Oar

The story behind this album is better than the album itself. Boring and truly sounds like a guy on drugs making this.

I enjoy the context behind the album but the album is mostly cheeks. 🍑 1.5

Soulful vocals and folk songwriting are on point here, but dear god, the horrible mixing choices. Putting the entire drum set on the right side and guitar on the left? That’s….not how it’s done…?

Encore un album tout à fait médiocre

un skip comme l annonce l artiste avec son deuxieme prenom

Strong 3 near the beginning, close to a 1 at the end

J'imagine que cet album a pu être essentiel dans le développement de la musique psychédélique ou expérimentale, mais si c'est le cas je trouve que ça a plutôt mal vieilli. Plus souvent qu'autrement j'ai l'impression que c'est du tâtonnage plus que des vrais composition. La voix est ssouvent très ennuyante et il y a peu d'efforts. Ce n'est pas le pire album que j'ai mais loin d'être mémorable. 3/10

Wild this dude was on Jefferson Airplane's first album as a drummer. Also wild that he tried to hack up his next band with an axe. What's not so wild is this album. It seems very inconsistent and all over the place. Wiki says that Skip sent these songs to his producer as demo's and they released them without fleshing out any production. It shows. A couple songs I felt could really turn into something cool. Can definitely see the psychedelia in it, just needed that push. This album is meh to me.

Ok

Beige wallpaper

At times ramshackle. Some charming moments , and some tantalising brief spicy chord changes in Diana. War in Peace more production value and G Harrison Clapton outro. Then it goes a bit Dylan. Quite liked the country blues of Books of Moses. Have to admire the honesty and unadorned presentation . One for headphones. The latter quarter sounds like my "bass twiddles" C90 from the late 80s. Great for hearing exactly what a period bass guitar sounds like solo. Some ok grooves that could have been developed from these demos

Nothing I had ever heard of before...very different. Not sure I buy how influential it is though...may need another couple of listens. 2.5/5

Good start and at first I thought the second half was kind of interesting, but then it grew old and I was ready to stop listening 2

I have never heard of skip Spence. He sounds like Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash had a kid. Then that kid listened to nothing but Radiohead for years. Then that kid took a fuckton of mushrooms, smoked a shitload of weed, and then recorded an album. It’s not that it is terrible, just boring and unmemorable. I can think of 100 albums that should be on the list instead of this one.

Drabble

Some nice songs but not very imaginative, a general fine blues feel but there's a lot better out there, especially of that time. (50%).

this was ok, solid 60/70s folksy rock feel

I see why they called him Skip

The album story is more interesting than the album, which is light instrumentation and mostly indiscernible lyrics.

One or two sweet songs. This guy has 100% of Nilsson’s weirdness and 50% of his talent.

Dirty Hippie Breakdown: The Musical I could pick out a song or two, or fragment that's listenable, but this is just a mess. I feel bad saying that, cause dude had some shit going on, but we all have our moments, that doesn't mean they should be recorded.

Folk psicodélico. Un rollo. Un 2.

A bleak, solemn affair. I won't listen to it again, but it was interesting, if meandering to hear this.

It was okay

The wiki says most of the songs were unfinished/demos and that really sounds about right. Many feel underwritten or just kind of fizzle into nothingness, of the recording quality is pretty awful. Some interesting bits here and there but not much else. 3/10

yet another "White Dude Makes Shitty Music, Is Praised By Other White Dudes For It" pick

Weighted Down (The Prison Song) // 1.5/5

I listened to the tracks of the original release, not the bonus tracks. I'd like to give this a 3, but I can't say I enjoyed a complete song, just elements of many of them. For example, I liked the drums on the last track (Grey/Afro), but it was too long and I didn't like the vocals. Any song where he used his old man voice just sounded weird.

some of the beatnik shit was alright but it veered a lot in to the noncey territory of folk and country music.

Skip

Pretty boring

I liked his playing but wasn’t big on his voice.

Not a huge fan of this one.

Some standout tracks but this largely feels like it shouldn't have been released in its present state

Era para ser uma referência da psicodelia, só não percebi, e ficou sendo mais um disco de folk.

This was an odd one. First playthrough I took notice of Cripple Creek and Lawrence of Euphoria which stood out with its weirdness. But when I got to Grey/Afro and continued listening I definitely noticed something was wrong. Turns out the songs after that wasn't part of the original - and you could tell easily, the quality really plummeted. The whole album is very uneven in quality. Songs like Diana and Grey/Afro are a clear 1/5 for me with its hazy rambling and droning. But some songs do stand out, like I mentioned. I also read that the whole album was recorded by himself just after having been hospitalized for some time and diagnozed with schizofrenia. That backstory adds more to the album and makes it more interesting somehow - it could explain a lot of the mellowness, for example. Even though it won't get very high rating from me, I'm glad I listened to it and learned some piece of history with it!

This was an interesting listen given the backstory. It was a weird mix of songs that felt very intimate and strange. Would I recommend listening to it? Not really. It still left an impression and stood out from a lot of other stuff on here. I guess if you want a piece of music history you could give it a go.

This was insane. I was going to say that a lot of this sounded like he forgot he was recording, but after reading the Wikipedia article it seems like that was actually the case. There were a handful of decent songs (Weighted Down was the highlight) but overall this is not good. Apparently he thought they would edit and flesh this out. Not sure why they would choose to release it as is.

Not that interesting. From what I read, he was apparently influential on a number of artists who came later, but I'm not exactly sure why. This isn't a bad album, but I don't know what about it made someone include it on this list.

Boring and unnecessary both as an album and a part of this list

Best known as a founding member of Moby Grape, Spence takes us on an introspective, long-winded journey. Each track works like a window into the troubled soul of the artist, with themes centered around love and loss. Spence has quite a distinctive vocal style, one that carries a lot of vulnerability and emphaty. I wasn’t a big fan of the vocals though, as they drag on a lot. That is unfortunately a downside of many parts on this record. The instrumentation is very stripped-down which leads to most tracks really lacking any sort of likable quality. The guitar gets very old very quickly. Spence's lyrics throughout Oar are poetic, often painting vivid pictures of his inner struggles and the complexities of life. Whether it's the psychedelic whimsy of "Weighted Down (The Prison Song)" or the sorrowful reflection of "Cripple Creek," each song comes with an emotional effort, something I can appreciate. The album also is way too long in my opinion and I would have enjoyed it more if it was stripped to maybe 35-40 mins instead of the sleepy hour that we get. This one was quite hard to finish and just about avoids the lowest score. 2/5, don’t recommend whatsoever.

4/10. Well, it was kinda boring, probably because I couldn't hear the mumbled lyrics very well. Supposedly these recordings were only meant to be demos, and it certainly feels that way. I'd be willing to give it a second chance at a time I could listen to the lyrics, though, since they're supposed to be good.

Rambling crap. 4/10

Bastante embole, te manda a dormir. No es malo el chabon, pero vamo' un poquito ma' Edwin.

Ich fand es zwar interessante Sounds und auch die Stimme es toll aber mir war ea zu wenig variabilität. Außerdem bin ich ein großer Fan von etwas kürzeren Alben.

Lo que más interesante me resulta es como parece grabado en una sola toma por la continuidad de las canciones al iniciar y terminar, algunas suena como cuando alguien en un fogón agarra la guitarra y empieza a cantar lo primero que le sale por lo que no me pareció en esas partes muy llamativo, además demasiado country para mí gusto

Not into this. I have no interest listening these kind of curiosity. I don’t want to give it one star because it’s not actively trying to get me to hate it. It just sounds like someone falling sleep mid song.

Það þarf ábyggilega að grúska í texta og hlusta mörgum sinnum á þetta til að virkilega ná að tengja. Ég náði því allavega ekki í fyrstu hlustun.

I got about 1/3 of the way through the album, and I just.... didn't get it. Why was this on the list? Who is this guy? So I looked him up on wikipedia (trying not to research the albums beforehand, but I felt I had to here). I got a better picture of who the guy is. But still... this is just... incoherent ramblings. I'm glad that in the 60s and early 70s, artists and musicians were able to be daring and tried a lot of stuff. Record execs took a lot of chances. But there should have come a point where they said "yeah... pass." It's not as bad as, say "Trout Mask Replica". But not a keeper at all.

That’s right, these do seem like the ramblings of a mad man. Not in a particularly bad way, for the first half at least, it’s reasonably palatable. The second half does seem to lose a bit of focus and I think if I listened to much more of the bonus material, I’d maybe consider reaching for the old fire axe.

Interesting, some weird bits

aivan sairaalloinen laulaja... viimesiä hengen vetoja studiossa ja taisteli, taisteli niistäkin.. kamala kuulla. aleksanteri 'skipped eli hypähti yksi sydän pumputus johti kuolemaan' spence... vikat 6 biisiä kaikki minuutin pätkiä kun oli kuolla kupsahtamassa aivan VITUN KUOLEMASSA JÄTKÄ... ja harrowing look in album cover... when the depth looks at you.. you look back. IN SORROW!!!!! cripple creek

Belongs in a skip

It starts off pretty okay and by the end it's just annoying. I know how vanilla this might sound, but the dude should've just played the straight country/folk and left the psychedelic stuff out of it. I will say that the story behind this album was rather something. It was more interesting that the album.

My initial thought is this feels like a demo recording that this guy just hit record and then got really wasted and just made incoherent noises and random babbling for an hour. Then, I read more about the album, and it really happened this way. So, while I hated it, I'm giving more stars for being able to nail how this album happened.

Interesting album in how he pulled all this material together and performed it himself. I appreciate the art but not a fan of the music

There is some truly awful singing on this album.

Nah I don’t think I can bear with 64 minutes of this lament (currently by the 30th), i guess I’ll die without knowing what was special about it… or wait is that it?

Intense story, but not a great album

Vaag gemompel, iets te trippy

An album I'd never heard of by someone I'd never heard about, which was exciting as it might have been some amazing lost album that I needed in my life. The Wikipedia story about him and the album definitely made it seem like that might be the case but overall it was a disappointment, sounding like some rough demos of some half-baked ideas. Was hoping for something like Pink Moon but didn't get it.

Think I’ll just listen to Leonard cohen. Some cool drumming on the later tracks but is not very enjoyable to listen to

Some weird shit in here, some of it not really for me and some of it not bad. You do get a sense that the album is made in earnest at least. Most of the tracks feel like demos. But the guy wrote most of it while detained in a mental health ward so...

Just painful. It's sad that this is the point where Skip Spence is teetering into the abyss, but we don't need to listen to it.

I cannot imagine why this would be on the kist. There must be at least a 1001 other singer songwriters from the 60s and 70s just like this. Run of the mill at best.

This one's a snoozer! Fine overall, but not for me

Bu, börja bra sluta blä

The first half wasn't bad, it was an interesting folksy thing. But it lost me in the second half.

Eh.

This is an album that Harry Du Bois would love to perform at the Whirling-In-Rags in Martinaise. Driven by drunken stupor and just mumbling his way through the lyrics, he sings every word with feeling even though he has no idea what he's singing about at this point. I'm not really sure what to make of this album. Guess it's impressive that it sounds fully realized despite Skip Spence sounding absolutely hammered throughout most of it, and there are songs that are good - like War in Peace. That said, I also feel like this is too much of a personal breakdown and that I shouldn't be listening to it.

The guitar work was good, his voice was...interesting, I didn't particularly care for the album

This is supposed to be intimate, but I find it utterly tedious and unremarkable. The songs were - literally - therapeutic for the artist, and they sound like it, but they do nothing for my listening enjoyment. 1.5/5

argh idk what to say dude it’s kinda nice but like there’s no real substance there i feel. overall pretty mid

I didn't really enjoy his voice on most tracks. A few were passable, but overall not my cup of tea.

Generic. It dragged by the end.

But why

Meh

haunting but not in a good way

An exhibit of an insane man

Oude Amerikaanse popmuziek? Leuk maar ook niet heel bijzonder. Op den duur is het album zelfs een beetje slaapverwekkend. **

Dragged on and was boring at parts. Often seemed to lack direction. Highlights were the lyricism in weighed down (the prison song) and bass in shorter, more inviting songs like if I’m good

psychfolk? no

Not the biggest fan, uneven quality across the songs. Singer has a good voice which matches the tone of some songs better than others on this album

Very pleasant, but got bored

Ok start, rough finish.

This struck me as 60s de rigeur

Not pretty enough to have so little energy.

Kind of good but kind of not also. Wouldn’t come back.

Fine but dull

Just nonsense - interesting story, but really not worth a listen

Dit had mij zomaar positief kunnen verrassen maar vandaag niet. Ikvond het erg langdradig

Schijnt dus de oude drummer te zijn van Jefferson Airplane. Buiten dat vond ik het maar weinig vermeldingswaardig.

Wat een ge-dooie-mol.

boring and mumbling

Psychedelic rock, probably would sound great while tripping, but I don't dabble in that so it was a bit boring.

Not necessarily bad, just extremely dull. It was much more interesting reading about this guy than listening to his music.

This didn’t do much for me. Nothing stood out. Now, it may have been because of a head wind and hills but I don’t think so.

Became dull after a bit

2, interesting lore for this but ultimately not very enjoyable

countryblues. I'm sure it's a sad story behind the record, but I just couldn't get into it.

I generally like psychedelic music. Not this one though.

Honestly, the story behind this album was far better than the music in it. It sounds like a bunch of demos that never got to get finished - which, spoiler alert, it was.

Very lame psychedelia. Not a fan

the mumbles of a vagabond hippie street musician. Protip: the original issue of this ended after Grey/Afro

Not a fan

He’s a hippy

Does not like his voice... the style is too under the weather

Sorry, Spence, but it's a Skip

Was a weird album. Then I read the wiki and get why. My heart already belongs to one psychedelic 60s rock icon who was certifiably insane and institutionalized. I don't need another. This guy didn't even mention 2 headed dogs once

Heartbreaking. The guy has talent. I like his singing style, and the mixing is impressive despite the fact he plays all the instruments. Doesn't sound too bad either. The best tracks are in the first half. Songwriting is unique and whimsical, and I appreciate his efforts, but they aren't particularly remarkable by any means. He has some diversity in his tracks, but the majority are misses. My favorite track is the psychedelic "War in Peace," although I'm also partial to "Margaret-Tiger Rug." I honestly do feel bad for the guy. His life sucks, and he tries to do something creative, but it doesn't hit the mark.

A bit slow and dreary for me. Has a country twang to it. Decent album

The guy on the cover looks smacked off his tits. the music is way to indie/Psychedelic/surreal for me. 2/5

i mean… okay for a literal insane person it wasn’t that terrible… yes i would never voluntarily listen to it again however i have to give him a little credit for doing this while he’s him

Meh

Un altre descobriment de la llista, disc en solitari d'aquest Jefferson Airplane tancat per esquizofrènia. Em resulta més destacable pel seu posi històric (sembla que les composicions van ser gestades durant la seva estada al frenopàtic) que pels seus resultats. Folk rock psicodèlic, a mig camí entre l'intimisme depressiu d'un Nick Drake o el folk piscodèlic d'un Syd Barret amb tonades que semblen provinents de la seva banda mare. El conjunt, però, no destaca per una inspiració de primer nivell

12th October 2021 Mainly listened in the shower while at home home. Really interesting to read about Alexander spence and his struggles with mental health and how he wrote this album while in an asylum. I like that he was left totally alone in the studio and recorded all of this all on his own with the tapes running.

Interesting listen but not one i am likely to repeat.

A bit too folk country for me

So I don’t really love this album so far. It’s not terrible, but I don’t really like his voice and singing style all that much. Honestly, I don’t even want to listen to the whole album. It’s just not my jam.

So interesting low country/psychedlic rock but I just found it too meandering.

Zoals de beschrijving beloofde een erg sombere plaat. Het verhaal erachter is op zijn minst opmerkelijk, maar de muziek spreekt me niet aan

This album definitely needs background reading to really be appreciated. But that's a pretty bad thing in my book. I'm judging this album purely on its musical merits and the music simply can't quite stand by itself. I'll give the guy that he was a surprisingly varied singer and that the instrumentation is very simple but passable, considering he did it all himself. I'll also give him that the music is full of feeling. But even considering that - these are only demos and they definitely sound like demos. In that light, a 2 (would give 2.5 if I could) is a pretty good score. If the music were fully fleshed out, played by a band and produced in a good quality, this would probably be a 4 with a possibility of going on 5. I liked Books of Moses, that one had a Doors vibe.

Don’t really dig this. It’s got a Leonard Cohen feel to it, just not as interesting. It’s an achievement to do a whole album solo but this could have benefitted from a little bit more accompaniment. Moses and Dixie feel like highlights for me. Very unlikely I’ll revisit this one.

Didn't like

Ihme settiä taas, säälikakkonen

The circumstances around the creation of this album are interesting (and a bit sad), but I can't say Columbia were wrong to think it's bad.

Boooooring...

Es un álbum curioso y entiendo que esté en la lista, pero no me parece que haya coherencia a lo largo de las canciones. Eso sí, me sorprende que saliera en 1969.

Another mumbling American whose genius is "misunderstood". Can play the axe tho. And chase his former band mates with one...

Did not enjoy

Gar nicht meins...

Mumbling singer-songwriter whose lyrics and musicianship have lost a bit of the way. Too much acid, without the soul or funk.

Sunshine of your love reference was my favorite part. Didn't really know what to make of this album. It was long, and quiet, a little boring but the singer's voice was interesting and the fact that this was called 'a soundtrack to schizophrenia' by reviewers... makes me wonder how to learn from it.

Bob Dylan-Lite but with an even worse singing voice, which I didn’t even think was possible

This album is mental. So is Skip apparently. Most of this is pretty poor and Lawrence of Euphoria is a genuine contender for the worst song I’ve ever heard. But also quite a few songs on here I really liked so he gets a 2

Meh

Can't see anything special there

Tää on varmaan joku legendaarinen kaveri, vähä valjuksi jää.

Eh

Liked Little Hands and Diana. The rest was not for me. The emphasis of a psychedelic core was a little overbearing.

Pretty boring. A worse Syd Barrett.

it was alright

Discount Jim Croce

This album has some good sounding music. The instrumentals are decent enough for similar era country/folk music. The lyrics can be hard to understand due to them sometimes no making sense to me and at other times they're muffled.

I hated almost every single moment of this album and after reading his tragic story and death here in Santa Cruz it was incredibly depressing as well. I feel like its so well regarded because of his story and not the music.

A dude songwriter.

Omituinen levy, jonka taustat aukesi paremmin wikipediasta lukemalla. Jotkut biisit hyvinkin tavanomaisia ja jopa ihan mukiinmeneviä, mutta kokonaisuuden rikkoo monet todella erikoiset ja heikot kappaleet jotka tuntuu jopa jonkinlaiselta improvisaatiolta. Jokin levyssä silti kiehtoo, ja ehkä tätä pitääkin kuunnella vielä paremmalla keskittymisellä uudestaan.

A few gems, but otherwise feels a bit like it was written in a van down by the river under a bridge. With lots of heroin.

Hard to get through to be honest

I love the work that he did with moby grape but I think his talent was spent at this point. It’s too bad, really make you wonder what could have been

Way before it’s time but not ready yet imo

5 star Album Summary, 1 star Album.

Thoughts - is this guy purposely trying to be the clown of 60s music? The album oscillates from "shitty Beatles-inspired song" and "shitty Cohen sounding song" Ok, I learned that he recorded this as a demo. His producer had Columbia release it without his consent, which was the labels lowest selling release. Who the fuck put this on this list? This album represents my least favorite approach to this list: the "retroactively significant" release, obviously sensationalized by Skip's turbulent mental health experiences. The album is one of the early examples of what would become a widespread phenomenon: young white men making shitty music that sounds like it comes from a basement. Just because that may be significant in and of itself (STRONG emphasis on may) - why do we need to pretend like an album like this has ANY PLACE alongside the other artists? It's an insult to great albums that did not make this list, pure ridiculous extents our post-modern minds go in the search for meaning in art. Dude was not talented, and suffered a lot. Get him the fuck off this list

First album I couldn't finish because it made me physically sick. Every song felt like suffering psychic damage. I had to go lie down and I wasn't even halfway through this monstrosity. I think this album's on the list because you really do die after managing to get through it. Won't put it under 'did not listen', because I unfortunately did. And wish I could, but can't give it anything lower than 1.

How? Why? Some boring and sad stuff here.

Baffled by the legacy of this album. Definitely a lot of lore in the story but this is unlistenable.

“Described as "one of the most harrowing documents of pain and confusion ever made"“. Yes this is how I was made to feel.

I don't think the person who compiled this list knows what they're talking about

Schlecht

I was hoping this album would be interesting after learning of the backstory, but it really does just sound like the rambling and plonking of an insane person. Not worth a listen.

Listened to the first half, skipped the second. I almost always force myself to listen to the whole album, but I realised it has no point if it's just a chore I hate. Without merits.

cacaotq

Almost unlistenable 60s psychedelic folk. No idea how it made the list but at 64 minutes it was a slog

So meh!

too slow and of no interest

I'm going to steal someone else's review - now we know why he's called Skip !!! I'm certain it was taped like this that made Andy Kershaw decide he didn't want to be John Peel . Endless , awful knob twiddling mixing in a bedroom . No wonder he only did one album .

3 or 4 tracks where he was trying to be a Dylan clone (not a good thing). And the rest were not worthy of note of.

Surely takes the award for the weirdest album on this list. Awful vocalist and talentless musician, can only be included because he was bat shit crazy. I’m not trying to be judgemental, but I’m going off the Wiki notes. Reading about him was more enjoyable than listening to him.

I hate this so much.

So bland and dull it's incredibly sad. There is nothing I found of virtue here, it's like this man has decide to do the same poor man's Cohen impersonation in a song a 100 times over. It is desperate to have an editor cause most of them are not worth anyone's time.

Far too meandery

Walmart Gordon Lightfoot (WHO DID NOT GET A SINGLE ENTRY ON THIS LIST????????????????????????????) I quit. I need some serious time off from this, or may never come back. This whole compendium is such a bullshit mockery of quality music. Like 80/20 split of garbage vs. legitimate material. Fuck this, fuck that, fuck you, I'm out. Alexander Spence, you broke me on Robert Dimery's behalf. Eat shit, bitch.

Cover-art reminiscent of Harry Nilsson schlubbing around in his bathrobe (“Nilsson Shmilsson”). Does not have the talent to match, though. The longer you listen to it, the more apparent that becomes. Like somebody gave me a demo tape thinking I was Harry Nilsson and would appreciate this. I’m not, and I don’t.

Couldn't do it. There's so little coherence to it both musically and lyrically.

2 - Acid must be a hell of a drug, that just dragged onnnnnnnn

A new artist for me and unfortunately I think this might be the last I listen to him as well. While the music isn't bad at all its just very depressing and that isn't what I am looking for when listening to music. Having sadness and using music in a way to handle and get through that is something I love and use myself as does many other people and artists. But this makes me feel even worse than before listening through it so as a way of processing sadness this isn't for me one bit.

Meh

Seriously?

Thank you for trying

Some of the worst drug-induced dabbling I’ve heard that tries to sell itself for an “album.”

Fragmented psychedelic folk shaped from fragile acoustic guitars, skeletal percussion, warped blues passages, and ghostlike vocals feels like walking alone through the ruins of someone else’s fever dream—unsteady, intimate, and unsettling. The album drifts between coherence and collapse givibg IT a haunting power that lingers and I have Impulse go banish it back to hell.

Some albums really shouldn't be made. I had never heard of it before, but in reading the background it seems exploitative at best. As an album it is disjointed and weak. Not sure how it even made it to such a list, but... here we are.

This was so dull it could make a coked up toddler fall asleep

Can you make an album? Sure. Should you make an album? Not this time. There is some solid guitar work here but the singing is fucking atrocious, both tonally and lyrically. I can see how it made the list from an oddity perspective.

Did not like

Nope

And I quote: “I am in pain.” What a slog. Took me 3 sittings to get through this and I don't think I enjoyed a second of it.

I didn't know him. I can see, well actually hear why. Poor vocals. Poor album

In my opinion, not great. It’s super minimal but just comes across like a practice session, especially on the back half. The vocal delivery is kinda mumbling. 1.1/5.0

I should've seen 'skip' as a warning

Listening to this it feels like a bruce Springsteen prototype but without the tunes, lyrics or good voice.

Two boring folk albums from 1969 two days in a row? Thanks RNG gods! This guy sounds like the stereotypical senile old man voice. He was also mubble-singing before it was cool in 2020s pop. It was literally impossible to know what he was saying most of the time. The instruments on their own were fine, but for some reason they became simply annoying noise once combined with each other. Favorite Track: Dixie Peach Promenade (Yin for Yang)

Not for me

no.

Mid at best instrumentals accompanied by a voice only a mother could love. Just because an album has a different sound does not mean it’s influential and belongs on this list…

this is so bad i couldn't finish it i was about to fall asleep

boring

Honestly just sounds like some dude jamming in his bedroom and not anything fully fleshed out

I was reading that this was a set of demos a mostly crazy person recorded on his own after a stay in a mental health hospital after attacking friends with an axe. yeah that's the most interesting part about this music

Чувак даже не умеет петь. Что он здесь делает со своим альбомом?

I feel like we should have had a better eye on this guy at this time. Attacks his bandmates with an axe and then writes an album described as "one of the most harrowing documents of pain and confusion ever made"

I had no preconceptions of this at all, absolutely not terrible but pretty bad, “War In Peace” bears another listen, if only for the proto sampling - towards the top of the one stars. Tom.

Now this is some pretentious music thats nothing special, in fact terrible. Boring. How is there anyone that thinks this is one of the best albums ever? Mental.

I did not hate this but at the same time it's completely unlistenable?

I really don't have much to say. I have no idea why this album would possibly be on this list.

Did absolutely nothing for me

A middling album by a clinically insane person. Less psychedelica, and more just guitar driven singer/songwriter folk. This album and his album with Moby Grape are not essential albums that need to be on this list. It is clearly only on here for morbid curiosity reasons (same goes for the Syd Barrett solo album) and not meaningful artistic and technical reasons. A complete waste of time. They typical crap you here from buskers when you are on your way to your train in the subway.

Brutal. I played what I listened to at 1.5 x's speed to make it sound like he was singing normally, not draaaging out the lyrics.

favs: weighted down (the prison song) keep everything under your hat i think you and i rating 0.5/5

Whoever considers this music, you’re high

What an overall horrible album. I can’t understand who would actually put this out! Lower than 1 if that was possible! 😂

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

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.

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.

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

Horrifficly bad

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

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'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.

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.

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

So bad

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

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

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

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.

Proof that not everything from the olden days was good.

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.

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

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.

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

Not my Fall. Lol.

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

Not my thing

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

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

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.

No

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

Awful.

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.

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

No.

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

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.

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.

I hated this

Yawn

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.

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

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.

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

"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.

1 so bad

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

“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.

I didnt like this Its okay, but i just didnt enjoy it at all.

Chato pacarai

Didn't like it wan bit, such a chore to get through this

Don’t waste your time like I did.

This is awful. Belongs on no lists. Should be forgotten about and removed from history. Why? Just why? It is so boring and drags on. They were meant to be demos, and theyre not even good enough for that.

I was enjoying the album until the drumming started.

DNF'd. 3 tracks in this is not for me. Drunk Bob Dylan head ass

Reminded me of seventh grade beginning band. Who picks these albums? There’s a good reason that “it was at the time the lowest-selling album in Columbia Records history.”

Depressing moaning, I'm not strong enough to finish this one.

Quite possibly the most boring and uninspired album in history.

This is a mess. Some interesting moments and the backstory is interesting. Not really sure how this made the list.

This album sucks! So fucking boring. Every track got worse as it went on. Whoever created this list has either shit taste in music or is trolling everyone.

An hour long dirge

Boring. Can't hold a tune. Thin voice.

One of the book’s collaborators was taking bribes here or seeing what they could get away with. Dear FBI: if I’m ever suspected of terrorism charges, take me to gutanamo and play me this. I’ll tell you everything I know before the album finishes

Really not for me. Mumbles and weirdness.

Felt interminable listening to this dude’s off-key mumbling over low tempo guitar riffs. Outside of the Grey/This Time He has Come pairing, unlistenable

Repetitive and dirgey

Terrible ! 0/10

Not for me, didn’t even make it half way through

His only album. With good reason. Good riddance. 1 star

In an industry with no shortage of options, this for me is probably the single most exploitive album to which I've ever listened. Congratulations, David Rubinson and Mike Figlio, you've managed to create the Stanford Prison Experiment in the form of an album.

Потраченного времени жаль. Можно было совершенно спокойно не включать это чудо природы в данный список.. какие-то записки психически неустойчивого человека, именно что записки, на песни это мало похоже

1/5

boring

Pidän siitä ettei laulun tartte olla täydellistä ja että otetaan tilaa, mut tarviiko hänelle antaa täällä yli tunnin verran rämpyttelytilaa?