The Hour Of Bewilderbeast

This album makes me realize how cold and dead my heart is. 30 years ago. I would have absolutely loved this and probably cried. Today I'm just " Yeah it's alright"

Ei jäänyt levystä mitään mieleen.

Was definitely feeling this one - maybe because fall vibes are at an all time high? Great little folk pop record here - some of this reminds me of the new FDC record

This album came to me in a day which i had a very little sleep and i was very moody. At first i was hating it, but listening more and more to it changed my opinion drastically. It has a calm, indie sound to it, very pleasant to listen. It was a fresh change. Also I believe Beatles might be one of his inspirations. My favorite song from this album is Once Around The Block. In the end, I think this might be a gem for someone but i am not that someone. Still, that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it, quite the opposite.

I was shocked to find this on the list. But also pleased. Just yesterday I was listening to his soundtrack from About A Boy, trying to figure out what makes him a unique artist. This isn't my favorite of his albums, but I hear so much of his future sounds nascently here. The interesting, sometimes eclectic instrumentation, the looping riffs that stack and/or weave together, the thin vocals that sit behind the music, helping drive it ahead without standing out. The raw, rough sounds throughout, like recording the guitar with a snare next to it, so you get the buzzes behind each note. The strange lyrics that seem to mean something and yet are mixed up, with, or downright incomprehensible. It's a fun project. Not often do we find so many songs woven together without gaps (another uniqueness to this album). I'm hearing lots of other sounds here, like Nico Case, Sufjian Stevens, and John Lennon. Good stuff.

Thinking of ways to describe this album I've considered: delicate, tuneful, mopey, disjointed, thoughtful. Elliot Smith with more instruments. Coldplay with more interesting melodies. The platonic example of British indie-pop of the early '00s. It could be a period piece, but 26 years later, I still loved listening to it.

Loved this. Somewhere between 4 and 4.5.

Long, whiny British indie rock. Brit bias strikes again. DNF (2)

An indie *White Album*, *The Hour of Bewilderbeast* rambles gloriously through immaculate pop, pastoral psychedelia, country ballads, funk, chamber music, Pavement-like lo-fi and a collection of instrumental experiments that occasionally appear to have escaped from somebody's bedroom. Across eighteen tracks, Damon Gough displays an extraordinary disregard for stylistic consistency, an apparently inexhaustible musical curiosity and, most appealingly, a refreshing lack of preciousness about what constitutes a finished song. This album has taken me hours to review. I've enjoyed practically every minute of it, although I've repeatedly found myself stopping to consider some little detail of an arrangement, a peculiar production decision or an unexpectedly sophisticated piece of songwriting. There's an enormous amount going on beneath its deceptively ramshackle exterior. The opening, *The Shining*, immediately establishes something important about Gough's musical temperament: modesty. A beautiful chamber-like arrangement introduces the song with extraordinary patience. A recurring guitar figure echoes the opening melody without precisely reproducing it, and when the French horn eventually returns, it slots into the arrangement with exquisite inevitability. The relationship between the parts is carefully constructed, but the music makes absolutely no demand that we appreciate its cleverness. There's considerable sophistication here, worn very lightly indeed. Then *Everybody's Stalking* arrives with an enormous snare drum and a muscular, insistent backbeat. The contrast is striking. Its arrangement combines the repeating logic of a loop with more conventional melodic songwriting, while an obstinate guitar figure seems to echo the lyrical stand-off. There's something uncomfortable in Gough's suggestion that romantic attraction, projection and obsessive fascination occupy neighbouring psychological territory. The music's sheer rhythmic confidence makes the ambiguity all the more interesting. Already, two songs in, Gough has demonstrated a considerable musical range. The following tracks begin to reveal something much more distinctive: his apparent willingness to allow an idea to determine its own shape. *Bewilder* sounds like somebody accidentally recording a wheezing old organ, until an abrupt metallic electronic effect exposes the artifice. *Fall in a River* develops a lovely, smooth shuffle around barely a verse of lyrics. It sounds like Gough found an attractive groove, realised he hadn't much of a song to accompany it, and decided that seemed a shameful reason to waste it. Then the whole thing literally falls into a river. There's a splash, followed by a remarkable passage in which the recording appears to become submerged, fluctuating in speed and eventually mutating into a slowing, circular guitar figure. The musical idea may be a fragment, but the recording is a complete artistic object. That distinction becomes increasingly important. *Camping Next to Water* introduces another characteristic: Gough's childlike imagination. Its opening guitar could almost belong to the incidental music of early-1970s children's television, somewhere in the handmade worlds of Hammy Hamster or Bura and Hardwick. The production has an endearing, bedroom-made informality. The lyrics, meanwhile, evoke something like Ted Hughes meeting magical realism. Nature is simultaneously enchanted and brutal, populated by physical discomfort, indifferent creatures and the possibility of catching stars in a jar. Gough's imagination retains a child's capacity for wonder while observing the world with considerably less sentimentality than an adult might. Then comes *Stone on the Water*, which prompted one of my strongest responses to the album. A repeating guitar figure, apparently in 6/8, develops over gently shifting harmonies. Additional instrumental voices accumulate around it, gradually creating something reminiscent of Nick Drake's more elaborately arranged recordings. Gough allows this gorgeous musical idea to develop at its own leisurely pace. It becomes an overture rather than an introduction, reaching what feels like its own natural conclusion before a brushed-snare count-in announces the arrival of the vocal song. The whole recording lasts nearly four minutes, yet the actual lyric occupies relatively little of it. Gough has found a beautiful musical motif and given it the space it deserves. I found myself genuinely envious of that freedom. When I wrote songs, I often felt obliged to follow established structures, partly because I wasn't entirely secure in my own judgement. A fragment remained unfinished business until I'd supplied enough material to justify calling it a song. Gough seems willing to stop asking that question. He can recognise when an idea is already satisfying and allow it to exist without demanding that it become something else. Of course, we don't know how much deliberation lies behind these decisions. The recordings may have been carefully planned. But the results possess an enviable imaginative liberty. That comparison with Nick Drake also reveals something about Gough's emotional temperament. Much of the pastoral beauty and harmonic sophistication is present, but without the oppressive heaviness of being that can hang over Drake's music. Gough sounds delighted to have stumbled upon something lovely. His response is to explore it, enjoy it and occasionally muck about with it. *Another Pearl* introduces expressive electric guitar chord movements that briefly recall a subdued Kurt Cobain, before the arrangement retreats when the singing begins. It becomes a charming exercise in homebrew psychedelia, with something of the Beta Band's eccentric domestic inventiveness. *Body Rap* follows as a miniature hinge between musical worlds, a cluttered little piece of electronic bossa nova. And then *Once Around the Block* demonstrates just how much structural intelligence can hide beneath an apparently effortless pop song. Its wonderfully elastic wah-guitar groove revolves around a recurring sequence I hear as D minor, B-flat major seventh, B-flat major seventh and C sixth, with a chord falling on each triplet pulse. The progression is essentially a perpetual turnaround. The song develops through the addition and subtraction of instrumental layers, at one point contracting to a pair of picked electric guitars before expanding again. The underlying logic reminds me of the rhythmic experiments on Talking Heads' *Remain in Light*. Harmonic movement gives way to changes in texture, instrumental density and rhythmic emphasis. And the circularity encompasses everything: the harmonic language, the lyric's repeated attempts to understand and restart a relationship, and the weary resignation of the title itself. The arrangement creates constant activity within a musical system that keeps returning to its starting point. This is a beautifully considered piece of songwriting disguised as something casually knocked together. Gough's imagination also extends to the physical character of recorded sound. *This Song* is a gentle campfire singalong that sounds as though it's coming from underwater, played through a transistor radio strapped to a Leslie cabinet. The stereo image wobbles between the ears, and the production seems almost comically fragile. Meanwhile, the lyric makes extravagant promises about the song's capacity to provide reassurance, companionship and affection. It's an extraordinarily modest little musical object claiming almost magical powers. That recording reminded me of Joe Meek, particularly his wonderfully unmusical demo of *Telstar*, in which he hums his melody over a ramshackle guitar accompaniment drenched in echo. The distance between that recording and the Tornados' brash declaration that the future has arrived demonstrates how thoroughly production can transform musical meaning. Gough seems similarly fascinated by the possibilities of recording equipment. He's perfectly happy to make a performance sound smaller, stranger or more distant if the result possesses the right personality. The instrumental title track, *Bewilderbeast*, might be the boldest expression of this attitude. A funny, loping, homemade-sounding piece that could easily have been the backing for a conventional song, it simply exists as a complete composition. There's something wonderfully audacious about naming your singer-songwriter debut after an instrumental whose principal ambition appears to be enjoying itself. I was also reminded of Martin Newell and the Cleaners from Venus. The resemblance is more one of temperament than musical product: an affection for domestic recording, eccentric experiments and the sense of somebody pottering about with instruments for the sheer pleasure of discovering what they can do. But all this experimentation would be considerably less persuasive without Gough's ability to write something genuinely beautiful. *Magic in the Air* is my favourite discovery on the album. Its rolling piano arpeggios gradually acquire layers of gorgeous, dreamy filigree before settling into a comparatively simple accompaniment. Gough sings with a delicate intimacy reminiscent of Elliott Smith, although the emotional world is considerably lighter. What particularly affects me is the apparent distance of the recording. It feels as though Gough and the piano occupy the same room, captured without the exaggerated presence of a professionally spotlighted vocal. There's air around the performance, a sense of overhearing somebody quietly expressing something deeply felt. The lyrics turn ordinary domestic absurdities into a private mythology of love. And when Gough reaches the closing sentiment about love being contagious when it's all right, the absence of grandiosity makes it extraordinarily moving. It's absolutely exquisite. Then, naturally, he refuses to remain in this particular musical world for long. *Cause a Rockslide* begins with another frail, distant vocal, accompanied by what sounds like music coming from the far end of a room. Then an explosion occurs and the recording disintegrates into several minutes of woozy musique concrète. The effect resembles tuning through radio frequencies, catching fleeting fragments of recognisable music amid the interference. A wheezing organ continues to suggest the original chord sequence while strange electronic sounds drift around it. Eventually the signal clears and Gough appears to be singing an entirely different little song. The title has become an event within the recording. The musical structure has suffered its own rockslide. And after those minutes of desperate instability, *Pissing in the Wind* arrives with a gorgeous clarity and a wonderfully familiar, world-weary lope. I adored this song in the early 2000s, and hearing it again was like meeting a particularly welcome old friend. It's a gentle pastoral psychedelic pub singalong, with the easy chords of a country ballad surrounded by swirling, dreamlike production. Reg Presley might have called it a little fairy dust. The lyric is one of Gough's finest examples of childlike imagination applied to adult disappointment. Worms, fishing, tortoises, snails and absurd literal interpretations become little fables about futility and perseverance. The image of a tortoise catching a snail is almost an Aesop moral reduced to the most modest possible achievement. There's something thoroughly North West English about its combination of melancholy, humour and companionable warmth. The song acknowledges life's disappointments without becoming consumed by them. Its musical simplicity gives the words somewhere comfortable to wander. And the production is crucial. Around those familiar country-ballad foundations, strange little sounds shimmer and swirl, making the ordinary seem quietly enchanted. *Blistered Heart* provides another delicate instrumental interlude before *Disillusion* launches into an unexpectedly muscular piece of funk. The opening drums evoke Stevie Wonder's *Superstition*, while the forward drive suggests a peculiarly English attempt to channel Curtis Mayfield or the Isley Brothers. Gough changes his vocal character again, adopting a matter-of-fact chest-voice delivery that contrasts appealingly with the band's exuberance. The extended coda becomes a joyous ensemble performance, full of propulsion, swing and funky strut. Then, as so often on this album, the recording wanders away from its apparent conclusion. The music contracts into a distant piano recollection of an earlier theme. By now, these returns and transformations have begun to make the album feel like a place we keep exploring, occasionally recognising sounds and ideas encountered in other rooms. *Say It Again* has another lovely world-weary lope, this time acquiring a gently rambling brass arrangement that reminded me irresistibly of Peter Skellern. It's an indie version of that peculiar, old-fashioned English musical charm. The song even provides its own little joke: after repeatedly asking for things to be said again, Gough eventually declines to sing any more and allows the brass to finish the conversation. That led me to Victoria Wood's magnificent affectionate parody of Skellern, *A Simple Northern Boy*, and a memory of sitting beneath an enormous chandelier in a Bratislava Airbnb, becoming unexpectedly emotional while watching it on a huge television. Wood understood how musical eccentricity, humour and genuine tenderness could occupy the same composition. Gough understands that too. Finally, *Epitaph* returns us to a delicate, pastoral world. Its opening guitar moves through a beautifully unsettling sequence of suspended and augmented harmonies, accompanied by birdsong. The restricted frequency range makes the whole thing sound like a transistor radio abandoned in a meadow. Later, Gough begins whistling. Guitar harmonics emerge, followed by additional interlocking guitar parts. The arrangement grows through the same patient process of accretion that has characterised so much of the album. Towards the end, what sound like children's voices join him. For an album so fascinated with musical invention, it's an extraordinarily gentle farewell. The title suggests finality, but the music seems preoccupied with life continuing around us. By the end, I felt that I'd spent several hours wandering through one man's imagination, occasionally entering a beautifully furnished room, occasionally finding myself in a shed full of broken electronics, and sometimes simply standing in a field listening to the birds. There's a wonderful lack of self-importance about the whole enterprise. Gough has the ability to write immaculate pop songs, but appears equally happy to share a half-developed fragment, a beautiful instrumental idea or a recording experiment that wanders off somewhere unexpected. His musical imagination encompasses both the discipline of traditional songwriting and the pleasure of abandoning its conventions. And there's a great deal of emotional substance underneath the apparent playfulness. His lyrics frequently explore disappointment, loneliness, romantic confusion and the passage of time, but they retain an almost childlike capacity for affection and wonder. This has been one of the most enjoyable, and certainly one of the most demanding, listening sessions I've undertaken. The album kept offering another little idea worth investigating, another musical relationship to consider, another production decision that revealed something about Gough's approach to making records. What I admire most is the freedom to recognise something delightful and allow it to exist on its own terms. Eighteen tracks, an extraordinary variety of musical worlds, and hardly a moment that feels governed by anyone else's expectations. A magnificent, generous, gloriously eccentric album. I loved it.

I know it’s not the greatest (Elliot Smith literally), but I find it charming

This album, with its blend of lo-fi folk-pop and indie rock, has turned out remarkably well. It is the debut album from this English musician. Comprising 18 tracks, the record is very calm, measured, and soft-sounding—perfect for spending an evening together on the sofa with a nice drink. At least, that’s the impression I’ve gathered from what I’ve heard so far. At times, the young musician reminds me of the great Elliott Smith. All in all, it’s a solid album that’s easy on the ears.

What rough bewilderbeest, slouching toward Brooklyn… but I digress. The songwriting, soft and personal, is the cartilage upon which his masterpiece will be formed, the About a Boy soundtrack. This album is ranging, and deeply felt, but meanders a bit in the sand of unfocused interludes, before concluding with more traction. Ready to move forward into the perfectly built realm of his next album. A feat of beauty and understanding. I am higher than fuck right now

Never heard of this, but it's over an hour? Oh god. Oh great, it's slow shit. Bewilder sounds like a damn Christmas song. This album ain't my vibe, but I can definitely imagine this getting played in a lot of coffee shops. Fall in a river with its wannabe octopus garden noises, yeah, right. I'm 7 songs in and just not feeling it. Coffee shop vibes, though. gonna be honest, I don't want to finish this album. Alright, hitting pause on this cause it's honestly driving me completely nuts. Badly drawn boy, more like badly made album. Sometimes I wonder who made this list, because I definitely could've died without listening to this. The song "p****** in the wind" is sung off-key?? Why would you put that on your album? yeah straight up did not finish the whole thing. I think last 4 songs didn't listn to.

I’ve known about Badly Drawn Boy but never really gave him a proper listen. This album is fantastic. Gives me a lot of Elliot Smith meets Phil Elverum vibes.

Its ok but it doesn't distinguish itself to me from the other mopey British pop/punk/songwriter etc all.

This album was good. Maybe a little long. Too many ideas going on but it’s definitely part of a time where this music all kind of sounded the same.

Just ok. Couple of good tracks. I can see the Elliot Smith paralells

Totally fine album. There's some real beauty on this album. And then some confusion (possibly on my part). The opening track really set the bar a bit too high. If the album followed suit, it would be an absolute masterpiece.

One of my favourite albums. Like a cheeky chappie version of Elliot Smith.

Nice understated album that has a lot to offer…

Really not my cup of tea. Liked the song "Pissing in the Wind" though :-)

Easy listening

Mangler revidering

Meia bomba

I was a bit excited when I heard the first song, the shining. The melody, the orchestration, everything that I like. If the album continued that way, it would've been a five-star album. I would say there's probably three or four songs that I like on this album. The rest I don't quite get.

Actually quite good

Knew this album from when it came out and it was nice to revisit.

Good one I forget about sometimes

BDB walked so Sufjan could run.

I really liked this album--I think I listened to it years ago but it didn't stick. This time I definitely got a lot more out of it. Really good pace, a wide swath of song styles, and good from beginning to end. Might be a 4.5 for me.

I already knew "The Shining" going into this, and was expecting more of the same. There's a throughline from that track to the rest of the album, but it touches on a surprising variety of sounds and genres throughout the 1-hour runtime. This is one of those albums that I actually quite liked, but I really don't think it belongs on the list (evidently neither does the author, since it was removed later). I detected bits of Nick Drake and a few other artists from the list here, I think this album is one that is more "inspired by" other music than it is "inspiring" other music unfortunately. It's just a little flat, despite some interesting stylistic choices (and even then, not all of them work well). I think it was the right choice to cut this album, although I wish the newer editions of the book would cut more of the older albums instead of just the recently-added ones. I can't say that I understand why it was even added in the first place, though. Favorite track: "The Shining"

Quite the adventure. Pulls from a variety of genres while still maintaining a mostly-cohesive whole. Strong songwriting and truly impressive musicianship, but also prone to some meandering interludes that I don’t think do it any favors. His voice sometimes reminded me of Elliott Smith; this is a bit like if Smith got around to making studio rock or something. It’s both sprawling and pretty dense, but I’m glad to have heard this one and will revisit. Another Mercury Prize inclusion that didn’t piss me off.

On 1st listen I hear Nick Drake and that cliche indie folk music that inspired bands like The Lumineers. However I realized this is the indie folk/pop equivalent of those albums on this list by The Coral, Super Furry Animals. Someone described it as taking all your favorite indie music and then making a smoothie out of it. Its not too sweet as it has Elliott Smith and Nick Drake in it, but still has good flavor with a little Beatles, Grandaddy and Harry Nilsson. Really ahead of its time 3.5/5

Interesting, I enjoyed the variety of styles, but I wouldn't want to listen to them again.

Relax, intenso de momentos, chill pa carretera

Mindede mig lidt om Elliot Smith. Rart album, umiddelbart. Skal have hørt det igen.

This is very nice. Not throughout, but mostly. Thoughtful use of strings and brass.

This was not what I expected. The best description I can think of is funk/folk hybrid. I had to restart the album several times though because it kept putting me to sleep.

Es ist ein warmes, leicht verschrobenes Indie‑Pop‑Patchwork, das ständig zwischen Melancholie und sonnigem Tagtraum pendelt. Badly Drawn Boy bastelt hier ein charmantes Sammelsurium aus Akustikgitarren, Lo‑Fi‑Beats und kleinen melodischen Überraschungen. Vieles wirkt liebevoll verspielt, manches verliert sich im eigenen Durcheinander.

Didn't know what to expect as I didn't read the description first this time. And in the oughts, you never know what to expect. First track is an indication of that. I really liked the second track though. Camping Next to Water has a nice sound to it as well--melancholic groovy if I had to describe it. Other tracks lean even more into funk, and still others have something like a Simon and Garfunkel sound? I don't know what this is supposed to be, but I enjoyed it. 4/5

Some pretty chill folk tunes going on here. Good background music, I'd be happy seeing them as an opening act, but not really main act material.

I’ve got nothing against the artist. Nor, sadly, do I have anything for them.

Badly Drawn Boy – The Hour of Bewilderbeast (2000) On Day 293, this record delivered a deeply emotional, resonant listening experience that instantly channeled the intimate, fragile spirit of Nick Drake and Elliott Smith. Despite its rambling 18-track scrapbook format, the project manages to feel remarkably lush and warm whenever its full chamber arrangements bloom. "The Shining" stood out as the absolute favorite, blooming from a delicate cello-and-acoustic intro into breathtaking orchestral grandeur. Tracks like the sweeping, piano-driven vulnerability of "Pissing in the Wind," the breezy brass-and-bossa bounce of "Once Around the Block," and the reflective finale "Epitaph" showcased an artist capable of turning melancholic, self-deprecating folk into rich, expansive pop poetry. A moving, heartfelt gem. A strong 4/5.

I'm not sure I recognize this artist or any of these tracks by title, so I'm mostly going into this blind. This just isn't grabbing me. It's strange in a way that doesn't make me want to listen to it again to dig deeper into it.

Eh.

at this point im starting to think half of the albums on here are a waste of my time. not because they're bad. but because they aren't a classic i need to hear before i die. this is music that plays in the melodramatic montages of an episode of Scrubs. im starting to wonder if im better off checking an album's playlist to see if it even has one stand-out hit or if it's all just filler to tally up to 1001.

3.6? revisit somewhere between 3 and 4

Felt like a British Sufjan Stevens and ambled along quite pleasantly with some significant enjoyment of many tracks. Thought I wasn't going to like it and I've ended up giving it a 4.

Fragmented folk-chamber pop that never really gets its hooks into you because the songs are half-written. The hype for this album seems to have been a reaction to the over-baked, self-important grandiosity of British pop in the 90's but this goes too far in the other direction. Feels like a mixtape and I'd probably like it better if it was one. This is an album of ideas, not songs.

Not bad at all. Provided some easy listening while at work. Pleasantly surprised!

IDK, had some good, some bad. It went on too long for me. They could have cut this in half and chosen just the best. I did 'like' one song, but I listened again, and it was a mistake.

An album that would be fun if it weren't so long 2.5/5

a very nice indie pop/folk record, presenting some exceptionally interesting instrumentation and arrangement for the genres. reminiscent of elliott smith in vocal style (and recording quality, sometimes).

Very, very reminiscent of Elliott Smith, but it’s a good thing that I enjoy Elliott Smith. I don’t think I’d ever choose this instead of any of his music, but I still enjoyed the overall experience. He has a knack for great songwriting and the album doesn’t overstay its welcome at all.

As it turns out, Arcade Fire manages to do their own sound worse than literally everyone that does their sound, both before and after them. All of the bands that inspired them and all of the bands that were inspired by them sound so much better, these guys included. There's this persisting softness to the album, almost like a bedtime story in a neat way, and as a whole it's a very pleasant listen. I do think some of the songs towards the middle got a little too similar, but their songs certainly sound less similar than Arcade Fire's and they do just about everything ten times better. Can you tell I really hate Arcade Fire?

Fav: Stone on The Water, Another Pearl, Disillusion L: The Shining, Say it Again 3 Overall I thought the sound was nice, but it was just too simple in a boring way. Especially in the sung melodies the melodies were repetitive and plain. If the melodies were more complex or sung more expressively or had more going on behind them I think this would be a very good album. Also the day I listened to this I was out camping and ended up experiencing pissing in the wind firsthand so it was pretty funny having it come on while I drove home. Cover: 2 Kind of busy in a cluttered, uninteresting way Name: 2 Feels sort of quirk chungus Minecraft Parody: Fall in a Ravine (Fall in a River), Stack of 64 Blocks (Once Around the Block)

Punny, melancholic pop. Not unpleasant, but very mild, and in no way essential listening

This was an odd one. I owned the album when it came out, and listened to it quite a lot - enough that all the songs were familiar on this relisten. But I stopped at some point, and must have barely thought about the album for 20 years or more. There's nothing to dislike about it, but nothing to love either, for me. The vocals are very subdued, none of the lyrics are memorable in any way, and the arrangements are all warm and lovely but with no hard edges or surprises of any kind. I like mellow acoustic music, but this is just a little too bland for me to regard it as a great album.

So much nostalgia for this one

Lovely acoustic indie that just hit the right notes for me

Enjoyed

Good album with plenty of dynamic movement. It does give the vibe of rich kid frolicking in the studio. Many CD era albums exhaust the ears.

great album

I guess they called themselves Badly Drawn Boy because “Boringly Performed Music” would have been too on the nose.

Pretty good album. It reminds me of the albums that my friend made (he goes by Lorenzi if you’d like to check them out)

3/6

I really liked It. Somehow It didn't reach the core of my heart, maybe because it feels too long or because it's too different from song to song (but this is also a good thing). I've listened to it multiple times, loving the experience but couldn't tell you a single title or sing a single song...so here it is

didn’t listen to it fully, was alright hate the blokes voice good instrumentation will give it another listen soon

Pop-no Rock-no Singer Songwriter-no New and fresh from year 2000 point of view - no. Just boaring.

This is top notch album

Some nice instrumentation here and there, but man it just plods along, doesn't it? An entire hour is way too much time to be spent with the bewilderbeast.

Mid

Okay ish poo

I liked this more than I expected to, though I still found it kinda bland overall. In fairness, this is the kind of music you have to spend some time with. Props to him though for pushing back against the dominance of 90s Britpop. 3.5

I like elements of it, but overall, not my thing. More like 2.5

Sorry Badly Drawn Boy, we already have Elliot Smith at home. Jokes aside, it's a decent indie album with clear inspiration from Smith, although it never reaches the heights of those albums. It's okay. I'd listen to it again without protest.

#461 I’m a bit torn on this one, at times it’s very good and can understand the critical acclaim it received but then it’s a bit bloated and loses focus at other times. The 2 main singles from this album are what drew me to this album and are still my favourites from this. By all accounts, Damien Goth is a bit of a prick, and my father in law, who has met him, shares in that view. Heard before? ✅ Would I revisit?❓ Listen before you die?❓ Fave track(s): Once Around the Block; Disillusion Rating: 6/10 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I used to own this album in 1999 Not played it since 27 years later, happy to find the three songs I liked then, still sound pretty good So many albums on this list can't pass that basic test!

This album starts off strong but then nosedives into sad monotony.

Light 4.0. Poderia cortar algumas faixas, mas ainda é bem diversificado e agradável, um bom som indie.

This album has quite a nice, folksy vibe to it that at times manages to really capture the essence of the album. It does not, however, maintain this the whole way through and the length of the whole thing actively works against it. Pleasant enough, but not something I'd likely return to.

This was ok. Not outstanding, not bad, just ok.

When I saw the final 1,089th album was a 2000 British artist with middling reviews, I thought it was perfect. The most consistent thing on the list is how we end. And in the most beautiful way, my skepticism was unfounded. Maybe that was the whole point of listening to three years of albums. Making sure to give things a chance and seeing what you can find. The instrumentals aren't masterful but the complexity on instrument type does add a lot. On a first listen I missed it but there's so many nuances and touches throughout this all. There's genuine mood shaping in the songs. Stone on the Water, I can't believe it, but is winning me over. That cover is awful and it being of the time is only a half excuse. The stereo elements on This Song are one of the worst sound engineering calls I've ever heard. There aren't roses without thorns and I'm likely getting too sentimental on this one reflecting on the entire project, but this was a nice listen and I'm glad I was here for it. Glad there was a trumpet on the album.

Great start with some brass. There is a certain Magic in the Air with this being the final album. The relaxing mellow nature of the songs is enhanced knowing that tomorrow there is no album of the day. There's a lot of variety and a nice balance of melancholy and a pleasant jauntiness. Solid song construction. Some songs could grow with time, a few hit instantly.

This is far more introspectional than I had anticipated. Some nice pieces, but more that I did not like.

enjoyable

A surprising album. The first song I found terrible. But after that I quite liked the album. Not everything but in total a very nice discovery.

Such a nothingburger that I hadn't realised it had ended and I was listening to the album through again. Some ok moments but most of the time the noises of the central line were more interesting. Between a 1 and a 2

Bewildering that this made the list

Very boring and random

What did I just listen to? Why did I let Spotify keep playing a que off of this album the rest of the day? This boy may be badly drawn, but ... that was an experience. An appropriately named album indeed.

They want to be Radiohead sooooo bad

Another one over an hour… I actually quite liked it. 3/5 ⭐️ 265/1081

Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour of Bewilderbeast (1999) This was a prime example of not judging a book by its cover. Based on the title of the album and the artist, I thought it was going to be another example of a heavy metal band. Instead, it turned out to be a more folk like album that gave cottage in the woods vibes. I really enjoyed it! I think it had a strong start, a good to mediocre middle, and a strong end. Like an inverse Oreo! Album Rank: 7 Favorite Song: The Shining

A nice debut from Badly Drawn Boy, mellow Brit folk music. (That’s just plain ol’ boring nice, not Niiiiice.) Good coffee house music, nice twofer with Camping Next to Water and Stone on the Water. No skippers, all songs are good. (2.86*s) Congrats on winning the Mercury with your debut!

Not a Badly Drawn album. A crafty concoction of snazzy songs. With a little help from the Doves, Damon put together a full run of kooky tunes. Much like the cover art, got a lot going on. I always appreciate a multi-talented instrumentalist so more credit given to this mostly solo debut. I enjoyed it all, front to back with "Camping Next to Water" landing top spot. Not left completely bewildered but nice throw in by the list. I will look for this vinyl beast in the wild for a nice pick-up at good price. 3.83 stars.

Nice to get an indie entry from another previously unknown artist from the 2000's. The Hour Of Bewilderbeast is a pretty good debut album that brings something different to the table from what we've seen elsewhere on 700+ prior albums. It feels like a passion project for an artist trying to break through. Despite the use of quite a few instruments and song stylings the whole thing is smoothly edited and arranged. I wouldn't quite say Damon Gough struck gold, but I did enjoy a good portion of this album. Maybe slash a couple of songs to trim down the playtime and remove a bit of the monotony and I would have knocked it up a couple ticks. Still, BDB successfully executed his vision on this album and I'd be curious to see if he was able to follow it up on his next project. Bewilderbeast deserves positive marks even if there are a few nuances that keep it away from greatness. 3.18 stars

Yes.

pretty easy to listen to, pretty meh

vibes tbh