Sing To God

An album where I often was thinking: "Wtf is this?! I love it" Not the most easily digestible music, but always surprising

One of the most important skills a band/artist can have is a keen sense of editing, a sense that is sorely lacking on this LP. I'm not opposed to the maximalist instrumentation and kind of dug the industrial, squealing guitar, but the histrionic vocals and repetitive songwriting meant this thing was doomed from the start with a nearly 90-minute runtime. It's exhausting to take in tracks this loud and relentless over that span, and even though the album seemed to hit its stride in the back half I was too exhausted and checked out by then to care.

Thanks for adding a Cardiacs album to this list, contributor! One of the most neglected bands of all time. I like “A Little Man… Window” and “On Land And In The Sea” more; this is a great album though. The music is very eclectic and overcomplicated, but full of ideas, beautiful melodies, humor and funny lyrics.

Okay, this was some wacky stuff. I would not have pegged this as coming out anywhere near 1996, so I guess kudos on these guys for being different. Has tinges of Krautrock and Zappa's weirder stuff. At its worst it's assertively annoying, lyrically inane, and way too long. I can hear there's some musical skill in there, but Cardiacs seem more focused on being off the wall than on being coherent or listenable. Mentally tapped out several songs before it was all over. Fave Songs: Odd Even, Flap Off You Beak, Fiery Gun Hand, Wireless

Hey Tim. Hey Jim. I've got an idea for our next record. Oh yeah? What's that then? Let's take every idea we've ever had and play them all at the same time. Won't that just sound like a big mess? Well, yes. But it would be *supposed* to sound like a big mess. We'll have achieved our artistic intent. People would have to respect it. Are you sure, Jim? Yes, Tim. Also, it should be a double album. But won't that mean that the good bits get lost in a sea of random dross and massively irritate anyone who listens to it? Artistic intent, Tim. Artistic intent. Fine. Whatever. Rating: 1 Playlist track: Fiery Gun Hand Date listened: 22/12/24

I was just listening to this the day before! I’m glad someone else picked this album so I don’t seem like a snob who doesn’t give anyone else’s albums a 5. I’m also glad that I’m not the only one with the audacity to pick such an inaccessible first listen. This album is an uphill battle, but once you climb that hill… there’s no view quite like it. R.I.P. Tim Smith, and thank you for letting us gaze into your world

Always fun to see something described as polarizing in the pre-listen research and wonder which side I'll fall on. Pretty skeptical early on but it brought me around fairly quickly, and grew on me. Wielding metal tropes with real ability, plus some of the nightmare darkscape vibes of The Residents, and a gamut of broad influences. It grew on me too although in the last say fifth it was wearing on me too at significant length. Requires active listening. But thumbs up overall.

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Eat it up worms hero, Fiery gun hand, Angleworm angel, Nurses whispering verses

Whole not quite at the Guided by Voices level, this is an intriguing album that never stays in one place long enough to bore you.

What a long, strange journey this is! I started off annoyed at the manic nature of this. TWO HOURS?! Good god no! Then I put on the headphones and started to do some work while I listened. A lot of weird things went on. Somehow I fell into a groove and I was at some twisted fun fair teetering from one crazy ride to the next, never quite sure how the experience would go down. This crazy carnival at times had me nauseated, thrilled, scared, and annoyed. But no matter how I felt at the end of one ride I couldn’t wait to jump on the next one. Just like I did at the fair.

This got to be one of the weirdest albums in this list... No idea why I liked it.

This was weird but not terrible. Kinda liked it a bit. 3.5/5 but rounding down because I’ll like a lot more 4/5 albums more than this one.

Another fourth studio album? Wow. That was one long album. I'm not sure I fully understood it. Mind is still processing what it was about. I guess the chances of me listening to it again are fairly slim.

This was better than I expected it to be by taking some fun turns into pep band and bombastic theater sounds. Still not sure if the second disc was super necessary.

I couldn't have disliked this much more. It felt like being pounded over the head with a hammer for an hour and a half. It's obvious these lads are talented, but I with they would use their talents for good, not this hyper-frenetic bullshit. 2 stars for the effort.

I can only assume this is a big deal if you have ADHD. 2/5.

I can't in good faith give this 1 star even though I want to. There's too much creativity on display, as well as a clear sense of authorship. I have no doubt that this is exactly what these artists wanted to produce and put out into the world. I have to applaud that. I just hated basically every minute of it.

Some of the musical sequences/sections are great. Interesting and enjoyable. However, the whole thing is glued together with what sounds like a zany musical carnival. Creative, yes, but it sounds weird for weird's sake.

Creepiest album cover ever? Maybe. They definitely came for that title hard in this photo.

Sounds like having a cardiac arrest

All just felt a bit chaotic, maybe jsut wasn’t in the mood for this today. I’m sure if I gave this time I might learn to love it.

Rock progresivo. Tostón rallante. Un 2. Pufff, el disco dos es tan sumamente lamentable que un 1.

Great talent, good ideas but it's just too much. Too long, too dense and not really well composed.

I usually get upset when someone interrupts me while trying to listen to albums at work. I was okay this one got interrupted. Didn’t go back later. This is like clown prog? Not sure what’s happening

Fast-paced noise, cartoon-like sounds, random sounds...that's what I found on this album. More than an hour of the same stuff was too much. Maybe I don't appreciate this kind of proposals, but that's just my feeling.

This was like if you took meth and acid at the same time. It was chaotic, weird, and just not a good time. This album is way too long but it’s also just not very good. There’s been music on this list that may not have been my favorite but it could still be subjectively good. This album, I mean, is pretty close to objectively bad. 1.3/10

Overrated.

I couldn't. I thought we were through with the insufferable with the 1001 in the rear view and these being used picks. Who would do this? Is it a prank? 90 minutes of a cacophony. One star. Bottom of the heap. I refuse to torture myself.