The Hour Of Bewilderbeast

Really enjoy this one. 3/5

Soleil..... SANO AURINKO... ranska vihaan ranskalaisia.. Disillusion biisi..Infatuationisque.. Albumihan siis konsepti heh... break_upesque.... hankala homma rakkaus homma..esque.. c'est maintenant.. SANO "IT IS NOW" LOPETA RANSKA HOMOILU...

Have a little bit of PTSD of music from this era which makes it hard to listen without prejudice but I enjoyed this a bunch. Very scattershot and possibly could be ten minutes shorter but works throughout

Great sounds. Not crazy about his voice.

N'ayant plus aucun souvenir de cet album et accusant un retard d'une dizaine de critiques, j'ai ici reproduit ma technique consistant à réécouter cinq secondes au hasard et baser ma note celles-ci. Résultat de l'opération : deux-trois notes de piano et quelques percussions tardives. Un peu léger...

Le Badyl Drawn Boy s'en est pas trop mal sorti, et nous a offert un album agréable qui dénote très clairement avec toute la daube ambiante. Je n'ose d'ailleurs pas imaginer l'odeur dans la chambre de Robert.

It's a fairly solid record, perhaps a tad too long but felt engaged the whole way through.

Like Elliott Smith, but spicier, as if King Crimson co-wrote the album. In other words, I loved it.

Different, refreshing, soothing. All the haters who say this wasn't "revolutionary", who cares! This music is actually decent and listenable, unlike a good chunk of these "revolutionary" albums. Some of these songs will go on the playlist, so I'm glad I was introduced to this. Summary: I like.

B- The Shining - 3 Everybody’s Stalking - 4 Bewilder - 2 Fall in a River - 3 Camping Next to Water - 4 Stone on the Water - 3 Another Pearl - 3 Body Rap - 2 Once Around the Block - 3 This Song - 2 Beewilderbeast- 2 Magic in the air - 3 Cause a rockslide 2 Pissing in the Wind - 4 Blistered Heart 2 Disillusion 3 Say it again - 5 Epitaph 4 I absolutely loved this. It completely knocked me off my feet. I have listened through probably twenty times already. I am excited to check out the artist more.

The Hour Of Bewilderbeast is perfectly okay, bland easy listening. Somehow BDB got massive in 2000. Like a lot of people, shouldn't have.

Very laid back, pretty music, but lacking a little oomph. First track is easily the highlight, some clever musical stuff going on around it but nothing that really draws me in much closer. A fair bit of variety, and a nice listen, but lacking something that takes it to the next level. 3/5.

Nice

Stunning album. It’s lush while having a sense of being rooted in musical traditions, and it knows that it’s good, too. The opener is the highlight for me, it’s just a beautiful track through and through. From the runtime I definitely will need more listens to fully absorb what this album has to offer, but my first impression was very positive.

Background music. Nothing to merit being on this list.

not groundbreaking but ok, first song is movie vibes

I liked it Plain and simple

Could be the mood I was in but I didn't get this one at all b

For an album with 18 tracks is wasn't that bad actually.

Liian pitkä levy taas, indie toimii lyhyempänä paremmin, etenkin kun biisit ovat näin samankaltaisia. Tykkään kyllä tyypin lauluäänestä

"Se" kaveri joka on muusikko ja soittaa välillä jossain baarissa akustisen kitaran säestyksellä, ja osaakin soittaa ihan hyvin, mutta ei edes ajattele, että haluaisi säveltää jotain tarttuvaa.

Easy 5/5!! One of my favorite albums of all time! This is just a perfect record!

had to skip "this song" 😬 first track was cool tho

Quite alright. Cried while listening to it, so I couldn't really concentrate. Like the vibes, kinda indie. Teen me would have loved this. + Epitaph

Like some better than others. Disillusion was pretty solid.

a chocolate box of indie aesthetics that's about 20 minutes too long. noticeably good first half

Ugh. I did not care for it. I was not familiar with the band or the album or any of the songs. I will not be revisiting it. It was indie music but not full blown indie music. It is better than a 1 not really a 2.

Boring mostly. Annoying at times

An hour long.... Bad start with first track 2 interludes in first 3 tracks.... And then fall in a river... I'm wondering if they forgot to edit this album before releasing I don't like this at all. Like a lot of 00s artists, Too vanilla for me and could easily have called it the 37mins of bewilderbeast Pretentious in my opinion with all the boring instrumental stuff and interludes. Just my opinion. Overall boring

БЭЙБИ АЙ ЛАВ Ю

- Had a slow start but decent vibes - Mild jammy vibes which was cool - Not something I'd anticipate going back to a bunch, but a fun listen - Pissing in the Wind - Favorite songs: Another Pearl, Everybody's Stalking

- I can’t find the words to describe this but I enjoyed it mightily

Review

first listen a meandering folk journey

Got some nice vibes

So in my feels

I enjoyed this album. Always interesting and never boring. Need to give it another listen.

Jackson Pollock: 1hr. Fuck my ass. Nice first 20 seconds. Ok first track pretty good, at least on first impression. Not to punishing or anything, haven't been annoyed at any point. Perhaps more boring than the artist or album name suggest however. Body Rap sounds different. Once around the block is a cool track. Best Tracks: The Shining Another Pearl Once Around the Block Bewilderbeast Worst Tracks: This song Overall: While not jarringly different like expected from the cover and artist name, the album was relatively enjoyable/interesting. Some good highlights in the first track, "Another Pearl", "Once around the block" with only one real low light in the punishment to the ears that is "This song". I would strongly doubt that this would ever enter into my most loved albums or anything like that. But it is clearly still a good album, worth of a a decent four (7.8 feels right). Slightly bloated. I did this only 2/3 through...

I don't understand what the fuck I'm listening to right now, but I like it very-very much.

Boring as shit.

I remember enjoying this album a lot more when I first heard it. Might just be having a bad day today. I never made the comparison with Elliott Smith, but I hear a lot of similarities. This is pretty good. I'd come back to it again.

4 3 pretty good, loved it

Очень крутой альбом, давно не слушал такую музыку, очень спокойный

Some pretty good songs here, but as an album I found it very drawn out. Not bad, not great.

I don’t know how this guy got compared to nick drake. it’s good but not that good

Very fun and different! Kinda sounds like a movie score.

It was ok. Well produced, but not my thing. I wouldn't listen to it again.

Very relaxing and elegant music, just 3* because it did not really move me.

Geen fuk aan.

It's more varied, distinct and funnier than this American tripe we've been getting. Would like to imagine a pitt's brass band coming out for the opening track. Not totally my cup of tea (bit too twee) but the badly drawn boy's done good.

Another obscure Mercury Prize winner. My socks were not blown off

Crap 1/5

could put me to sleep, but not in a good way

Some really cool ideas and pretty decent songs buried under trying to do weird things with pretty much every song that usually ruins a song, where a minute or two of a song is usually used up to build on the next song or just make noise. The album is also overly long, with some things repeating for seemingly no reason. I can't help but like this a little bit, but it's definitely a type of album that's been more so surpassed by internet music artists such as Jack Stauber.

All I can say is a resounding... Meh

This thing was wild, went many different ways and all was done very competently. Just wish things were a little more coherently put together, otherwise an album I can see myself going back to

3-4

This is fantastic, very Fleet Foxes vibe but kinda even better imo

No doubt about it, it's a good album. But I can't get over the fact he's a complete arsehole in real life and completely and utterly terrible life. Sorrynotsorry

Great little find, enjoyed very much. Great melodies, lyrics and instrumentation

2.75, OK

An overall weird album but not in a bad way. Definitely more chaotic than anything else. The music was good and there were definitely small moments that remind me of Future bands like The Black keys and Cage the elephant though I'm not 100% sure that the influence was actually that far reaching

I really enjoyed this. It grew on me

You could throw the world's worst indie rock album at me, and I'd probably still give it like a 3/5. I'm a slut for whiny virgin music. I assume this guy is as well, because this album feels like somebody putting every single popular indie artist in a blender. It works better than I expected. I'd still much rather listen to actual Elliott Smith and Neutral Milk Hotel than the tracks on this album inspired by them, but it's a very pleasant collection of tunes. Some songs are huge. "Cause a Rockslide" especially sounded like the ADHD-ridden brain of somebody who's been trapped in the Shadow Indie Dimension for 7 years. I will now remind everybody that "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea" is not on this list.

I was expecting some thing harder from the name of the album and the artist but was surprised with some really classical music elements. It was nice dinner making music for sure.

Just background music really. Nothing stood out; nothing grabbed my attention. A bit too mellow and beige for me perhaps?

Very relaxing and enjoyable

Nice background music, certainly from it's time. I liked it but nothing of it was too memorable.

Very interesting album. Lots of uniqueness in this one.

It’s a relaxing little indie album. I enjoyed the strings and horns of The Shining and the loveliness of Magic in the Air. The rest of the album was meh. 3 stars.

Peaceful and jazzy indie folk that takes inspiration from midwest emo and the likes of Elliot Smith (especially in the vocals). Many cute styles are thrown in to make a fun and diverse listen, like the hip hop of "Body Rap", the lofi of "This Song," or the jammy instrumental of "Bewilderbeast." It goes too long and doesn't blow me away but it's consistent and there's so much to like here. It has hooks and grooves. Favorites: The Shining, Stone on the Water, Camping Next to Water, Once Around the Block, Cause a Rockslide, Pissing in the Wind, Say It Again

It gets better as you listen to it more. It was a forebearer to the lo-fi movement that tended to grow more popular through the 2000's.

Not for me. First song was good but then mushed into nothingness

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO KONSEPTI!!! KONSEPTI! ALARAM!! ALARAM!! ALARAM!!! ALARAM!!!! holy fck this iis theee proos and coons of HITCHIKOING1!!!! jaha ilmeisesti itse päässäni keksin koko konseptin.. on HTVÄ ALBUMI... NÄIN SE MUSIIKKIN KAUNEUS TOIMII... KAIKILLE ERILAISTA...... KAKKI KUULEE KAIKEN ERI TAVALLA! ERILAIN!!! stone on the water

Interesting album, the first song was terrible, but overall developed very well. Soft indie rock, and groovy. 4/5 for being surprised by an indie rock band. It is very relaxed, not really for me, but an overall solid album.

Another great find. I love a song with French horn as an accent element

Super ass cover helt chill albym

He may be badly drawn but he

Annars trevligt men likt all annan musik efter 1992, derivative av Slanted & Enchanted.... Naa idk för indie @2000 så e de int dåligt alls, stark 3

Not my vibe, but still enjoyable.

Absolutely excellent album. Beautiful, melodic, charming and fizzing with originality. One song to the next it’s an adventure. I adore this album. Could not recommend it more highly.

Good

Good variety of intelligent pop and camp fire strumming. Disillusion and Once Around The Block are strong. "Have You Fed The Fish" album is slightly more concise and better still.

For a folk-pop album from the early 2000s, this holds up surprisingly well.

It was fine. Nothing special tbh x

Never mind before. Actually good.

2.5

Still excellent, but perhaps seems a little overlong today and a tad rando in the number of musical shifts. It does not quite grab one as forcefully as it seemed to do back in the day. Still so much to like with a half-dozen gems, easily. And some forgettable DIY (and emo) probably saw this as a jumping-off point, one doesn't think he can be held responsible for that. After all, this is much more sophisticated.

3.5

Nice album, but nothing much.

Some of the instrumental parts were ok but I wanted more from his melodys. Also didn’t like some of the lead guitar.

I didn’t really enjoy this music, but i think it’s a thoughtfully made record. Interesting compositions and orchestration, and I like the intro and outro. Not really into the vocals. Favorite song was another pearl, Really cool drums and guitar and a nice groove.

This sounded like a shitty Elliot Smith wannabee. I think some of the instrumentation was cool but the vocals did not do it for me.

First listen

The Shining

Eighteen songs. Nine of which I absolutely loved. Nine that I hate with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns. This album's opening track is in the running for worst "Side 1, Track 1" of all-time. How bad is it? It almost made me stop listening altogether. This album is just a little too ambitious for its own good. Tighten things up and lose those 9 disastrous songs and we're all singing a different tune here.

I think this album needs more listen to get into it. It is a consistent and unique sounding indie/indie folk rock album.

This album is really clever and engaging, as well as musically diverse and elegantly arranged. The lyrics can get a little dark, but musically there's an underlying sweetness that balances out the overall mood really well. I appreciate one reviewer's comparison to Todd Rundgren, which I think is really spot on. Damon Gough shares Rundgren's natural/oddball sense of pop songcraft and taking diverse ideas into interesting territory. He also shares Rundgren's tendency to wander into the weeds a bit to do whatever weird thing he feels like. In that sense, not everything lands well, but when it does it's marvelous. Fave Songs: Magic in the Air, Pissing in the Wind, Once Around the Block, Cause a Rockslide, Epitaph, Say It Again, Fall in a River, Blistered Heart, Bewilderbeast, Disillusion

This sounds like the kind of thing my friends would have gone apeshit for in our 20s, while I was scratching my head and wondering what was special about it.

Never heard this. It’s real pretty. And unique for an album sandwiched in between centuries. I dig it.

Vond er weining aan

I really enjoyed this

A quirky little album with some catchy tunes and dreamy production, but nothing too impressive or memorable

wow this was so good. A lots of types of songs. It was snowing and I was listening to this while driving in bus, great atmosphere!

4/5. Honestly a pretty wholesome collection of songs. Sounds like pastoral fantasy put into song. Whisky and free.

Heard it before?: No Enjoy it? : yeah, did have some decent parts which were soothing. Favourite song: Track 3 - Bewilder

Meh - I can think of some albums outside of this 1001 that should take its place, but I respect BDB even if I don't agree this release belongs on this list.

Chulo, coneixia cançons soltes

I bought this album back in 2000, but rarely listened to it. However, my 40-year old self is much more receptive than my 18-year old self was. A lovely, gently, atmospheric, album. It's very of its time and place but remains enjoyable today. Rating: 3.5/5 Playlist track: Once Around the Block Date listened: 13/01/23

Not terrible per se, but not particularly interesting or memorable either. The first song started out well instrumentally, but the vocal melody set my teeth on edge. Overall I thought this was too long and a bit boring. It reminded me of Gomez, Grandaddy and Elbow in parts, but I'd much rather just listen to them.

Ik werd er niet warm of koud van.

Wist niet wat te verwachten, en was positief verrast. Goed afwisselend, en een dosis humor af en toe

Look, I can admit that I was wrong to assume some kind of twee British project. I can grant that the headache-inducing sections - unnecessary as they are after the first! - are marginally interesting. I even hummed a melodic line or two to myself after finishing the Hour; Not all of its songs are grating. But I can't forgive the cumulative effect, that of utter early-millennium critic bait. Honestly would feel better about the album if the cover weren't such an abomination.

Yep - know it, enjoyed it back then - a bit long but not terrible

Meh. I understand why people like this but its just “meh”.

Pretty disappointingly inconsistent. Some very strong moments in the very middle of the record that were enjoyable, ‘60’s garage Brit psych inspired, but sadly bookended with lesser material and occasional flat-out rubbish.

изучу его ещё, не так представляла, некоторые понравились:)

Rating: 6/10

I'm not stoned enough to enjoy this.

Enjoyable to listen to, but not entirely memorable. I wouldn't turn it off if it came on the radio/playlist, but I wouldn't actively reach for it.

Heard this album just a couple of weeks ago, and mostly thought it was underwhelming. Listening to it again today, I am coming around to it. There are 2-3 really great songs, and the more I listen to the rest, the more I am liking it. I think my first reaction was that this was maybe a 2/5, I'll go up to 3/5 for now, but I think I'll soon be adding this one to the "glad it was on the list" list. :)

This is good. Folk indie rock. It's exactly what I want.

It has a good vibe. I found it good as background noise.

I don't think I've ever heard of Badly Drawn Boy before. I thought this album was pretty good. I liked the vocals and lyrics; they reminded me of the things that I like about bands like Death Cab for Cutie and Wilco. Even though I thought this album was pretty good, I'm not sure that I get why it was on the 1001 albums list. It was pleasant to listen to, but nothing was particularly memorable about it, and nothing about it really stood out to me.

I liked the quirkiness

Good late-90s indie. Some cool experimental moments on here as well. Fun listen.

On se fait chier mais ça reste audible

à ça d'être plutôt pas mal

HAPPY BUT FORGETABLE - caps

this one takes me back. early oughts indie discovery on pandora.

Good album with lots of recognizable songs, not sure I would listen again

Bit of a disappointment. Early 2000s British indie singer-songwriter should be perfect for me, and yet it's just slightly annoying. It erratically jumps from sub Nick Drake to more uptempo stuff, but there's an atmosphere of snobishness that rubs me the wrong way. Some decent tracks, but not something to revisit.

Not bad, but not great 2.5

The book 1001 albums contains way too many indie rock albums. They all have the same type of indie sound and are a little bit dull and slow. However, I do like the variety of instruments and especially the use of a french horn. I feel that there's a lack of dynamic. The instruments may be varied but the tempo, rhythm and the singing is very monotone throughout the album. I might be completely wrong but that what it sounds like to me. Songs that stand out: "Everybody's Stalking" "Another Pearl"

Starts out surprisingly pretty, and stays quite pleasant throughout. Teetered on boring but all in all I enjoyed the whole album quite a bit.

This guy is a dick. Worst concert I have ever been to. He got visibly drunk and couldn't play his songs, then berated the venue staff AND the audience for his terrible performance. Low class jackass. I have never been able to enjoy him since.

I had never heard of this album or this band before, but this is quite good. A good comp would be "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot", and it stacks up reasonably well against that, although not quite as strong (high bar). But as creepy, dark, sad, somewhat folky indie rock goes it's up there with the best of them. I'm a sucker for albums with instrumental interludes too. It's a little low-energy relative to some others in the style, and the 2nd half starts to drag a bit, and it doesn't have the same caliber of hits as a YHF / 13 Tales / Yoshimi, but still very enjoyable.

Really interesting sounds and production design. Into the vibe but not as connected to the lyrics and musicianship.

Neat (very) 90s album. 3.0 - some tracks are too long and I don’t care for how a few sound.

Makes me think of depressed lesbian single mums and little boys with terrible fringes hanging around with Hugh Grant. Great album though.

I have great memories of listening to “The Shining” in university. That was definitely the stand-out track for me, but the rest of the album was nice too.

Partially listened

Massive yet easy to digest. Perhaps because it sounds cheaper than it should be. Or because it's overlong. Or because it's kinda bland in most places. I don't know exactly, but I do love some indie folk rock nonetheless.

This needs to be removed from the list.

There is some really good stuff in there. There is some really bad stuff in there.

it was fine.

Interesting album. Very indie feel to it

Stream of consciousness listening thoughts: Wow, I have seriously been sleeping on early 2000s indie! First few tracks are wonderful. For me, this is something I would listen to more at night to relax because there are a lot of downtempo songs and instrumentals. Love the vibe! Update 13 songs in: this album is starting to overstay its welcome a bit. It's getting a bit too repetitive and the singer's voice is starting to grate...

When this popped up, I assumed it was some shitty emo band from roughly 20 years ago--but turns out it's an Indie chamber pop artist from England from roughly 20 years ago. This was better than I expected it would be. I don't usually go for the very polished bedroom DIY sounding chamber stuff, but this has it's moments, and has enough similarities to things I liked back then. There is a good chance that I would have loved this album when it came out if I had heard it.

Fine I guess

- Sonically very pleasant and easy-going, but not really something I’d listen to much.

This was new. Kind of a trippy vibe - very late 90s.

loved this album when it came out so it was nice to listen to it again and to my surprise it's still very good.

I once spent an hour in the company of a wildebeest named Tall Mike. He chewed my ear off about the difficulties wildebeests faced when trying to complete their tax returns. He really did not enjoy the whole process and was keen to let me know. I didn't care though, because I'm not a wildebeest, I'm a big man-legend named Nigel. I wished him well and took a huge bite out of an apple I'd been saving for such an occasion. Tall Mike smiled, did a line of ketamine and swam away singing.

Well Bort this. No references to leukaemia though, which, as we now know, is essential. Doesn't need to be over an hour long. I know people who have recovered from leukaemia in that time.

SHACK is typing...

Exactly why I’m doing this challenge. I would have never heard of it otherwise and I enjoy it so much! Great collection of songs with simple yet beautiful melodies, interesting acoustic guitar arrangements, nice and warm voice (but not too pretty luckily!). There’s plenty of songs I marked as favourites so I’ll just pick one in particular - Pissing in the wind! I’m rating this as 4/5. Not a 5 because I feel like it’s a bit too long and has too many filler, which makes this album go all over the place sometimes. But still very much enjoyable piece of music.

Hier wird komponiert. Das ist gut. Das Album ist etwas lang geraten und das Singen sollte er besser jemand anders überlassen. Dennoch solide drei Sterne, für weniger sind Kompositionen und Arrangements zu gut.

4,5/10

Highlights: Stone on the Water, This Song

Never of this artist before. Reading about it, it's another one that should be in my wheelhouse since it's indie folk but it was just long and bland. What a shame since it felt like it could have been amazing. 2.5/5

Not for me

Interesting and different. Like the mix of styles. Overall good album.

Great album! I loved it, only downside I could think of is that it's a little dragged out? 50 minutes would've been long enough. Great album anyways!

This is the 2000 Mercury Prize winning debut album by British musician Badly Drawn Boy aka Damon Gough. This indie rock album was released to widespread critical acclaim and has been well received by listeners. It's a roller coaster of emotions on this album and the music moves you through the twists and turns. I enjoyed this album, but I didn't like it as much as the critics did.

Thought this was really good. Kinda reminded me of a whimsical British Elliot Smith.

Genuinely amazing. I didn’t like the vocals a ton everywhere, but the absolutely amazing instrumentation pulled it out anyway. I love this album.

I found this really charming. It seems to have a depth that goes beyond the surprising little gems of songs. It was really making my imagination run wild, I was getting a lot of imagery popping into my mind, that seemed to be coming mainly from the sonic textures. Will be back for more.

Elliott Smith he ain't.

Seems to be an indie darling, but it felt a bit all over the place. Some songs I definitely liked, others I was like "nope". A tad bit too long for me, was about ready to be done by track 14. There are interesting instrumental flourishes and it has grand ideas, but beyond that it didn't gel a ton with me. I can understand why people would really like it though, it definitely is no slouch.

This album is clearly quite polarising, looking at the global reviews and critical reception. There's so much I find to love in this album but there are certainly more fillerish tracks I like less in there. The overall feeling I get from it is calm beauty with an undercurrent of darkness. I really like the feeling and it reminds me of Nick Drake in places. I love the opening track, The Shining with its strings and horns, and instrumental tracks like Bewilderbeast which is a cool title! I can really see that if I'd listened to this album in the 2000s I'd have a lot of nostalgia around it. Since I don't have that, the album doesn't quite make a 4 for me but nearly!

It was pleasant enough at the beginning but I found I got bored of it

Not sorry for the 1 star. Beige beige beige. I was immediately angered by the first song but thought it might get better but no. I did not like this one bit.

I didn't love this, but I didn't hate it either. The genre flew around a lot. Although I have no idea who Badly Drawn Boy is I feel like I can imagine exactly what he's like and I don't like him.

lovely album with many different layers. Reminds me of a different time in my life

Otkad ovo nisam sluša

Honestly, its better than I expected but I don't think this reaches the heights of Elliot Smith or projects higher than many other indie artists of the day. Enjoyable for what it is though.

Nice but dull. Pleasant and pedestrian. Soothing yet forgettable. The one track that stands out seems like a “homage” (ripoff) of Golden Brown. I was cruising down the middle for a 3 but reading the wiki and seeing 8 people created for supplying Handclaps (3 of those contributed nothing else to the album) has pushed me to a 2. Seems like epitome of celebrating mediocrity.

The tunes here worked pretty well for me. This album had a strong start and I found it pulling me back in several times as it played in the background. This one I'd give a closer listen to. I like the production a lot, I like the genre-jumping songs - sounds almost like a mixtape. I didn't give a close enough listen to buy into the details of the lyrics, but I think I just might.

Over an hour in length on this offering. Some of it is near enough competent. When BDB tries to sound like Dr Strangely Strange this is decent. When he sounds like Toploader, not so much. What a peculiar album.

Fun fact - I used to drink in many of the same pubs and bars as Badly Drawn Boy, living as we both did in Chorlton in the early 2000s. This album is expertly penned. The musicianship is lovely, the production is impeccable. It is also dull as ditchwater, with maybe two or three good songs on it.

Not that great. Not terrible. Pleasant enough. At time lame. 2.5 and rounding up because I’m in a good mood.

Much better than expected. Like an earlier british Sufjan Stephens. 4 for music, 4.5 for being pleasently surprised by the sound of something I never would have heard otherwise.

Somehow I never got into Badly Drawn Boy in spite of being into a lot of similar bands but I'm listening now and really enjoying it. I just love aughts era indie.

*in Arnold voice* "Vhy is der trumpet at da beginning? Fack off vit da trumpet! Dis is rock mewsick for GIRLY MEN!"

Weird, not bad, but did n9thing for me. I really tried too, but it was just k8nda "there". 2/5

Heyrðu, ég hafði bara aldrei hlustað á Badly Drawn Boy og þessi plata rann nokkuð smúþlí í gegn en skilur þó ekkert eftir sig.

Here’s a good rule of thumb for a lot of these early 00’s albums (particularly the British indie ones) that the list curator loves to include: If you haven’t heard anyone talk about the band in 20 years, it’s probably safe to say that you don’t need to hear it before you die. This record plods along, doesn’t really offer anything revolutionary or particularly upbeat. It’s a bit depressing, isn’t it? Like if Elliot Smith stole Radiohead’s lunch money. As a counterpoint to this record, I’ll offer up Grandaddy’s “The Sophtware Slump”, also from 2000. It’s a well engineered, experimental indie rock headphone album and at least Jason Lytle sounds like he [gasp] had a little fun making the record.

Pretty decent. I don't think it's an album that everyone needs to hear, though

interesting instrumentals. the vocals i could do without. 3.

boring generic drone indy acoustic

Couldn't get into this. Swirling around with different styles but nothing arresting.

Excellent. Great recommendation

Nadal zatasmowany, ale uszczesliwiony dzisiejszym odsluchem

Nice but similar songs

Interesting laid back listen

bello e vario

A good range of moods and styles, yet still feels cohesive. Fans of Neutral Milk Hotel should enjoy this.

Badly Drawn Boy? More like Barely Sketched Attempts At Writing Decent Songs. Or Badly Conceived Album. That Mercury Prize jury sure had poor taste in music, it's not the first time I've noticed this... Number of albums left to review or just listen to:  less than 800, I've temporarily lost count here Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens:  approximately a half so far Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: a quarter Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): the last quarter (including this one)

Knew the name Badly Dawn Boy but didn’t even know what type of music they played. Started out not liking this then eventually clicked with it. Apparently they had members of the band Doves play on this so I can see the lineage.

This album goes through an impressive variety of styles while still maintaining depth. The instrumental tracks were my favorite. The only songs I did not like were the sappy alternative/singer-songwriter ones. Maybe that style was cool when it was still relatively new.

Been a fan since it came out. It is a bit too long and not as good as his soundtrack About a Boy

I had it in my head that this was one of those 2000s US emopop bands, but I guess it's much more fitting that it's yet more Britpop - er, sorry, I forgot that we'd watered it down and were calling it "indie-folk" by 2000. New millennium, new label for a dying genre! Anyway, this was just a formulaic constant 100bpm, jangly strumming middle ground non-event. It has that post-third Oasis album "uh-oh so Britpop is on the wane but I'm just starting out!" vibe, where it makes a conscious effort not to be loud and abrasive but still wants the pomp and excessive layering that Oasis was indulging in at the time - the end result being largely an acoustic affair that includes a heap of bells, orchestral scoring and other assorted bullshit. But in the end it can't hide that at its core, it's just really bland indie fluff. Each song just blends into the other, and at an hour long you just can't do that to new listeners. It's fucking overblown and boring. We can retroactively lick its arse on Wikipedia all we want - and oh *boy* has someone tried - but it only takes one painful, looooong listen to work out what's really going on. 2/5.

There will be brutal reparations for any music journalist who talked this shite up at the time

Offensively dull

Had its moments. About 3-stars worth of them I guess.

Good fun time but some of songs are super annoying. One of them made me believing that my headphones were going in and out. There were lot of unique sound that made me think I was exploring wilderness like the rocks slide song

Listened to on 9/30/22 3/5 Favorite song: the shinning I loved this album and how easy it was to listen to but then when you focused it got even better. I played it on repeat and liked it more every time

Good singer songwriter stuff that sounded interesting. Would listen again.

yeah it's alright

I have never heard of Badly Drawn Boy. After listening to the album named "The Hour Of Bewilderbeast" I am not surprised. This is an incredibly average record, the songs on it are really okay, entertaining to a point, but certainly not anything that should be placed on the list of best albums. The songs seems to be a one man army, with everything being done by a one person. Usually it's an acoustic guitar with some accompaniment from different instruments and a pretty nice vocal. My only question is - how is it in any way new or exceptional? After listening to the album twice my answer is "no idea". And it probably will stay this way.

Very much in the vein of Eels, Elliot Smith, and Bright Eyes, and maybe even The Beta Band or Grandaddy. I didn't find it as good as any of those bands tbqh, but it's still listenable and the lyrics are earnest.

Major Elliott Smith vibes and really bad cover art. Even the sounds of the instrumentation makes it sound like he sat down in the room where an Elliott Smith recording had just taken place to put down a few of his own tunes. That being said, I still like it.

Was fine. Liked a few songs but disappointed that it isn’t the album I remember finding as like a 6th grader that had vaguely similar cover art

An album that sounds like it came out a few years too late to be included on the “Good Will Hunting” soundtrack. It’s a decent chill listen, with some variety in song energy and vibe. Worth a listen if you’re living an early 2000s dramedy life or looking for a nice way to chill out any given evening.

Great songwriter. Couple of top notch songs on here. Not quite 5 stars though

It’s brilliant but I think it’s a tad too long. Knock 10-15 minutes off this and I’d give it 5 stars.

Was heading for a generous 3* but then went on for too long... inoffensive but bland

Great

Could possibly have done with trimming a few tracks from this but generally a very pleasant listen. Reminds me of good times

I had never heard of this album or this band before, but this is quite good. A good comp would be "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot", and it stacks up reasonably well against that, although not quite as strong (high bar). But as creepy, dark, sad, somewhat folky indie rock goes it's up there with the best of them. I'm a sucker for albums with instrumental interludes too. It's a little low-energy relative to some others in the style, and the 2nd half starts to drag a bit, and it doesn't have the same caliber of hits as a YHF / 13 Tales / Yoshimi, but still very enjoyable.

Bit of a snooze. Didn’t finish it

I saw BDB live following the About a Boy release. My main memory was what a bad tempered arsehole he was. 18 years on i appreciate this more. I do think that less would be more. Running over an hour is impressive but stretching the patience. However the texture of the songs do vary. 3 5

Indie británico. Bastantes canciones un poco sosas... Ni fu ni fa.

Indie rock, indie folk, chamber pop

Haven't listened to this in a long time. It's good, I was blown away

Eh. Fine, but not doing much for me. Kinda relaxed, noodly sound, whereas I tend to go for catchy hooks and big climaxes. The actual song Bewilderbeast has a good hook. Liked it more as I got into it.

4/5 Pretty good album. Kinda weird and quirky. Not the greatest but pretty good.

Háklassa lyftutónlist, er að fíla þetta.

"The Hour of the Bewilderbeast" is the debut album by English singer-songwriter and muliti-instrumentalist Damon Gough known as Badly Drawn Boy. Gough wrote, produced, sang and played many of the instruments with accompaniment by members of The Doves and Alfie. The music is classified as indie pop, indie folk, chamber pop and lo-fi. The music has also been compared to Nick Drake. All those are appropriate; I would add in Elliot Smith too but Gough's music is not quote as dark as Drake and Smith. There is more optimism and I actually quite liked this album. Many others did too as it won the 2000 Mercury Prize for the best album released in the UK by a British or Irish act. It looks like the PJ Harvey album was technically released in 2001 for the award. "The Shining" starts the album with horns and strings with an acoustic guitar kicking in later. A beautiful song...sitting in the sun with someone you love. The second song "Everbody's Stalking" is the antithesis of the first song. Electric guitar. More rock. The music has a paranoid feel....well, it's a song about stalking. "Camping on the Water" has lovely interplay between the acoustic guitars. Great melody. A lot of similarities to Elliot Smith here. He's feeling broken and needs to get away. "Once Around the Block" continues an equally strong second album half. It's more jazzy with the drums, bass and rhythm guitar. A kind wah-wah guitar playing along too. A love song..first love? "Magic in the Air" relies on a piano, harp and an orchestra in the background. A new found love. "Pissing in the Wind" has a country feel with a slide guitar. The song builds. He sounds a lot like Richard Ashcroft of The Verve. An album highlight for Me. This is a really good album. No real faults other than it was quite long at 73 minutes (ah, the CD era). I don't know if Gough ever quite reached these levels in the future. This one, however, is worth checking out.

Not bad

Liked this. Saved a few songs on Spotify. Cool sounds, super 2000. Would listen again.

Pleasantly surprised. A nice 90’s feel; the album really flows well.

An artist that has never come up on my radar, with an album of songs I don’t recognise. This is why I love the 1001 Album challenge (if you want to call it that). It’s allegedly one of the best albums ever created, and I’m going in clueless but optimistic - I like the album art. Songs I already know: none Favourite after listening: Bewilderbeast, Everybody’s Stalking Songs I disliked: This Song - the weird rapid panning between each earphone gave me a headache Overall: 9/10 This album was near perfect, and very much to my taste. It reminds me a lot of Eels and that’s definitely no bad thing. It’s the kind of album where if I was listening to it and somebody spoke to me, I would want to pause the music rather than talk over it. It’s so beautifully composed, and he has such a nice voice. 90’s alt music it always going to go down well with me, and I’m going to be coming back to this album a lot (except that one song). Edit: turns out it was released in 2000, so it’s technically not 90s alt, but definitely feels like it.

I surprisingly really enjoyed this album. It's a nice way to start a morning and is really pretty.

As with the majority of albums served to me here, I fail to detect any qualities that render this particular album special in any way. Unless, of course, it's all about being boring.

Okay album, a bit too mocht filter to my taste. Stone on the water is genuinly great.

Like the varied beats. Nice how the instruments cine in and fade out as do the vocals. Nice raw somewhat sometimes out of tune singer. Like to listen to this.

meh blues

Not my style but it’s listenable and makes you feel

Good music but unmemorable

sounds like a less sad Elliot Smith

I'm not sure if there is a definite category for this album; it spends brief moments in many different genres: experimental, pop, indie rock, and even a little shoegaze (Everybody's Stalking). Whatever this album is, I wouldn't feel regretful if I had gone my entire life not having heard it. Don't get me wrong, though. It is decent music. The album often has a lively, acoustic sound that probably sounds a lot better in person than it does on record.

The first song sounded vaguely familiar, from a movie or something, but the rest was very forgettable.

I like this one. I feel like I've heard of this artist, and the opening track sounds very familiar too. I swear it was in a Wes Anderson movie or something, but the closest thing I think I may have watched with that song is some weird teen rom-com movie with Kirsten Dunst. Anyway, decent level of variety to these tracks, nothing too crazy that I loved, but a few tracks to take with me. Another one I had heard before on an XL Recordings compilation. Not bad! Favorite tracks: The Shining, Cause a Rockslide, Once Around the Block. Album art: Really like this one, pretty colorful and creative. A freakish voodoo doll looking thing, is this the badly drawn boy or the bewilderbeast I'm looking at? 3/5

What a weird mess of an LP. Attempts to go the bargain-bin Elliott Smith route before dipping its hands into a wild assortment of genres on the back half and spiraling out of control. Some tracks here have great melodic ideas and explore them well, but overall this is just a fractured tangle of songs stuck together rather than a full album

You know when seeing a band and album name that you've never listened to that you're in for a Britpop 90s band and today's reveal proves this rule. No disrespect to Damon Gough, his record is okay and on first listen I'd give it a solid 3 stars. But we're here to listen to albums that you need to hear before you die and I can tell you this album does not fit that bill. By a long shot. Badly Drawn Boy's The Hour Of Bewilderbeast wasn't a must listen when it came out. Seeing as this isn't in the original edition of the book, for future consideration to the authors, if you need to stretch your bias by looking at a record's performance that peaks on Billboard's US Independent Albums at 23, please seek professional help. 2/5.

This was a surprisingly good album and easy listening.

Pleasant suprise. Impressive and interesting that it was made by one guy. Feels both DIY and homemade, but also well-produced. Modern version of a 60/70s album in design. Not particularly catchy and no stand out tracks except for the wonky pop hit "Once Around the Block'. All songs provide nice vibes. No real desire to listen again however some songs may bare repeating. They may be an entrance to listening to the rest again if the voice becomes more agreeable to me. May be a grower.

The songs I liked were instrumentals. The rest was bland.

Monique = 4. Ben = 2. “I thought that album was absolutely death to listen to,” - Ben.

I remember liking the name Badly Drawn Boy when I first heard it, but I had not listened to the music and I am glad I now have. Really good album here. Excellent songwriting and all performed so very well. I can hear various influences in his work but they don't totally take over and dominate the sound. He makes it his own. I'll have to check out his other albums too. Very cool.

This album was pretty clearly a very experimental album. It had a lot wide variety of songs in all different styles, but didn't feel very cohesive or focused. It also sounded just like an Elliott Smith style of singer, which I think works for his song writing style and genre, but this was just all over the place. I only liked a couple of songs with "Another Pearl" being the only song I plan on listening to again.

Unusual and kind of cool. It could grow on me if I listened to it a few more times. Favorite songs: Another Pearl, Magic in the Air, Say It Again I would have liked This Song better without the annoying reverberation.

I don’t know how to classify any of this but I loved this album. Good find!

Great, blast from the past.

I tried to give this album a fair shake, but gave up after twelve tracks. The album oozes "'90s college rock," and not in a good way (yes, it was released in 2000, but there's always a stylistic lag when transitioning between decades). It appears that Damon Gough wrote all the songs and played a bum-ton of different instruments on the album, so he's clearly got talent, but his work isn't for me. Bottom line: this album bored me, and that's never a good thing.

Better than I expected, but not the best.

Not great. But not terrible. Definitely not something I'd ever be tempted to revisit.

Pintaba bien

I was excited by the first time I heard Badly Drawn Boy when he appeared on the UNKLE album Psyence Fiction. However this album capture none of that. Tuned down shambling folk. Good for some but I found it half baked and over rated

More like badly sung songs

I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed this. Catchy tunes with interesting instrumentation.

I got this album as a gift back in the day it came out, never heard of them...and then a couple of years later was shocked to hear the soundtrack for About a Boy was being composed by Badly Drawn Boy...and both are excellent.

I enjoyed it but i think its a little long but awesome album nontheless

Cantautor americano venido un poco a más. Canciones con algo de ritmo. La voz me ha gustado y el estilo también. Aun así, no es mi estilo al ser tan suave

Just painfully boring - nothing about this is enthusiastic or exciting to listen to. Big snoozefest. 4/10.

The instrumentals are vastly superior to the vocals, but overall this was an unimpressive album. Kinda gave up on it.

Pretty boring. Dull.

Not to bad of an album, very relaxing and laidback

Meh

Što sam čuo od albuma, sigurno 70%, mog reć da mi se više sviđa nego što sam mislio. Stvarno dobrih trenutaka na albumu, dobar indie rock, moguće da ću se vratiti na njega s vremenom da ga detaljnije prođem.

Very Elliot smith which is a good thing

Badly Drawn on Sloppily Drawn? It's kinda funny how older artists dance around modesty in comparison to today. "Are you a great artist...?" "Who? Me? Oh, no not me? I'm 'BADLY DRAWN'" Now we listen to people who call themselves "Perfume Genius." Anyhow, Nic Harcourt used to spend tons of KCRW airtime on this album. At the time I wasn't too excited about it, after all he introduced me to the Gotan Project and Cornershop, two total shit albums that diminished my trust in his music pics. Happily enough, listening to it now with fresh ears is relatively pleasant. I enjoyed the first song, The Shining. I enjoyed the second track, Everybody's Talking and ready to give this a respectable review... But then, as we proceed down an excessively long track listing we hit some bumps, some errors and by the time we get to track 14, Pissing in the Wind we fall apart. The rest of the album is in freefall. Editing is a valuable skill, Mr. Sloppy Pants. Track 16, Disillusion, sounds like a Barry Manilow song performed on Loveboat. Sorry, but you can't be respectable if you're trying to imitate Barry Manilow. Top few tracks are strong, but have to deduct some serious points for not knowing when to stop.

I want to like Badly Drawn Boy more than I actually do. He is a talented musician working in a singer-songwriter style that I enjoy, but I found "The Hour of Bewilderbeast" to be largely forgettable. After this Mercury Prize-winning debut and his "About a Boy" soundtrack, I think his visibility in America pretty much disappeared. Through it all, though, I think he kept the beanie on. I can't find any pictures of him without one. And if that speaks to one thing about Badly Drawn Boy, its consistency. Gotta give that to him at least.

It’s a good thing this album came up over a weekend. This is one of the albums that delivers the ultimate payoff for this experience. It is something I’ve never even heard of and likely never would have listened to. I enjoy albums where the artist writes and plays a multitude of instruments because often something truly unique comes out. Especially on debut albums. That doesn’t mean they are always good, but they can be refreshing. I love the atmosphere of this album, as in the horn and string drenched The Shining. The left/right echo/delay on This Song is trippy. It feels seizure inducing with headphones, but is much more subtle through a speaker system. A couple things I’m not all in on: his voice isn’t great and the album is too long. It feels like he tried to get all his ideas on his first album, which is understandable. But holding 20 minutes of this material back would have been a net positive.

I went to college in the the early 2000s core. Couldn't stand it then, still can't.

Great artist. Not my style.

Звучи като всяка песен от филм от 2000-те.

First time listening, thought it was pretty solid.

I didn’t know what to expect from this album. I definitely didn’t expect to fall in love with it but here I am looking how to add it to my collection

Kind of like nick drake with a less appealing voice. Was ok

Could barely get thru it

Boring

I didn't really understand the fuss about Badly Drawn Boy in the 1990s, and I still don't. The standout track for me was Another Pearl. Disillusion wasn't bad - I seem to remember it being a single. It's not that it's bad, it just doesn't provoke a reaction from me either way.

A lovely album that I didn't expect to enjoy. I wouldn't have listened to it without the generator.

Había escuchado un par de canciones antes, no es un autor que me entusiasme pero no está mal. Pero tampoco es una obra imprescindible.

I had this album when it came out, and had been excited about it since Psyence Fiction. It is definitely an album full of charm, with lovely little surprises hidden throughout. It's also overlong, with a lot of filler on it. Had this been trimmed down to a lean 40 minutes, I think it'd be better - but conversely, you could lose some of the offer lovelier bits, like the intro to the Shining. It's a frustrating conundrum of an album, which makes sense, as he had a frustrating conundrum of a career.

Surprisingly great indie rock from the turn of the century. This album deserves better album art lol.

Good millenial indie, with a bit of bloat. Probably due to a diverse set of sounds throughout.

I was expecting to hate this, but it had a few interesting production bits and some experimentation in places, which surprised me. Still a boring-sounding bloke singing not very exciting songs with his guitar, at the end of the day though, so not one I would ever revisit.

I missed this at the time because of all the Mercury hype. I was a little suspicious of the industry back slapping and wanted to listen to it objectively. I never really got round to this until today. It's around thirty minutes too long, but is still decent. It's impossible to classify this a genre. I think BDB is a bit of a prankster like that. An impressive debut.

I liked one of the songs before listening to the album

I missed this in the early 2000s, so mainly new stuff. Apart from a couple of unavoidable singles, which were probably the least interesting things on the album, this was a varied listen. Gentle tunes, which sometimes meant the songs seemed to float over me. Not unpleasant, but maybe a little forgetable. That said, I enjoyed my time with the Boy, his use of soundeffects and occasion washed out samples worked well for me. There are obvious comparisons to Elliot Smith and Nick Drake, both of whom can be felt in this, if as shadows of tribute, but a pretty decent tribute.

I can get how other people could like this, but I really didn't.

This one surprised me. It's never boring, and I like it a lot!

I usually like a whiney boy singing but this album left me trying to connect with something. Maybe it needs a few more listens but I was a bit underwhelmed

Painfully Indy at times. It made me want to listen to Sufjan Stevens or fleet foxes.

Badly Drawn Boy is just one guy: Damon Gough. Gough plays guitar, piano, harmonica, percussion, harp, etc. Obviously very talented, Gough is filled to the brim with ideas for his very first album. After a string of EPs, you could tell that Gough was eager to put together something bigger and more impactful. This is a helluva record. Incredibly wistful and complex, it's obvious that Gough put a lot of heart and soul into this record. Some flavors of folk, pop, and indie weirdness in there too. In some ways it reminds me of OK Computer with how it utilizes strings and moments of peaks and valleys to create an overall ambitious record.

I thought I was enjoying the first song or two, then I blinked and almost the whole album was gone and I couldn't remember any of it.