Deserter's Songs

The budget flaming lips

It's pretty good, no standout songs :/ 7/10

I had never heard of this album or indeed the band. Not something that is going to set the world on fire or make it into my collection but not the worst album I have ever listened too.

This sounded like Flaming Lips to me. It was a slow start, but strong finish.

I love the ambition and big scope and kind of the lofi sensibilities. Unfortunately for me There is just something about the specific style of the execution that I just can't seem to get into very much. The specific way in which that lofi feel is established maybe? Something about the low effort high effort vocals? I don't quite know.. But it feels like I should like it and I just can't quite get along with it.

Ég var bara nokkuð sáttur við sándið á þessu.

didn't understand the music at all

Truly awful. Could not finish it. Weak derivative pop.

I have to admit I wasn’t too convinced at first with this album. Though the first half of this album had tracks with very interesting instrumentals with kind of an epic vibe, I felt like it was all dragged down by the singer’s joyless voice. But then, in the second half (starting with Opus 40 which kind of gave me Bowie vibes), I started liking the songs more and more - they also got much more mainstream in their sound. I could immediately tell, for instance , that Goddess on a Hiway was an obvious single. The last track stuck out like a sore thumb in terms of its sound but it was also good.

Songs have a good amount of depth while retaining pop sensibilities

Brilliant, unique and special.

Fun ending with the total serialism

🌃🌃🌃

A surprisingly beautiful sounding album by the Rev. Ez listening.

ahh, i've heard this before (?) very muzikinis teatras bit odd (positive) i think it's good but unfortunately a little boring bit macabre (very good) closer, unfortunately, is pretty annoying

It was alright. I don't get why it was on the 1001. I did like the organ and saxophone on Hudson Line. Defintely some out there instrumentation and they really went for it.

Weird and somewhat interesting. Not to my taste, but wasn’t a slog. 6/10 Pretty Good

This isn’t my style of music unfortunately. I think I could’ve gone without hearing Mercury Rev ever.

10/17 Pretty good

Not listened to this band before and has a flaming lips feel to it but more far more interesting

A sublime album that should be on any top 100 or top 50 of the 1990s; majestic, wistful, poetic and mysterious

Haven't heard this in 30 years, and it brought back memories from a past life. I don't recall why I liked it before, but I was just getting into Pink Floyd and altered states so the oddness fit. Love the string and ambient arrangements on this, and the production was superb. The songs are out there for sure so they don't all resonate. I hear bits of this in Psychic TV and Flaming lips, though I think PTV influenced MR, predating Deserters songs by 10y or so.

I have a couple of questions. Why do so many mid artists issue "remastered" albums? Why are those remastered albums universally longer than the original? Let's throw in, why am I hearing this album? There is absolutely nothing noteworthy about it.

Not bad, I quite liked the quirky vocals but don't think this will be one to revisit

A very cool album!! I didn’t go in expecting much but it ended up being a really cool 45 minutes. The sound varied throughout but was such a cohesive, interesting effort. 4/5 ⭐️ 284/1081

Good

So dope. Bird song was fire

Fun record.

The album opened and I really thought I was listening to the Flaming Lips. I mean, his voice and the style seemed like it very much. Since I like the Flaming Lips, this one seemed pretty easy to like. Standouts: Goddess On a Highway, Hole

Another album that was perfectly fine, but has no business being on this list.

proto flaming lips and a little beach house here and there

The Thieving Lips. 2/5

Weird mix of indie and glam rock, which doesn't sound like it should work but it does? It was strange in a good way, but it's hard to articulate my thoughts. I'll have to come back to this one.

Yeah, this one just sucked. There’s so little of interest here. The sound is too light and weak.

Terrible. DNF

Really liked it

die machen quatsch

This was a bit of a weird one. I found the singer's voice a little high for my liking. The instrumentals were interesting at times - there were moments were little sounds in the background drew me in cause they sounded familiar. With that being said, this was an okay album to have on in the background, but it wasn't my thing.

My of my all time favourites. It is not an easy listen, though. One has to really listen to it to enjoy it. Not something for the background, but a careful dedicated listening is highly rewarding

I liked the first song, it was like a more orchestral version of Slowdive (which should really be on this list instead of this album). But after that song, I noticed that the vocals weren't all that great, and they were using very elementary rhymes which also took me out. Then there were songs where they were just messing around, and by that point, I was just done with the album. There are some good moments, and interesting ideas, but overall this album is just okay. This is also my 1,000th album, so I glad it was such an exciting and memorable album /s Mid 3.

Unique, but not something I see myself going back to.

Like two songs stood out but I guess I don’t get the rest of it? Not boring or offensive, I just don’t know enough about the background or influence.

I like their sound. It's like an early version of 2010's indie. The lead singers voice is a little annoying but that's also part of the charm. 3.5 for me, but I will probably round down.

i felt like a jellyfish while listening to this

I can't believe this is NME's 1998 album of the year, look at the great ones on their list they put this one above.

Whimsical and weird, like a fever dream of sorts

On the whole the album was fine, but even after listening to it, there wasn't a single song that I found memorable. None of the music really bothered me either, so for me it was a so, so album. There were a couple of songs that went on a little long, and what was with the last couple of minutes of, "Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp"?

pretty fascinating art rock album, reminds me of a soundtrack to a laika movie

4.3 ich habe vorkurzem eine dieser "radio stations" auf spotify angehört und da war "goddess on a highway" drin, ich hatte davor noch nie von dieser Band gehört, das Lied aber sofort gemocht. bissle komischer zufall, dass das Album mir jetzt hier vorgeschlagen wird. es hatte sehr viele gute lieder, aber auch ein paar langweilige, deshalb bin ich mir nicht sicher ob es eine 4 oder 5 Sterne Bewertung verdient. Nichtsdestotrotz, hat die Band echt potential eine meiner lieblings bands zu werden. was mich aber wundert ist, wie ich noch nie von denen gehört habe

Eh, not great as well

THye type off album I would've gone crazy for as a teen , might have outgrew it , still a very nice album would listen to again

Temu Flaming Lips. Not particularly good or bad.

I don’t care for the singer’s voice. There were some good songs that would have been better if sung by someone else. His voice reminded me of the Flaming Lips but their songs were way less interesting. Another album that does not need to be on this list. 2/5

Interesting, a bit too negative vibes. Worth listening.

I would've put money on having had this album already from the cover. Always nice to hear a band you heard about long ago but never listened and to find that you didn't miss anything. Fine at best, annoying at worst.

Did not know what I expected when I put this on. But it's gloomy and moody, kinda perfect for me right now.

Unique, complex, but also kinda boring.

So easy to forget

2.5. Weird mix of things but not all bad.

loved it

Me ha gustado mucho el sonido del grupo, aunque no tanto la voz. Hay varias canciones que me han gustado mucho, y el cierre del álbum me parece súper chulo.

Mercury Rev must have a picture of Robert Dimery shagging a goat or something, makes no sense how else this was deemed an album we must hear before we die

Another case of the first half of an album being really good and the rest is bad Best Song: Holes Rating: 5/10 Stars: 3

Another album and artist where I am going in blind, I have never heard (of) either. Could this be the one, the unsuspected hidden gem that becomes my new favourite? Well, yet again the answer is absolutely not. After finishing a listen, the main word that comes to mind is irritating, especially the final hidden track that seems like incidental music in a comedy crime thriller from the early 90s. Otherwise my observations are that this band has a very extensive Wikipedia article but I have never even heard of these guys, to the extent that I wondered if they were AI-generated or a fictional band from a movie or something at times. They really sound like a Britpop band trying to sound American, like they are playing a part, especially as (to me) they come across as quite amateur at times and the singing style varies a lot, like you often get with a parody: Falsetto singing on Holes, flat singing on Tonite It Shows, and weird electronic vocal fry on The Funny Bird. Maybe this is all a symptom of them making the "record entirely for themselves, ignoring commercial influences". Overall, I really did not enjoy this. However, it would be a great album title for something Tom Waits or Nick Cave would do.

Holes 3.4 Tonite It Shows 3.4 Endlessly 3.1 I Collect Coins 3 Opus 40 3.3 Hudson Line 3.3 The Happy End (The Drunk Room) 3 Goddess on a Hiway 3.3 The Funny Bird 3.4 Pick Up If You're There 3.2 Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp / (untitled instrumental) 3.3 Score: 3.245454545

Interesante banda. No me gusta mucho la voz de la cantante, pero el resto bastante bueno. Lindo album. 6/10

Interesting production and sound. The stylistic choices were certaintly a choice. I enjoyed the vocals and I didn't bother with the hidden track of silence.

𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘚𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴 has the dreamy, slightly blurred atmosphere I often associate with shoegaze, but Mercury Rev take a more orchestral route here. The fragile vocals make an interesting contrast with the grand arrangements, giving even the prettiest moments a slightly uneasy feel. What I like most is that there are good songs beneath all that decoration. The melodies are easy to follow, while the arrangements keep taking little detours that catch my attention. I enjoy the quieter passages just as much as the moments when everything swells. The orchestral touches make the album stranger rather than simply prettier, and that’s a big part of its appeal. There’s plenty to get lost in without losing track of the songs.

I listened to this twice but could not retain anything. No complaints but also nothing special. It was pleasant white noise.

Not deserted enough

I’d rather have some songs from a dessert-er

Som ett äktenskap mellan David Bowie och Michael Stipe hos ett 20+ indiepar, i ett ostädat loft i en rivningshotad brownstone i en småstad i New England. Självklar 5a!

mood

Not my type of rock

Me lembrou um pouco Syd Barrett com Flaming Lips, é o tipo de psicodelia que eu gosto pra ouvir sóbrio, mas imagino que não entre nos 1001 de muita gente. Uma grata surpresa, e com certeza revisitarei mais vezes.

Good easy working music

No fav song

bump 4?

Poeh, dit is dan weer even helemaal niets. Het is een soort folkrock achtig album? In elk geval kom ik er weer eens achter dat folk gewoon niet echt mijn muziek is. Dit album kabbelt ook een beetje voorbij zonder dat het een seconde mn aandacht pakt. De zang is niet zo bijzonder, de productie valt me dan wel nog op omdat daar best wat gebeurt. Misschien is het geen folkrock, maar meer psych pop ofzoiets, omdat er een stuk meer gebeurt instrumentaal dan op een gemiddeld folk albumpje. Richting het einde komt er iets meer tempo in, maar alles bij elkaar is dit een album dat ik eigenlijk al voor het laatste nummer ben vergeten. 1001 albums die je MOET horen voor je doodgaat? Het zal wel, dit kon me echt totaaaaal niet boeien. FAVO: Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp

An album that feels like mid 2000s indie, but is actually from '98. Must've been very early with that sound. Turns out I had 'Goddess On A Hiway' on my Spotify. But that was also the only song that I really enjoyed, and coincidentally it also differentiated itself the most from the rest of the songs. My main impression from this album was mostly that the singer was annoying to listen to, and the music felt quite pretentious and meek. Nothing I'll return to, weak 3.

This album mostly passed me by. It sounded like your typical 00s indie album, so it surprised me it was realeased in the 90s. Was pretty set on a 2 star but ”Goddess On a Hiway” is a song i recognised and is actually quite good. Going for a weak 3.

I had no idea what to expect when listening to this. It sounds like something your weird friend shows you to try and be friends and it works somehow. The vocal effects get a little odd for me sometimes, so I'm not the biggest fan of that. But the instrumentals are actually really quite nice. I don't even mind how long they last, ignoring how they're tracked. Actually, in general the vocal quality isn't great, but for most songs it actually feels like a good thing (not always though). All in all, though, I did like it. Favorite Song(s): Hudson Line

Låter som filmmusiken till en Tum Burton-film. Lite Danny Elfman-aktigt. Delvis rätt behagligt men det finns inga låtar som riktigt höjer sig över ok.

*1998. *First song sounds like modern day indie, like the guilty pleasure kind. I like it for background music. *There are also so totally random ethereal or spacey background sounds mixed in? It feels like we're going for Bowie, but only Bowie can get away with that. *Alright, I've made it to the 3rd song and I'm over it. *I would not have guessed 1998 for this album - it sounds old. *Now we're on Track 5 and I'm into it again. *I'm confused, but I think I like this overall. *Rounded up from 3.5 to 4. RATING - 7/10

VIBES. Ti stous kore ydro happened there

Starts out pretty rough. I do not like his voice. It’s goofy, much like a lot of the arrangements. I liked it more as I got through it, although the hidden track put me back at square one. Rating: 3/10 Favorite Song: Goddess on a Hiway

Habilt men inget som riktigt fångade mig

Härligt sound och någon som jag inte hade hört förut!

Behagligt lugnt.

This is almost, so close to a 5 star album, I feel. I don't judge it as harshly as some for its mood and musical shift after the first 3 songs, but I do think that they should have balanced out the beginning and end of the record more, putting the musical sections at the end more towards the 2/3rd mark and ended on something more akin to the beginning. That being said, it's still 4.5 for me, so I'm round up to 5 for this scale. It's just so beautiful, especially those first few songs, but I also do like the other songs on it, even if the overall album suffers a bit due to the pacing and lack of balance.

The first track was awesome and I was pretty excited to listen to the rest of the album - unfortunately, it was pretty irritating and silly-sounding.

I found this quite tedious to get through.

A mediocre indie album

Average forgetful stuff really. Didn't mind it, didn't like it. 3 stars.

Lousy. So bland.

Has a Flaming Lips sound to it. Pretty decent album.

Never heard of this band, so sat down to listen whilst eating scrambled eggs, I thought very “Flaming lips”, who I saw live this year, loved the album, looked them up afterwards on wicki, and the Flaming lips connection🙌 Played the album again, “Delta Sun bottleneck stomp” 😵‍💫

For me it didn't really hit. It was kind of boring

Definitely some Flaming Lips vibes going on here. I thought this was a really pretty and thoughtful album and it had a nice feeling of lightness. Could be a 4 with further listens.

Meh