Oar

Wish I could have 'Skip'ped this one! HEY-YO!

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should, what a load of garbage.

I am liking this a bit better than I did the first time I listened to it but I am still not sure I needed to listen to it before I die - high 2

The story of this album is wild, a guy recovering from a mental health crisis is put on his own in a studio and the tapes are left recording. Unsurprisingly it’s not a good album.

First became aware of this album when Beck picked it as the third album to cover for his Record Club in 2009. This, after covering VU&Nico and Songs of Leonard Cohen. I didn’t get it then. I don’t get it now

I hate being be so overly critical that the end product is negatively impacted but this ain't it. Its somber like leonard cohen, yes dissonant and very boring melodies. Its warm and folky like Neil Young, yet lo fi and overly compressed with no room to let the track breathe. Occasional rock elements, with little to no imagination and creativity. Odd of 1968. Far too long and far too boring to have a nod on this list.

Bit boring

I have no idea how this one ended up on here or how you would release an album of 22 songs in 1969. Or who would release it. This sounds like a collection of demos that slowly gets more and more fucked up as it goes.

No man with any self respect should go under the nickname "Skip". Listened to three songs, thats enough, Skip.

Psychedelic folk, folk rock, psychedelic rock.

Day 203 Didn’t hate it but nothing really memorable that I’ll come back to. Highlights Diana War in Peace

Well..the man is cleary kind of absent...but still some good tunes and fun to listen to, especially when you hear that the band bursts into laughter from time to time. Seems like they had fun recording.

Sounds like a BAAD demo

Slow, mumbly psychedelic rock. His voice reminded me a bit of Rodriguez. Songs aren’t very memorable. The main interest for me is the back story about his mental illness and how this album was part of his attempted rehabilitation.

OK let's be honest were any of us actually paying attention to this

139/1001 First listen. Good lord this just goes on and on. Every musical idea this guy had at the moment. Just an hour of noodling around. Doubt this one will ever come up in conversation but it’s yet another album off the list. 4/10

This album really hits you deep in the soul. Reading the lyrics and carefully analyzing the soundscapes of the songs, you encounter an artist in the midst of an internal meltdown. I came to this conclusion even before reading about Skip. I liked it, 4 stars.

Some fantastically haunting vocals in an otherwise unmemorable album.

Just when you think you can sing along, or tap your foot, it stutters. As a concept album this may have been fine using copious amounts of drugs, but as a piece of history it would best be dropped in an oubliette.

Skip did a heck of a job with this one. I don't know if i'll listen to this again but I probably should. The album had a real flow to it.

Dull, boring, and totally forgettable.

With quite an interesting and attention-grabbing sound and mixing, the overall project is not very coherent. The vocals are not my favorite but the instruments are interesting and have some good variety. At times it feels like Spence knows what he wants to do but at others, it’s kind of just a jumbled mess. Nothing actually terrible but really unsatisfying and not my type of folk.

This impressed the shit out of me. Not that the music is the same - but if you like the troubled burn bright and then go out storyline - Nick Drake, Syd Barrett, even Daniel Johnston - listen to this. Psychadelic without being super hippie dated.

Another reviewer said if a woman did this, it wouldn't be on here. I couldn't agree more.

I know what the skip in the name stands for

Hard one to review - it was an album I feel needs a couple of listens. Certainly a little depressive - some songs I struggled to hear the words - turned it up, but it was actually the music that overpowered the vocals

I didn't like this and I feel a little bad about it. I guess I already have Syd Barrett and so I feel I already gave at the office when it comes to incapacitated psychedelic warriors. Maybe another way to say it is that the distance between my affection for Pink Floyd v Moby Grape is similar to the distance between my affection for Syd v Skip. There was a hilarious lyric at some point about wanting to be a belly that didn't flop. That was great. Otherwise, this feels incomplete to me. I am not at all surprised that Skip thought these were just demos in preparation for recording the real album. I concur.

Another fantastic obscurity from this collection, the sort that helps me get enthusiastic again after numerous forgettable albums. Listening to this album, and then reading about the sad, tragic and twisted path that led Skip Spence to make this album after getting institutionalized following an attempt to kill his band members with a fire axe, made me excited/intrigued to hear what his former band Moby Grape might be like, only to discover I'd already listened to their album in the collection, and it was neither all that interesting to me, nor anything as stark and severe as Spence's solo work. I was reminded of a dark and brooding version of Leonard Cohen, or perhaps even a more melodic version of Johnny Cash, on a lot of the more acoustic style tracks like "Cripple creek", the majestic "Weighted down (the prison song)" or "Broken heart"; conversely, I'm not sure there's really any sort of analog to other artists with strange and haunting tracks like "Diana" and "War in peace" or the ending pair of tracks "Grey/Afro" and "This time he has come". I'm also very impressed that he recorded everything in a single week, and played everything on the album himself. It looks like there are a number of tribute albums by really interesting artists paying homage to this strange and unique and sadly obscure album; I hope to liten to at least one of them in the near future.

started off strong and then rolled downhill with Yin for Yang and kept heading down. He's got a certain charm to his music but I can't help thinking of Sabrina Carpenter's "Manchild" when I hear his voice.

Very interesting, had heard a bit by Moby Grape, and maybe vaguely knew one of them went off the deep end, but not that this was out there. Shades of Leonard Cohen in the lyrics and singing, and interesting music to be played by one guy - quotes sunshine of your love!

Horrifficly bad

This was alright. I generally like weird 60s folk music, but something about this wasn't really doing it for me. I think part of it was Skip Spence's voice. It just wasn't pleasant to listen to for the most part. I did appreciate the weird folkiness of most of the songs, but nothing really stood out for better or worse, and there isn't a lot of replay value for me.

Is it true the nickname "Skip" is because you want to skip each song?

I think this is what Bob Dylan would've sounded like if he was even a little bit good. 2.75.

buona musica di sottofondo

Huske kje heilt, tror da va greit

Oof, I’m glad this guy’s nickname tells you what to do with this album, because by the 8th song, I saw the album had a length of over an hour, and I skipped the rest. Dude is awful.

I think this album was just pretty boring overall. The nickname "Skip" was oddly fitting, because I found myself wanting to skip almost every song on the album. I struggled to get through it. I do think there were some nice moments with the acoustic guitar, so I won't go as far as to rate it a 1. However, the vocals were incredibly inconsistent. Really not very pleasant on the ears sometimes with the pitchiness or, even more unpleasant, the odd little whiny runs (listen to Diana if you are unsure what I'm talking about). Not a god awful album, but I would never revisit it.

Reminded me of later singer song writers. Songs were hit and miss for me. One early song seemed like mumbles to me. Overall I think I liked it

Interesting album, but should not be on the list. Still not as bad as they say it is.

I'm so glad I read the Wikipedia article first. I'm so glad he had a place to process his trauma. I'm just bummed to be involved in any way.

I don’t even know what to say about this other than it was just boring. Had it played but I didnt really listen. Nothing grabbed me. I guess it was trippy folk music. Whatever. The guy looks like Garth from Wayne’s world.

There’s actually some really beautiful and sad songs on here, even though they are delivered roughly. Not what I was expecting after reading the reviews.

Controversially I think music should be enjoyable to listen to... The background story is interesting; also that he performed everything himself. I don't mind some of the guitar here and thereand many of the songs have strong lyrics that can stand without the whole 'breakdown' backstory. Unfortunately the production and mixing is awful. Loud guitar droned over by boosted raw vocals that strain. I understand the artistic decision re the breakdown but this is too blunt, conspicuous and excessive - a more polished but still gritty approach alike the Velvet Undergrounds early albums would have given the lyrics far more opportunity.

This album had a strange effect on me and having listened straight through, I found it quite unsettling at times, it felt very personal, like I was listening to something not intended for release. The production was very stark/raw and at times felt very underwhelming and underdeveloped, at one point I skipped a track mid way through and the start of the next track just sounded the exact same. I did particularly enjoy the vocals throughout, Spence’s voice carries so much emotion and sincerity which contrasted, for me, the rather ambiguous lyrics. Knowing Spence played all the instruments himself is impressive to an extent but past that everything felt very erratic and disjointed, performances weren’t layered well, there were random sounds thrown in here and there, it felt very abstract which I suppose is in theme with the sort of psychedelic folk/ rock vibe of the album but not for me, it made it hard to concentrate on anything. I finished listening to this tired, it was quite bleak overall and hard to follow, this album feels unfinished with loads of potential that was never followed through.

Ein durchzogenes Album,melodisch gut, gibt aber ausräeiser die mir nicht gefallen

A not dissimilar tale to Syd Barrett’s solo work, committed to a mental institution after attacking a fellow member of psychedelic band Moby Grape. This album - Skip’s only solo effort - is the sound of pain, confusion and despair. The lowest selling album in Columbia records history - It’s not an easy listen - Robert Plant will love it!

I definitely preferred his work when he was a member of Quicksilver Messenger Service. The folk elements were good enough, but the psychedelic elements were basic and uninteresting. Overall I found the album forgettable which is its biggest detractor. 2.4/5 -> 2/5

I (luckily) could barely hear him.

Oar not

Really boring. Won’t be going back to this. An hour and 4 minutes and 22 songs and I wasn’t a fan of any of them

A pretty desolate album to be honest. I guess Spence had some troubles of his own. Doesn't excuse the fact that most of these tracks were barely audible and sounded too similar to one another. The psychedelic folk angle is somewhat creative and interesting I guess.

"According to Spence, the Nashville sessions were intended by him to only be a demo, which he gave to Rubinson with the intent that the songs would be fleshed out with full production for the actual album. Instead, Rubinson had the demo recordings released by Columbia." Half-baked ideas on a cohesion-less album. Pity since there was clearly potential for something more interesting. 2/5.

I guess shambolic doodling was pretty innovative in 69

So bad

Yes fuck yeah dude awesome weird fucking record yeah dude man

It was enjoyable and worth another listen

Skip no es un cualquiera, aunque no sea muy conocido por su nombre o por su único disco en solitario, si decimos que fundó Moby Grape, que tocaba la guitarra en Quicksilver Messenger Service y la batería en el debut de Jefferson Airplane la cosa cambia radicalmente. Un canadiense californiano, maestro de la psicodelia que graba esta joya en Nashville después de salir de la cárcel y de un sanatorio mental. ¿Qué podría salir mal? Pues en este caso, absolutamente nada. Bueno en realidad faltó una cosa: promoción. Columbia se negó a cualquier cosa, despreciando un disco que parecía una maqueta antes que un álbum vendible. Ese fue el gran acierto de David Rubinson su productor: dejar a Skip hacer lo quisiera registrar e inventar el Lo-fi antes del lo-fi. En su momento, fue el álbum menos vendido en la historia de Columbia Records y fue eliminado del catálogo de Columbia al año de su lanzamiento Un Syd Barret americano, que naufragó con sus adicciones y salud mental. Nunca recuperó el rumbo, ni siquiera en su vida. Este disco no es ni mucho imprescindible, pero es uno de los que merece la pena descubrir. Doy las gracias a los autores del libro por incluirlo, como Fear and Whiskey de los Mekons o el American Gothic de David Ackles. Las que más me gustan son: War in peace, Weighted Down (The Prison Song), Books of Moses y All come to meet her. Grey/Afro es como estar dentro de una lavadora. No me extraña que Tom Waits o Beck cayeran rendidos por su talento.

This album is a weird trauma porn sort of work. It seems disingenuous that the demos were released and not properly recorded by a band. Sure, it’s interesting that he’s performed the instruments but it’s all so sloppy.

tampoco es que este tan mal como los otros decian

7/10

- I was really ready to be disappointed by this; turns out I wound up a bit sad more than anything ....sad that he didn't get a chance to really work this out because his life / mind was in the process of falling apart. At least even he acknowledged that this is basically the equivalent of demo tapes, ideas that were still in process. There are some really good songs contained within this collection. sure at times he's mumbling too much and the music is more just noodling .... but, mostly, I didn't care and still enjoyed it. Maybe he never would have done more with this and that's ok too because "that's what dying is; people leaving stuff unfinished" (Amos Burton). We just have to take the enjoyment we are left with and savor it. Of course it's not perfect so I can't go 5 but it's a damn good place to start ...... 4 -

This album started off with some promise, but the more psychedelic it became the more the quality dropped off. You can definitely tell that the album is based on demos, it needed more refinement to be a great album.

Another musician in the ‘depressing life story folk/acoustic singer-songwriter’ category, like Nick Drake or Jackson C. Frank, only weirder. Some strange albums successfully balance on the knife-edge between genius and garbage, but unfortunately for the most part this wasn’t one of them. There were small glimpses of quality at points; some tracks were decent, and I even found the odd song quite moving, for example. There just weren’t anywhere near enough such glimpses. Spence supposedly recorded these tracks as demos, and they sound like it, especially the vocals. There’s some potential in these songs, but sadly it’s mostly unrealised.

I had already heard this album once or twice before. It is really interesting. It is certainly not super accessible, but there is so much going on. It has country and psychedelia elements and haunting vocals. I would say I would have to be in the mood to choose to listen to this, but it is really very good for what it is.

Psychedelic 👍

Favorite song: Grey/Afro

Like Dylan but somehow less pleasant

I can see how this album influenced Robert Plant and a number of other consequential artists but I found it a tedious listen.

Not horrible, but I’m not a big fan of the mumble singing.

Nothing too groundbreaking. 3/5

4⭐️/5 02.01.2026

3 feels generous. I’m feeling generous.

Well, I forgot it was playing. Then I forgot I finished it. But in between I did clock that I hated Laurence of Euphoria! Still, mostly mellow to a fault.

Not for me 1/5

It is impossible to listen to this without thinking of Syd Barrett. Both left their bands due to drug misuse and severe mental health issues and ended up making wacky yet brilliant music. Spence's take on psychedelic folk and country is very far removed from the summery songs of Donovan. His voice is strained and haggard, but this only adds character to his ramshackle music. He plays all the instruments and it feels very amateur in a charming way. 'Broken Heart' and 'Weighted Down (The Prison Song)' drip with loneliness like all great country songs should. The album's closer is definitely the most experimental part of the album, with the near 10 minute track hypnotising you with its repetition, whilst the drums do their own thing in their background. Its not too far removed from krautrock! I wish the book had more odd gems like this instead of rehashing your dad's old record collection.

Tää oli taas aika mitäänsanomaton levy. Hissuttelua. Ei ollut mun juttu.

Mildly interesting, but not enough. Sorry, but I couldn't finish this record. I understand the comparison with Syd Barrett, due to the similar circumstances each artist's solo debut came to existence, but Barrett did it best I'm afraid. Made me want to listen to Moby Grape.

Rítmicamente hay algunos fragmentos interesantes, pero suena como un viejo que toca en algún bar local … nada especial con que pueda quedarme.

While I feel this album is probably hailed as a cult classic mostly due in part to the history surrounding it's recording than the music itself, it's still a neat folksy/psychedelic 60s oddity. The songwriting can be very inconsistent at times in both arrangement and structure. Spence sounds genuinely depressed and spaced out for most of his time spent singing, actually a plus given that otherwise the often unintelligble lyrics would just fall completely flat. Best listened to in mono, the stereo mixing is the one part of this album I can say is unequivocally awful. 6.5/10

No, just no. This is terribly awful and too long with it

DO NOT WANT

That was cool

Top folk album. Got me into a wonderful folk rabbit hole that took me away from this list for a good few days. Weighted Down (Prison Song) War in Peace Grey/Afro Were my favourite.

This is so incredibly boring. According to Wikipedia, this was just a recording of demos that was somehow released as an album. I think they should have instead re-recorded with fully fleshed-out versions of the songs.

I just... it wasn't supposed to be released? I can't get past the fact that these are demos. I feel bad for Skip since he thought these recordings were gonna be produced in some way. I can imagine a version of this album that's cleaner and better put together, but that's not what I listened to. Not everything that's raw from someone with mental health issues is genius.

He earned his nickname on this one

Proof that not everything from the olden days was good.

interesting

noise

Yawn

I honestly don’t know how this made this list. Most of the music is beginner level and the singing is…present. I struggled back and forth between 1 and 2. Some of it is ok, but there is a lot of shit to basically hear nothing.

Kinda good 3.7/5

this album was something.. some songs i liked, and they were pretty solid, and then it went into the most psychosis inducing songs i’ve ever heard

i liked the first song but i feel like it teetered off for me… i wish i liked it more

This one is interesting, I like some of the material a good deal but some of it reflects the tidbit about it on the Wiki page where the producer just kind of let the tape run the whole time they were in the studio and picked up whatever.

Didn't make sense.

Nothing to write home about..

Eh

This album sounds like a crazy person wrote it.

Nic nie pamiętam, poza tym, że mi się nie podobało.

Oof, not for me. As someone who hasn't listened to Skip or Moby Grape, this album is not substantial to me. Aside from Little Hands and War in Peace there wasn't much in this project that appealed to me as a listener. Him recording this entire work in a week is impressive so kudos to him, but the wailing vocals and monotone guitar leaves a lot to be desired. This album has its audience. I am not it.

Groovy shit - toggling between far-out folk rock freak-outs and cryptic Kris Kristofferson country crack-ups.

for the love of god i'm so over all these subpar 60s psychedelic rock albums. if these men were young today they'd be the type to have podcasts where they talk about absolutely fucking nothing and think they're god's gift to the world

I get it but I don’t get it. I heard moments in this that I liked, and I could see how the production may have influenced dozens of artists I enjoy. But it mostly felt kind of aimless, like a collection of deep cut Dylan songs someone was playing slowed down with weird instrumentation. I did like “Grey/Afro” though… wish the whole album sounded like that.

An interesting curio of outsider music, grey/afro sounds way more modern than it is. But nonetheless nothing that great either 2.5*

Not my Fall. Lol.

Manche coole songs

interesting

It's quite difficult to rank this, because it's so bound up in the back story. Considering I hadn't heard of him (I'd vaguely heard of Moby Grape) he certainly seems to have led the archetypal wild California drug-fuelled lifestyle; stories to make your hair curl. I wonder what he'd think about us all appraising it, if it's true that he only thought of these tracks as rough demos. Listening felt a bit intrusive, both for that reason, and because he wrote it whilst, effectively, sectioned. But I have to say, I was drawn in. His guitar-playing was seemingly effortless. Some of the songs were, unsurprisingly, in need of a bit of thinking through, structurally, but I liked most of the musical choices. It went a bit Johnny Cash at times, I thought. I treated Grey/Afro as the final track: hypnotic, weird, and crying out to be used in a film soundtrack somewhere. Interesting, in a good way.

Heard Before? Nope, only read about it. Notes: - Trying out different vocal styles while high as a kite sounds better here than it could have, but I imagine it's a divisive move. - As I often feel, the shorter songs are more consistently entertaining. - The wild and wooly mixing adds to the charm, but is certainly bad by any conventional measure. - Remember when country music wasn't automatically far-right propaganda? Verdict: Stay away from drugs, kids. Almost the definition of a cult album. Listen Again? Heck yes.

Never heard of this one. Theres some great moments. Getting nick Cave, tom waits vibes. Album on Spotify is not the album, has about 6 extra songs on the end. Not for the betterment of the album either. It feels a bit unfinished, which made sense when I read it was apparently demos, not properly finished songs.

Pretty chill album, nothing too exciting happened, but it's definitely alright having it in the background.

Quite messy, all over the place, melodies and vocals. Imagine an old bloke down the pub who's had one too many. 'Weigted Down' was a fairly nice track, but the album overall feels pretty solemn

The same psychedelic cloth that Syd Barrett’s The Madcap Laughs is cut from. Equal parts depressing and hypnotic, I really enjoyed this. The closing track is a definite highlight.

Full vibes , φολκ με ψυχεδελεια , νιωθεις οτι εισαι στο δασος , υπαρχει το βαημπ του story telling, μου θυμιζει καλοκαιρι , καπως πιο "dark" απο το προηγουμενο που ειναι παρομοιο ειδος.

Not bad

Not my thing

A gem of an album. Really interesting reading about his troubles and hospitalisation before the album was recorded. Maybe my own ignorance but had never heard of him. One of those albums where the beautiful melodies and almost whispered vocals belies the tortured lyrics. Broken Heart and Weighted Socks really stood out. Brilliant lyrics about his wife darning another man's (and his friend) socks while he is in prison and now he's waiting by the river with a gun for him. Incredible - 4 out of 5 stars from me

Weird and largely forgettable

This record pretty much plays as a series of demos rather than fully-realised ideas, but the story behind 'Oar' is that Alexander 'Skip' Spence recorded it on a three-track right after leaving hospital following six months of treatment for schizophrenia. He was committed because he attempted to attack his bandmates in Moby Grape with an axe, in what was believed to be delusion-driven. So...this was recorded quickly under pretty acrimonious circumstances by the sound of it...and it shows. It's really hard to be fair on the songs given that they are only demos, but what is clear is that Spence wasn't in a good state recording it. He sounds incomprehensible at times, and its hard to identify the songs as anything but directionless rambling. It's almost like this was made purely for recovery purposes, just to get ideas to tape, without any intention of ever releasing the material. But, low and behold, 'Oar' was released, and it was the lowest-selling album in Columbia Records history. Long story short, 'Oar' is probably an album that is remembered more for the volatile personality behind it than the songs themselves. The songs aren't that memorable, really, but Spence's story sure sounds interesting, much in the same way that Syd Barrett's was, but perhaps not quite as iconic. Best songs: N/A (I'll be fair, some of these songs may have been better with full production)

It isnt a bad album but i think the story of the artist really puts it into context. It makes it a lot more intresting from a psycological view into his mind and his state. Im glad to have listen to it and experiened it but as a stand alone album i have to give it a 3/5.

This amount of country in this list of a 1001 albums really shows how much Americans centre themselves. Almost no one outside of the US cares about country. From here on out I will not be wasting any more time with country music and I will be skipping said records unless it really brings something interesting to the conversation. This album does not do such a thing. The history of the artist is 10x more interesting than the music itself.

Another day, another country album I don't give a shit about... Had to restrain myself no to just skip after 3 songs... I am impressed, normally I really do like psychedelic stuff, but I guess even psychedelic country still fundamentally remains country, sadly. 3/10

Great album. Some songs scratch that Leonard Cohen itch. Accidentally had Cripple Creek on repeat and didn’t even notice it had been playing for 20 minutes

i see what he was trying to do

Enjoyed while it was on, can't remember now.

“Skip” needs to take the marbles out of his mouth when he sings. If not for the vocals, I would have really liked this album…but vocals are just too important to me. Two stars.

# Album Name: Oar # Artist: Alexander 'Skip' Spence # Rating: 2/5 # Comments: Horrendous. Got to be on acid to enjoy this one. # Top Tunes: Little hands / War in peace # Would I listen to it again? no

first song was good, the rest was bleh

"Oar" by Alexander 'Skip' Spence was an album I went into completely blind, having never heard the artist or record before. Musically, it sounded like a blend of Dylan, Johnny Cash and The Doors at their most stripped-down - very grassroots, bluesy and at times downright depressing. The backstory is as fascinating as it is tragic. Spence wrote the songs while institutionalized in Bellevue Hospital following a delusion-driven episode in which he threatened "Moby Grape" bandmates with a fire axe and was subsequently diagnosed with schizophrenia, spending around six months in the psychiatric ward before recording this album when released. Despite the intriguing context, to my ears the album came across as pretty generic, with only "War In Peace" making a real impression. The rest of the tracks didn’t really hit me in the way I hoped. It’s not a bad album by any stretch, and I can see why it has cult intrigue and heavy influence over outsider and folk scenes, but it’s not something I usually listen to or that I’d likely revisit soon.

I'd always heard this was a masterpiece or something, so I was kinda psyched when it came up. Unfortunately there was nothing interesting about this album for me.

Recently released from a mental hospital, played all the instruments himself, "let the tapes roll", was scared of producers, deleted from the Columbia catalogue, was meant to be a demo only.... Need I (wikepedia) say more?!

Ok this album I had never heard of. I did a little research and was excited cause I like some bands this guy is in. This album ??? Woof

Nothing interesting about this. Why is this on here? Because he decided to drop one mid album and never release again?

This is number 1087 for me, and it must be one of the five worst albums on the list. I can’t think of anything good to say about it. Maybe the backstory, but that doesn’t justify the record, and especially not its inclusion in the book. He should have been put back in prison for this album.

Oof what a mental trauma dump.

No

Some nice folky warblings contained here if you listen to the whole thing, but is under-produced and clearly not really thought about beyond "man make noise in studio". Which is understandable if you read the backstory to the dude, but doesn't warrant inclusion on this list.

The cover reminds me of jay from the inbetweeners. Not much to say about the music though

Hearing this album lets me know where beck got his acoustic sounds. Tracks ranged from amazing to boring as meandering.

I kind of like this. It’s a big like an extended version of the way Curt Cobain recorded “Something In the Way” at the end of Nevermind. But it goes on too long. The initial songs with structure devolve into muttering and bass noodling. 3 stars. …or so I thought. But after listening Mark told me this was the EXTENDED version of the album. If only I’d none I’d have stopped it earlier and left with a better feeling toward the album. Fuck extended albums, man! They suck. At least label them as “extended” so I can go check the original track list and avoid all the stuff they wisely cut before it was released! I’m upping this to four stars which is what I felt before it started tailing off.

Haunting but very engaging…

The entire process that brought this record into existence is incredibly weird. The guy beat up the other Moby Grape members, went to a hospital, and then recorded demos without the producer even being there because the poor guy thought he was being a distraction. This same producer guy then hands over the practically unedited demos to Spence's label, only for said label to hardly talk about this album and then get rid of it like a year later. I tend to like commercial failures, so this guy at least found his audience at some point. It's a great record and surprisingly psychedelic in some parts, more than what's usual in 60s records, especially with War in Peace and Grey/Afro. I like his songwriting style a lot. I can imagine the fact that every song is a demo adds to that, but a lot of the music feels very personal in the same way that something like Pink Moon by Nick Drake does (really hoping that's on the list too). I'm surprised this one is rated as low as it is.

The dude wrote all of the lyrics and played all of the instruments on 22 songs. Recorded after a hospitalization for major mental episode. Gloomy. Trippy. It did sound like a "rough draft" and it felt like he was unraveling as it went on. Interesting backstory but not an enjoyable album.

Lidt ensformigt. Country vibes

boring

Oh goody, more bland 1960s folk rock. My favourite!

Another album that I assume an influential musician has named as being a favorite and music critics rushed to gnaw on the carcass for decades to come.

So, another mental health / drug casualty (I wonder which precipitated the other). In some ways reminiscent of Syd Barrett's story: interested associates try to get an album from him, then as the artist's mystique grows, more songs (that are really trial run throughs and other out-takes) surface. So in the case of Oar, successive extended editions were released, while in the case of Barrett, The Madcap Laughs was followed by a pair of albums of decreasing quality. One does wonder where initial attempts to help become exploitation. As I'd never heard this album before, I put all that to one side and gave it a few plays. Unfortunately, after a reasonably strong start, the album declines to rather fractured performances, even before the end of the original album's track listing. It may be seen as a document of someone's declining mental state, but that doesn't necessarily make this a great album.

Nope. Put a guy in a studio to explore healing and then release it. It is too much to bear.

Started good. Too long

It's hard for me to separate the album from the story behind it. Do I like it because it's good? Or do I like it because of what it is? I like it though. Nice surprise.

1. little - 1.5 2. creek - 1.5 3. diana - 1.5 4. rug - 1 5. douun - 2 6 uuar - 2 7. heart - 1.5 8. come - 1 9. mozez - 1 10. dizie - 1.5 11. euphoria -1 12. afro - 0 13. time - 1 14. thing - 1.5 15. hat - 1.5 16. heroine -1.5 17. thingz -1.5 18. good - 0 19. Know - 0 20. Doodle -0 21. Fountain - 0 22. Think - 0

Really? I agree that creating music is a therapeutic act. I understand this was therapy for a man who attacked his bandmates with a fire axe. I guess what I don't understand is: 1) why the producer felt the best approach in this case was to maintain a "hands off" method of producing. Surely some more supervision might have helped, given the circumstances. And 2) why did the producer feel it was best to release this raw, vulnerable material as an album at all? Was he banking on the curiosity of it all? I'm not sure why this is an album I must hear before I die.

This starts off and you think this is a little different bit it barely changes. Fuck off Skip, your head on the album cover is the best thing about this album

I’m all for elevating lesser-known albums, however undeserving, but romanticising mental illness ain’t it. There is nothing even remotely noteworthy or essential here, unless you're a music snob elevating mythology over music in between sniffing your own farts.

Kinda slow jams, not really how I would describe psychedelic. More snore. More southern twang and guitar.

That was a vibe! I was feeling it and didn't care about the while drums on the right side thing =)

Need power

This started so well, just bored me by the end

Day717 - when you ordered bob dylan from wish. i was able to keep making skip jokes so that was nice

Álbum de folk interessante e com momentos que apreciei bastante. Tem uma estranheza muito agradável. GK Kunten.

Dette gidder jeg faktisk ikke høre mer på.

Reminds me in many ways of Syd Barrett’s ‘The Madcap Laughs’. A collection of some strong, some middling songs by a talented musician in the midst of unraveling. I was interested to hear Spence’s work after listening to Moby Dick for the first time months ago and saw he was also in the original Quicksilver Messenger Service lineup, not to mention he played on Jefferson Airplane’s debut. A storied career cut short. I appreciated my listen and much of it was lovely, but like ‘Madcap Laughs’ it also felt sometimes unfinished and a little voyeuristic to listen to. These were originally recorded as demos and you can tell.

Some interesting instruments work here (i.e. not all acoustic shit) but a dull voice and ineligible singing. If it was an instrumental album, could have worked better.

This might be the first album on this list that I haven't heard before but think needs a second listen

Oof. Listening to this guy wheeze his way through sorta trudging folksy tunes is a challenge. I don’t know what about this record is supposed to be the thing that makes it indispensable to the American musical lexicon, but I’ve asked that question at least 100 times so far, so I guess I’m not surprised at this point. Anyway, this isn’t the worst thing I’ve ever heard, but it is 100% forgettable. 2.5/5

Just kind of boring.

I listened to this in the afternoon and it actually made me want to sleep. Won’t give a 1 but pretty underwhelming.

nah man. jag gillar ju moby grape men det är för real för mig.

Uh ok. An endless collection of singer songwriters folk rocky tunes I’ve never heard of. Uneven quality but overall fine I guess. You can die without listening to this but if you like the darker brand of singer songwriter music maybe give it a listen. I think two stars.

Some one I haven’t heard before and I enjoyed their sound

A very obscure album. The first half of the album was alright, but then it starts to derail once we get past "Grey/Afro". The songs feel disjointed, and some of the stereo mixing didn't really sit right with me.

Was not expecting to love this album as much as I did - I read a bit on the struggles this guy had, Clearly a very talented musician. It felt pretty dark in many aspects, but also uplifting. For sure a keeper. It's a very long album with some fillers, Books of Moses for example.

Wild Wikipedia article and strange listen.

Oar you fucking kidding me? Just kidding I dunno. I listened to this

admittedly a pretty strange and interesting album... on the wiki it has this line "Described as "one of the most harrowing documents of pain and confusion ever made" and let me say that did not come across at all... i was like am i listening to the right album after reading that lol...

12/10/25. Couldn’t get into this one. Felt a bit all over the place and not focused.

впечатлила история альбома и сам он довольно разнообразный но много слушать не смогла

Surely you can't be serious? Man I get it. This album came on the heels of a stay at Bellevue. Alexander would get a pat on the back from me, but in no way, shape, or form should this be on an essentials list. Unbearable.

i think some of these songs had the potential to be really good but overall it was just forgettable

Un álbum compuesto por alguien mientras está internado en un centro de salud mental por haber tenido un ataque psicótico (?) y haberse lanzado con un hacha a por su compañero puede resultar en cualquier cosa. Ya de entrada, que sea uno de esos 1001 discos imprescindibles, como que no. Cierto es que de la locura y la depresión han salido muchas obras de arte, pero esta no la considero una de ellas. Hay algún tema curioso y hasta podría ser un single, pero su totalidad resulta caótica y confusa. En algún momento me ha recordado a Elliott Smith, lo cual va a su favor.

I got bored tbh

The DNA of psychedelic rock -- but the building blocks themselves cannot sustain a whole album

Some good stuff here for sure but some of it drags a bit, especially the last track

The first one I give a 1/5 to. One or two songs in this style are fine and quite interesting but 22 Songs? 1 hour? 1 hour of non special guitar songs with mumbling, sounding like a drunk is just way too long. Thought about giving 2/5 because some songs were fine but it was just way worse than the other 2 star songs I already have

3/10 - cant remember one song from this album, pretty boring to be honest

I was a fan of Moby grape but this is just a bunch of mumbling and meandering. I suppose they might be good songs if sung by somebody else. In fact I heard there was a tribute album. Maybe I need to listen to that but this I don't get.

Awful.

This was a very long album, felt like it overstayed it's welcome.

Interesting stuff that seems like a forerunner of some of the lofi singer songwriters I like today. That said, I didn’t really like the songs much. Glad I listened to this but won’t revisit.

Good music to put you to sleep!

Interesting but ultimately a bit blah for my tastes

May be a 4 if it wasn’t as long as it was.

Das Album ist nach dem ersten Song bereits auserzählt und geht noch quälend lang weiter. Wikipedia: „ Nach seiner Entlassung nahm er 1969 das Soloalbum Oar auf, das ein kommerzieller Misserfolg wurde.“ Zurecht.

Mal ehrlich: Das ist schon sehr kacke.

Sind ein paar gute Psychedelic Rock-Songs dabei, allerdings jetzt auch nix unglaublich Wegweisendes, was andere nicht zur gleichen Zeit auch spannender hin hätten. Und sobald es experimenteller wird, verliert die Platte mich komplett.

Ein nie enden wollendes Album in langweiligem Dudu. Ich checks überhaupt nicht.

Warum bin ich plötzlich so müde?

Es hatte Lichtblicke aber war ansonsten ein nicht enden wollendes Akustik geklimper und jemand nuschelt mal mehr, mal weniger verständlich ins Mikro. Würde 0 Sterne geben könnte ich

Intéressant mais foutraque.

After reading the short Wikipedia write up I immediately drew the comparison with Syd Barret, which seems to be a comparison a lot of people make. While Syd Barret absolutely deserves his place in the lore of Rock music, I actually found this album by Alexander Spence to be a more enjoyable listen than most of Syd Barret's music. I think perhaps by the standard of the time, and given the context of how this album was produced and also released it's fairly unique. But I do think the playing style and musicality sounds pretty relevant, contemporary and not that obscure, actually quite similar to the mid-west inspired indie, shoegazy music I listen to a lot of (Wilco, Dope Lemon, Barr Brothers...)

I knew nothing about Skip Spence coming into this album. Honestly, even Moby Grape has totally passed me by. Reading up about the "fire axe incident" that lead to him writing this album while committed in a mental hospital and his subsequent decline through addiction and schizophrenia is incredibly tragic. I'm sure this comparison has been made a thousand times before, but his story is reminiscent of Syd Barrett. As for the actual album, I enjoyed it quite a bit. Solid bit of raw, warm, psychedelic folk music, which is right up my alley. I only listened to the original track list (first 12 songs of the Deluxe edition, which seems to be the only edition available on Apple Music), but I enjoyed this enough that I might go give the extended tracks a spin.

Yeah you don't have to hear this before you die.

i dont know what psychedelic music is i guess, i thought i did. not feeling this one at all. there are lots of cool numbers lower than 1001 that the author could have chosen like 777 or 500 or 666.

I liked the first song, I thought I would like the rest, but the songs didn't do anything for me.

I wish I could've 'skipped' this one...

I had to rewrite my thoughts after reading up a bit more on the album. It didn't change my total stars (3), but shifted from low to high in that range. Hearing this as an insight into a man descending into schizophrenia brought something new to the compositions. Also I think it just took time for me to warm up to it all. A strange psych rock/jam folk journey.

Interesting, not good, vocals. Kind of a folky thing with some electric mixed in there. Not my bag.

Weird, haunting, strangely enjoyable

7/10… folk / psychedelic / *1969

I think this is another album where the story behind it is more interesting than the music itself. It's also worth mentioning that the album should end at track 12, as everything beyond this is a "bonus" of questionable merit. Definitely unsettling, with a few places where it sounded like something was going to start up that might go somewhere, but ultimately it kind of didn't. The faux country noodles brought to mind "Country Teasers", who have the same rather unsettling edge to their music. Quite a bit sounded very much like this was a demo tape, which it basically was I guess. I'm going with three stars, as I quite enjoyed it once, it had some parts that were great, but I doubt I'll ever listen to it again.

You can 'Skip' this album

A strange one this! There’s sounds of Scott Walker, Leonard Cohen and even a bit of Syd Barrett. I wonder if they’d all listened to this album ? Never heard of the guy and was intrigued by his story. This list does occasionally throw up done interesting oddities!

That's not my taste in music - boring

No.

..

This kind of stuff is why you do this list. Totally unknown but interesting and powerful. While I didn’t love every song, the story is fascinating and there were a couple that grabbed me, so I have to rate it overall a good album

Interesting in very very brief spurts. I can hardly recall this album the day after.

The backstory is interesting I guess, but the album sounds like a bunch of demos (which it effectively is). I think a good album could have been made with this source material, but this ain't it.

That first song is pretty good, but the rest of the album has been a slog for me.

An interesting curio compared to the Moby Grape album I had a few weeks ago. Reminded me a bit of Syd Barrett’s solo stuff after he left Pink Floyd, or some of Nick Drake’s work. This album is way too long though and outstayed its welcome about half way through. As his sole solo album I get he maybe just wanted to get it all out there at once though.

Album went by without me noticing much of it.

Should’ve been called Bore. In a way it’s inspiring because as a musician sometime I wonder if my songs are dumb. This gives me the confidence to just hit record on some random bullshit I come up with and someone out there will think it’s genius. I feel like the only reason it’s on this list is because of the circumstances leading up to its recording, and not because it’s worth listening to.

Alexandre Spence was recording the follow up to Moby Grape's debut album with his band mates when he started threatening to kill them with a fire axe, so he got committed to an insane asylum where her wrote something like 30 songs in the six months that he was a patient. Once released he recorded the 12 songs on the album in a week using a 3-track recorder (!!!) he played all the instruments. About those 12 songs. Lo Fi psychedelia mixed with folk, sometimes folk rock & the kitchen sink. Often the lyrics/singing are hard to understand and when you do, they are often nonsensical and at least partly mumbled when sang. It's a weird album. Oar could be the soundtrack to every mental illness in the book. In some songs you call feel his sanity just leaking away, it's sad and can be a very difficult listen it's also brilliant and entirely unique. I have owned a copy of Oar for around 7 years and have heard it around ten times (11 today) as it always leaves me feeling some kind of way. That Columbia Records choose to release Oar is passing strange to me NO ONE could have thought this was going to be embraced by any large audience & of course it wasn't - it became Columbia Records poorest selling album in its history to the surprise of nobody but maybe Alexander Spence. Who knows. Easily one of the best albums on the 1001 list but be warned it's not an easy listen, its often unsettling going from pretty & introspective one minute to sheer full blown chaos the next. The various special editions of Oar released over the years more than double the albums length and are every bit as good as what made the final cut.

2.5

Where do they dig this stuff out of? There's literally nothing on this album that is interesting or original. I almost lost it when I saw how many songs there were, but then it's only about an hour long. Seems mostly like little experimental bits and jags that were never fully fleshed out by a good sound engineer/producer. To that end, the mixing is terrible. The vocals are washed out, and it's like it was recorded in someone's bathroom or front hallway.

weird and boring, i forgot every single music after seconds.

💇

Some albums are here for being influential, genre-spawning, genre-defining or incredible songwriting, instrumentation or vibes. Some are here seemingly because the artist or one of the songs on it merit inclusion. This one seems to have been included for the circumstances around its creation. Unfortunately for me, mental illness does not make genius - otherwise I could play guitar behind the poem I wrote in group art therapy and make the list too. Also, it’s too long. I keep checking thinking I’ll be on the last song but I’m only halfway through.

this was a weird one. The wikipedia blurb says this was recorded 'as a demo' and it really felt like it. It was a high-quality demo I guess. I am kind of finding it hard to understand why this was chosen for this list. It's a curiosity but doesn't seem important to me.

Hyggelig album, men ikke det mest spennende. Svak 3'er

I hated this

Very much self made. There are some really interesting songs here. I liked it. Favorite songs were Little Hands, Weighted Down, War In Peace, and Broken Heart.

un peu bob dylan, sympa mais sans plus

Yawn

I fell asleep the first time I listened. I listened again and came to the conclusion that it is better when you are asleep. I liked a few songs and was entertained by the weird ones but would not listen again.

Not terrible but far from interesting

Rhythmically, there are some interesting bits, but he sounds like the old guy playing the local bar.

Some really familiar sounds here. I enjoyed this and listened through a second time for a good portion of it. A 3.5 on the 3 side.

Years ago, I was really into this edgy, artsy chick, and I put up with a lot, trying to get into her pants. The trials involved hanging out with her ‘friends’ one afternoon at Washington Square Park. It was like the grifteriest grifters in the city all converged at that park at the same time each day, and she gravitated there to be with them. These dudes were of all ages, none had bathed in at least a year, they hit their flasks and partook in some ridiculously hard drugs in the open, in public. We made ‘art’ with garbage, and one guy showed me his very scary rusty knife. They were all extremely mentally ill, and it was sad to see. I think this is why the chick I was after hung around with them. She thought she could help, or she thought she got some street cred hanging with these people. But, alongside the sadness, a few of them obviously had the potential for violence. They hovered right at the breaking point, shooting out these sickly, very strangely intense vibes. Listening to Oar brought me back to that weird afternoon. I should’ve left earlier than I did then (but hey, I was trying to get laid!), and similarly I should’ve left Oar after track three. Both experiences left me feeling dirty and scratching for fleas. Oar is interesting as a relic, but there is no content here. I understand why this was immediately dropped from the label. Interestingly, Alexander’s birthday was the day after mine, and his death day was the day before my birthday. It’s like he ‘skipped’ my day with his most important ones. Sounds fine by me- stay away from my shit, psycho. Oh, and to wrap up the story, I never slept with that girl even after all of that. I probably dodged some crabs. I did see those grungy dudes all through the city for a few more weeks just walking around. It’s weird to have a random homeless dude in nyc ask you if you remember hanging out.

there is nobody like Alexander Spence. is "Oar" purely unconventional country folk? probably. i'd go far as to say that this is categorically avant-garde. the album is weird and raw. it expresses playful confusion, a jumble. and we could not have received a better ending to an album that exhibits who Alexander Spence is. he is the original Strange Creature and we'll never hear anything like this again.

3.5

This album kind of reminds me of the Sid Barrett albums where the story behind the album is far more interesting than the album itself. If I had to say that with the biggest drawback of this album it would have to be his asthmatic Grandpa vocal delivery. But some of the instrumentation just feels like too strung out to play his instrument. The songs themselves weren't all that bad but I just felt the delivery left me wanting more quite frankly a lot more. 5.8 ★★½ (three on the app)

Quite good bluesy album, but doesn't totally grab me. 3.5 stars

I thought this was a cool mix of psychedelic folk, country, and blues. Kind of a similar vibe the Grateful Dead were going for, weirder and IMO better. It reminded me of a lot of the things I liked about Meat Puppets II. "Diana" and "Cripple Creek" were both really cool. 4 stars.

3.5

How does a donkey swim? With its Eey-oars! This guy was seriously an Eey-oar short of a donkey row boat however. It is weird how a guy keen on carrying out exorcisms via axe before being locked away in an asylum and later on becoming a hobo could make an album so ruggedly chill. His voice is grizzled and his songs scrappy and all over the place but overall it is just a genius great assortment of blues, country, psychedelia and even some lofi and slowcore elements. First half is very strong and War And Peace is particularly an epic cosmic highlight. Album does start to get extra frayed in the second half - Book Of Moses sounds like a ping pong game taking place during a wild storm. Grey/Afro is something else entirely and is just this 9 minute doomy jazz rumble excerpt. Foar stars out of 5.

4/10

Late 60's acid casualty Nah . . . just not feeling it . . . One of the lowest-selling items in the Columbia catalogue I agree!

According to the Wikipedia article Spence wanted this to be mixed, mastered. Perhaps if that happened this would be a good album. It just feels like a very rough first draft

Certainly clear that this was acid-influenced. Definitely some interesting stuff on here.

I dont usually read the synopsis on albums before I listen to them but im glad I did. This isn't a great listen but its context changes everything. Its sad but very interesting how this album came to us. Its also a man who had his work exploited. I wont revisit this but I will recommend it to others. This isn't a great album but it is one you should listen to before you die.

I’m sorry but how is this an album I should listen to before I die? Like? It’s not bad but it’s certainly not good. At all. Boomers will bitch about “mumble rap” but then listen to this

There’s more I could say than I wanna write but I hear so many inspirations for later artists from Nirvana to Radiohead to Leonard Cohen to Tame Impala. There’s some real genius and well executed moments that bleed through the deconstruction and looseness. It’s fascinating hearing his talent clashing with his mental state but both combining to create something different than either could alone. Also the fact that he’s playing every instrument in a sort of improvisational way with himself is really neat, and he’s actually good at all of them. Each track is refreshingly new and unique even if it is a take on an established genre. The writing is deceptively beautiful throughout. Production is very interesting and enhances the loose, sparse feel of the album as a whole. His vocals are wildly and impressively varied stylistically depending on the track, making use of his abilities to the fullest extent. Overall, I think this is a prime example of pushing the boundaries of music in an authentic way. It’s a shame he struggled with addiction and mental health so deeply, but it also led to an amazing work of art. I see why the producer released these demos instead of reproducing a more polished version. The scuffed nature is what makes it feel so raw and genuine.

Interesting album, though not something I would seek out to listen to again. I had a coworker whose daughter was schizophrenic and would draw and paint as part of her therapy; this album is an audio version similar to those images.

There’s something haunting about Oar, but mostly in the sense of watching someone unravel on tape. The songs often feel like demos — fragile, uneven, and oddly mixed — more sketches of thought than finished work. There are flickers of humanity and melody (“Margaret-Tiger Rug” hints at what could’ve been), but the overall experience drifts from introspective to exhausting. I respect the mythology around this record far more than I enjoyed listening to it.

Eh

Eh.

Huh, so very lo-fi psych country/folk rock. I'm still not sure how to feel about this, but it's kind of really cool in a scattered, schizophrenic sort of way.

It is surely interesting record especially in terms of its creation and the author's faith. We can talk a lot on what this record can represents besides the music. However, some songs (Little Hands, Weighted Down and War in Peace) I find really good. But let's be honest the most other part of the album is raw demo-tapes. So I just can't put an above 3-stars rate.

Once again, I wonder why this particular album is on this list. No, not because I don't like it but because I do not see what makes it special in any possible way. And ... of course I do not like it ... but that's not the problem. Can please anyone here on the planet tell me what is so special about this music.

Feels like a less interesting Roy harper. Not terrible but not that exciting

Holy mother of mid. Started decent and got worse and worse. Why do all late 60s folk sound to similar

Ok, so this guy tried to attack his band mates with an axe, was locked up for 6 months, then made this album. Honestly, I don’t know what to think. The tone of the album certainly reflects his state of mind.

7.5/10 Izgubio me je pomalo na kraju, ovi eksperimenti su korisni, ali ne nužno prijatni za uši u pojedinim trenucima. Doživela sam krizu identiteta na pola albuma kada sam skontala da mi se mozda i svidja country, ali kako spotify kaže ovo nije samo country, tako da mi je sada malo lakše. Ima nekih jako dobrih pesama, doduše ne znam da li bih se svojevoljno vratila da ih slušam jer se ne pronalazim u celom tom “hodam po mračnoj i maglovitoj šumi, daleko od kuće” vajbu (možda čak ni ne pričam o ovom albumu jer mi je spotify izmedju puštao i neke druge pesme pa sam tako umesto jednog slusala 1.5 album i morala nakon svake pesme da gasim reklamu i vraćam na ovaj album, definitivno mi treba premium, ovo više nije smešno).

Maybe if I read the lyrics there would be more there, but just hearing it without that it didn't seem interesting.

Thought it was mostly fine. Pretty low key and stripped down sound for a lot of it. Could be haunting at times, but plenty boring at others. One of the riffs sounded like Sunshine of Your Love. So, yeah. Bunch of random thoughts on this one that don't really help me come up with a rating. But I guess incoherent thought fits pretty well for this album. Overall: 2.4/5

49/100. Just a tad too slow in parts, and I found several moments uninteresting. It’s clearly a personal and raw album, but it didn’t quite connect with me. That said, "War in Peace" stood out as a highlight.

-Hört sich irgendwie alles gleich an - Stört mich vom Sound her jetzt nicht arg aber würde ich aktiv nicht hören Topsong: Weighted Down

I didn't really care for this one. I don't mind a lot of psychedelic hippy stuff, but this just rambling. Weighted Down is pretty solid in comparison though.

This was awfully hard to get through. The vocals were not to my kiling at all, and the songs sounded like they were made up on the spot. The last part were like Kurt Cobain’s home demos, which we know were never intended to be released. But even there we could hear that Sappy had the potential. None of that exists here

Sad. Drugs and mental illness... Kinda weird tho

This was a weird mix of songs and sounds. I'm not really sure why its on this list.

Some tunes on this are just off. Like listening to this I want to make sure dude is alright. After reading up on him when I was done with this listen he was not alright. It's haunted and his voice and lyrics bring it out. It's not an album I will put on to listen to normally but I can see a time I want to listen to this. Parts of this were written in a mental ward in the 60's and it was recorded to be a demo. The label said no thanks and did nothing with it. This album is the closest thing to cursed as I can find short of someone getting murdered and set to tape.

Sehr interessant, aber mir zu depro

Started kind of interesting, but then became awful/concerning. Wasn't expecting to hear a mental breakdown.

Floaty, folky, dragged at points but overall pleasant

Crazy story behind this album, but I did not love the way it sounded. Unfort

Disheveled and uninteresting. Sounds like demos he recorded right before going to bed, on the verge of falling asleep. Accidentally listened past the original album into the extra fluff. It was even worse. Thankfully I realized my mistake and terminated my listening immediately.

2.5

3.0

"According to Spence, the Nashville sessions were intended by him to only be a demo". Should have listened to him, would have saved us from having to listen to this.

One of the better sides of these "1001 albums to hear"... type of lists, is that you get to hear artists like Alexander Spence. A singer songwriter from late 60's that i've never heard of, but definitely should have. Spence sounds like America's own Syd Barrett and i'm sure his battle with mental illness has lot to do with the uniqueness of his music. The songs on this album seem to be more production of subconsciousness than actual song writing. Bit like jazz actually. Really interesting 'out of this world' album that feels totally fresh in this age of over production, songwriting camps and AI etc.

It's harrowing and kind of spooky record. For being so close to what I consider folk and country-esque music, it's way better than expected. Not for me how ever, I did listen out of curiosity, but found it quite boring after about the half way.

boring! gave up halfway through

1 so bad

More like David ‘Skip’ This Album. What the actual fuck.

I coincidentally got this back-to-back with Moby Grape, so it's nice to be able to do a direct comparison, but on listening, I'm not really sure it's a useful comparison. This is much more lo fi and subdued. "One of the most harrowing documents of pain and confusion ever made" - I can't say that I picked up on this, to be honest I found it all pretty boring. Exceptions were Books of Moses with its booming thunderous sound effects, and Grey/Afro, which sounds like a much worse version of early Pink Floyd/ Syd Barrett long-form tracks. (It's really nothing like Krautrock at all.) The bonus tracks are not worth listening to.

Gute Unterhaltung, nicht mehr und nicht weniger.

An unnecessarily long folk album where the back half feels like a demo, a couple decent tracks early on but nothing really too exciting. Should have been about 20 minutes shorter in my opinion Standout Songs: Cripple Creek Broken Heart Books of Moses

"Skip Spence" sounds like the old-time money cost of something. The album itself was okay. It did drag a bit.

per me ci sta

“War In Peace” was the only redeeming track on this album. (EDIT: the whistling on this track was weird, too) Weird, otherwise. 1969 Must have been an interesting time.

Hight 2/low 3, fine enough but didn't do anything for me

This one was kind of a slog. It feels lazy and thrown together, like something you’d politely describe as “listen to what my kid made.” It’s discordant, disjointed, and never really comes together. The critics call it “acid-charred,” but that almost flatters it; the phrase doesn’t make it any more appealing. I honestly think Oar gets the attention it does mainly because artists like Tom Waits and Beck covered songs from it. Spence himself was clearly a complicated guy, and a product of his era. People love to point out that he played every instrument on the album, but you can tell. Nothing feels in sync. It’s less a showcase of raw creative genius and more a hot mess from someone who was given the chance to create, but didn’t quite have the focus or clarity to pull it together.

Almost got 3 stars out of me, but damn that middle part of the album is rough.

First I’ve heard of this artists and a nice folk/rocky blend on first listen… Bit of a John Martyn feel and sound. Interesting to read the backstory and where the songs came from. It’s pretty rough and sloppy at times. I guess it’s a congruent capturing of a guy who just had a psychotic break! I’m pretty sure the guitar is out of tune a couple of times too! A pretty depressing, descent, but lacking the quality of someone like cohen. Yeh, like a bad mix of a few famous folk artists at this time. Just a very melancholy listen, not done particularly well… Urgh. Good riddance

Alexander 'Skip' Spence has a very laidback — bordering on lazy — style of performing. He doesn’t always sound like he’s fully opening his mouth when he sings. And the guitar strumming can feel almost halfhearted. This feels more like an oddity or curiosity than an essential album. There are moments that get a little psychedelic and weird. And he leaves the occasional sour note in. The album is deliberately imperfect. But it’s also kind of tedious, and I’m not convinced I need to hear it. Okay, reading about the album definitely gives some context. Alexander 'Skip' Spence had previously been in a rock band but wrote these songs while he was committed in a mental hospital. And he released the demos rather than recording full versions of the songs. The music definitely captures a distinct, interesting energy. It’s just not an energy I enjoyed on a first listen.