminded me of Vogue with its spoken word. The magic is from the first track is found again with "Spring" before it becomes a bit boring again. I feel a bit disappointing since they clearly have something going but fail to stick the landing a lot of the time. Some really nice tunes in here but i can't shake of the feeling of boredom of the majority of songs.
An interesting LP for sure, clearly irreverent in one hand but focused on groove in the other. I liked the French avant-garde approach here, an assemblage of beats and samples leading into the tracks and making this feel like a found footage reel. Not sure the overall effect works musically given how disjointed some tracks and transitions feel, but I was happy to see where things went on this decidedly French approach to music.
The best song on here turned out to be a Neil Young cover, but otherwise pretty decent trip hop stuff
Rating: 4.5/10. Almost good. Some redeeming qualities. Probably overrated. Genre: Indie Dance, British pop Only Love Can Break Your Heart: Fun beat. Immediately appealing. The rest of the album falls off pretty hard. Definitely feels more "indie" than "pop," but it needs to lean "pop" to be a good dance album imo.
Paar lekkere nummers, leuke stijl
All right. A bit boring after a few tracks.
OK, feel like I’m gonna take shit for this one, but ….. not bad ….. Between the title and the intro song I thought, “ Oh crap do I really have to listen to this whole thing?” The song song was just Meh But then #3, Wilson really made me depressed that I was gonna have to listen to the whole thing. From that point on though, most of the songs had low-key club by that reminded me of Sade. The kind of stuff I wouldn’t mind having out in the background I was getting some work done. Maybe I like it as much as I did after the first three songs is because it lowered my expectations so far OK tunes made me feel somewhat elated !
Not much to say about this one, as for what they were doing - it was fairly well done - just not all that interesting to me... Certainly better than the albums that I have given a 1-star to, but just kinda meh... Would give it probably a 1.50 if I could, but begrudgingly I'll give it a 2...
I really enjoyed this and the rating under 3 is not right.
I thought this album was really cool overall. Nice vibes with a lot of pleasant female vocals to go with it 4/5
Some songs were good. Some were not
90s dance music with 80s vocals. At times it bangs at other times it drags. 6/10
How the hell did this album make the list? I quite enjoyed the cover of Only Love Can Break Your Heart, but damn. Not very memorable or groundbreaking or important historically.
Not bad just not for me
Fine. This album probably sounded much fresher and cutting edge when it was first released. Now it sounds kind of stale/boring/cliche, but still has some catchy moments.
This was pretty good. I’ve heard of Saint Etienne but never heard them. Kind like Belle and Sebastian meets Portishead. I might check out more.
Nice and easy to listen to. Cool in the background while I worked, but didn’t blow me away. If another album by this band came up on the list, I wouldn’t be mad.
Pleasant enough as background music. Feels representative of 90s trip hop/lounge electronica
album started fairly strong, i enjoyed the unconventional cover of neil young's "only love can break your heart" despite me being slightly offput by how different it is from the original. but that's sort of where my interest in this album stopped. the rest of this album is... fine. but honestly a bit boring for me. i thought i would like the combination of twee sounding oldies inspired music and dance music but for some reason this album just became a practice in lethargy. not my favorite.
Meh
not my cup of tea
Initial thought before starting my listen: Oh good, another 90s album that's almost an hour long. I'll get myself ready for a nap. It didn't put me to sleep, to be fair. I was pleasantly surprised to find a dance-pop record. The beats are good and the low mixing of the vocals actually works most of the time. Much of it still fell into the background for me, unfortunately. This is a great Vibes album, but Vibes aren't personally engaging for me, especially with house music. And not to sound like a broken record with my reviews, but this really didn't need to be 58 minutes long. Highlights: Only Love Can Break Your Heart (another album that opens with a good cover), Girl VII, People Get Real, Nothing Can Stop Us, London Belongs to Me, Kiss and Make Up
Very dated sound -OK for it's time but now nothing to recommend apart from the cover of "Only Love Can Break Your Heart
purrr
3,5
If you're a fan of 90s dance music, this might be a worthwhile listen. I'm not, so this was on the tedious side. Best track: The 43 second intro. At any rate, this album shouldn't be on this list. 2/5
Franch
This is just ambient music, so if you’re into that this is great
Enjoyed this album in general, nice chill out vibes. But aside from the two songs I already knew I didn't find it that memorable. I can see why it's considered influential though, it fits in well with the likes of Stereolab, Happy Mondays, Primal Scream, etc.
I’ve always loved this album - touches a rich nostalgic nerve.
Sexy. 3.75
Pretty long, repetitive and boring. Standout song: Stoned to say the least
Strong 6
As background music in a store it would be fine, but this album doesn’t belong in this list for me. It’s not bad but the samples and ambient music are just ok.
Det her er virkelig lækkert, specielt "I carnt sleep", "Girl VII"
Þetta var ljúft en fljótt að gleymast. Allt í lagi bakgrunnsmúsík myndi ég segja og ég myndi setja hana á sem matarmúsík ef ég man þá eftir því en ég mun líklegast ekki gera það.
I did not like this album. It was the same song for 58 minutes. It didn’t clurb hard enough nor did it 1960s hard enough.
The first song was promising. Then the rest is just the basic electronic that is apparently mandatory on the 1001 list at least once per week.
lovely funky little album 3.5/5
Unexpected Richard Whiteley sample
A cool sound for its time. Kind of an industrial feel, hip-hoppy without rap (for the most part). It’s pretty good, although at times it felt slightly aimless, as if the musicians had no idea what they were banging on about. The singing is typical of the genre, being light and airy in contrast to the heavy instrumental. One element of 90s hip-hop that’s included here is skits, which (thankfully) are short but still unnecessary. Some of the tracks are great, including Carnt Sleep, Stoned to Say the Least (what a fantastic atmosphere! seriously.), She’s the One, Only Love Can Break Your Heart. Most of the others are pretty forgettable, but musically still quite interesting in their own right. The album, in my eyes, hasn’t aged particularly well, but for its time it’s seriously impressive.
bored long before the end of this album
Their cover of “Only Love Will Break Your Heart” is the standout for how well it reconfigures the song to make it both eminently more danceable and even sadder, but the rest of the album is also very good, blending a lot of different sounds together to create a pop record that still feels pretty singular.
Decent, relaxing Trip-Hop that didn’t require much effort to listen to. The ‘Would you like some sweets, Willie?’ sample was a bit odd, but overall, not bad
Not really my cup of tea
Cool music, light, interesting arrangements, but a little dusty sounding and lacks the assemblage of the bowl. A matter of taste, of course.
I like it! Its super fun and different. Some of the samples are a little fun and silly but I enjoyed it a lot.
There is something that I really don't like about songs that seem chaotic - they don't follow a beat or there are multiple different types of sound within one song.
There is really nothing here.
Groovy morning music
Was just a bit unimpressive. i liked stoned to say the least and nothing can stop us
Fucking atrocious.
Definitely euro. The inbetween time of 1980’s and 1990’s electronic.
Groundbreaking dance music. Heavy nostalgia for the raves I went to in my terrible tiny town in the 90s. The original release was 45 minutes. The US release is almost an hour. An hour is too much. I danced with my coffee. Really torn between 3 and 4 stars
A nice pop take on club/dance music
So this was not terrible, but I'm never going to willingly listen to dance style music without many lyrics.
It was okay.
This one's just not for me. I do have to say though, a lot of songs sounded familiar. Not like I've heard them before, but like they were sampled in other songs a lot, but I couldn't find any confirmation on that.
I wanted to like this one....but found the overly done electric keyboard repeats flat (I wanted more sound depth with real instruments) and too long.
I'm trying to build a house, not work in a salon. Silly French salon background music.
Not bad to have on in the background, but the best part was the random songs Spotify played after this album in the same genre.
Dance music you can't dance to? This is making me rethink my Underworld review.
Actually enjoyed this. Very diverse sounding tracks. Not sure what rating to give.......
Not for me.
It's a good album to listen to in the background while doing something. At least some songs are.
So, so. It did not resonate with me.
I get why it is influential, but it didn't really click with me. It had some good ideas and songs that I liked, but a lot of the songs are just too long and repetitive. I don't think this album holds up too well over time either, a lot of the production and vocals seemed sloppy
I'll have to listen to it again. Loved the first song. Other songs are requiring more focus, which I didn't have yesterday
Lyrically it is very repetitive, which I do not like. The music is pretty repetitive as well. Its like a short looped lofi.
i am left wondering why this album is on this list! when the album finished, i was bored and sleepy. yeah, foxbase alpha has a different kind of dance music. apparently this style is called alternative dance, but new order was so much better at this. instead of a fun and rhythmic style of dance music, saint etienne created repetitive, drowsy music and relied too much on a cover and samples. unimpressed.
This album was just okay. It was kind of quirky, kind of happy, kind of dreamy, but VERY repetitive. I think the song that I probably liked the most was "Nothing Can Stop Us", but the rest of the album kind of bled together for me into an ambient noise. I don't really feel like this was a necessary inclusion on this project, different though it may be.
It's a vibe.
I didnt mind this one
Slow house jazz. Not really my thing. Not terrible. Not remarkable.
This was generally enjoyable, nudging towards four star territory, pulled back by a few dull two star moments, coming out as a solid three star entry that I'll happily return to one day.
Maybe I listened to this while in the wrong headspace, but this did absolutely nothing for me and I couldn't wait for it to be over. I guess I'm just not a minimalist when it comes to music...although, I enjoy plenty of stuff where it's just a dude with an acoustic guitar, so maybe I just don't like Saint Etienne.
This inspired me to revisit an electronic subgenre rather than listen to this record.
Early 90s indie dance crossover that brought us the angelic, divine Sarah Cracknell, who's shimmery silver dress at Glastonbury 1994 *awakened* something deep inside that lives on to this day. "Nothing Can Stop Us Now" is an effortlessly cool summer jam that evokes visions of driving in a top down convertible through villages in Cote D'Azure, scarf billowing out the back. They would go on and make better music, but sometimes it's nice to remember those early days...
It's alright, couple of good tunes, rest is ok.
Chill, atmospheric, and fun, though a bit repetitive in places. 3.5 rounded up.
So fucking empty. This is like the musical equivalent of slowly dying of dehydration in the Sahara. This could have been a serviceable Downtempo album (the few Trip-Hoppy songs on here are actually pretty good), but they spend way too much time playing music that sounds like something your Samsung Smart TV would play in the background while it's downloading the latest update.
Decent
Not sure what qualifies to make this list. I got this in the high 900's and Im starting to suspect. Not much
i have no idea. i can't remember any of the songs, and listening back to them again i can't tell you what i feel about them. they exist.
Painfully 90s
I'm not gonna say this is crap, because it's at least listenable, but it's neither good nor approaching anything I want to spend my time on.
Hadn't heard of these until their recent renaissance, and hadn't explored enough to know that they were actually around in the early nineties. Spotify told me this album was from 2009 (which on further investigation it definitely isn't), and that didn't feel wrong. First track is great, unfortunately the rest of the album doesn't live up to it. Feels in places like a lighter weight Avalanches record, with the slightly odd sampling (come on auntie, we'll miss the bus) and ambience. Not a bad listen, but not really a good one either. I think it just squeaks a 3.
This album has the energy of a low-key party. There are dance beats and upbeat tunes but nothing too clubby. There’s also a Sade energy in the music I’m enjoying. Some songs are druggy and spacey. It’s a nice mix and it was fun background music while getting ready to go out this morning.
"Only Love Can Break Your Heart" is a really cool track. The drum sample is reminiscent of "new jack swing" in the 1990's, and the vocals are like an indie pop flavor that sits really well on top of the upright piano and synths underneath. There's a nice mix of songs on this album. Sometimes it hurts the straight-listen-through vibe though. Like "Carnt Sleep" into "Girl VII" is two really different energies between eight minutes of music. Makes it hard to put the album on and then just jam away.
I loved it, never heard it before at all. Just fantastic, absolutely will circle back in this again.
Started strong for those of us that enjoy the early 90s techno sound. But fell flat by the time it was all said and done.
An interesting mix. I wouldn't put it on this list myself, but it was good.
It is a very interesting album actually.
Favorite tracks: Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Carnt Sleep Rating: 3/5
AJ: electronic and British.
meh
So boring. One of the most uninteresting albums I’ve listened to so far. It wasn’t particularly bad at all, just so very boring. 3/10 Top 1: 1. Only Love Can Break Your Heart
3.5 Standouts: Only Love Can Break Your Heart
House music - repetitive. weird.
Un album électro bien incarné, qui semble intemporel malgré qu'il date d'il y a 30 ans. La chanteuse a une voix magnifique.
Very trippy electronic, with a hint of folky fun.
musikk for folk som ikke liker musikk
Not bad. Also not great either
Background music. Technoy but a bit more singing than regular techno. Nothing really stood out. Female vocals were okay. 2/3 stars
Some interesting tracks but not for me
I couldn't wait for this one to be over. Lo-fi music beats are so boring. Idk maybe I had to be high
I liked the samples they used, but not much else stood out to me. I thought the album was kind of flat and probably won’t listen again.
Well, this was kind of disappointing. I've known the cover of Only Love Can Break Your Heart for a while now, and that song is a solid bop and a half in the right move, but it seems the rest of the album is struggling to reach that same level of excellency within the trip hop genre. That isn't the say the album is bad, because it isn't, but it leaves you not really thinking much other than "okay," and that feels sometimes like a greater tragedy than an album being bad with one good song. Instead, this just lands somewhere in the middle of pretty much everyone's scale of alright-ness, and not much else needs to be said.
Listened to this in bumper to bumper traffic. It was somehow still less interesting than the license plate of the car in front of me. I wanted to like this. It's well put together but ultimately it's just samples of better music put on loops with nothing of interest added to it.
It was kind of all over the place. Some of it I really enjoyed, some of it I wasn't sure what I was listening to.
Had a pub lunch to this
Chill easy house music. Faded into the background for me but a pleasant listen
For me kinda boring lounge music, like bossanova is. Hope they are nice live in the sunshine, will be on a festival in June I have ticket for. Not to be listened to at home for me.
Fun and good
very enjoyable album 3.8
Groovy, fun record that integrates many samples throughout. Electronic feel, somewhat reminiscent of Wax Tailor. Very entertaining.
Sounds like the 90's idea of the future.
If they could tighten this thing up to about 45 minutes it'd be a four for me, but there's around 15 minutes of filler scattered throughout the record that weigh it down as a listening experience. Generally appreciate the mood they capture though.
Definitely dig the alt-dance trappings of "Only Love Can Break Your Heart", sounds like a very European take on the song. I'm also a fan of the downtempo nature of songs like Carnt Sleep. Songs like "Wilson" are completely throwaway for me though, it's a bit silly with the samples. 3.5 to 4.
Inte dåligt. Men inget jag saknat. Finns kanske två låtar som något. Resten är ett relativt skönt bakgrundssällskap.
Wasn't super into this, but didn't really dislike it, either. Fine for background music.
good music for the genre
Only Love Can Break Your Heart is a great track -- the Neil Young melody incongruously combined with early 90's house music production just works somehow. But the rest of this is pretty thin, mostly owing to the weak vocals. Great cover art.
3 stars
Fine?
This is one of those albums I don’t know how to rate. I can understand that’s it’s technically good and the artist is proficient at what they do, but that genre isn’t really for me. I guess I’ll go with a 3 since I didn’t hate it but I doubt I’ll ever listen to that again.
Enjoyed some.
This was a Cook Collection of Beats and singing but it wasn’t really anything amazing.
9/10
Decent cover of Only Love Can Break Your Heart, other than that nothing too notable.
Started out interesting but turned out to not really be for me
Pas désagréable, mais anecdotique.
Pas désagréable, mais vraiment bof, dans le genre musique d'ascenseur. La reprise de Neil Young me fait dire que quand même, c'est pas mal, Neil Young. Pas déçu du tout, mais pas transcendé non plus.
A vibe, some clever sampling.
Not sure what acid house is but this album is repetitive, trippy, and full of odd sounds. Very like soundtrack music of early 2000s indie movies during montages. 2 stars.
I found this pretty boring. Background cafe music.
A strange one for me. I absolutely loved this album when it came out; had the CD and played it to death. But perhaps I played it too much or my tastes changed, because I went off it quite substantially, and I haven't listened to it in ages. A relisten puts me somewhere in the middle. I like it, but don't love it - a fairly strong three.
Decent