Penguin Eggs

I loved this and never wanted it to end. I wanted to crawl inside and sit near the sea with my legs dangling over the edge. I wanted to sing along in a carpet lined pub. I wanted to wear a chunky sweater and smell stale beer as I played the melodeon.

True quality cannot be denied. Penguin Eggs is such quality. It was voted various times as one of the best folk albums of all time. Sublime tunes performed in a classical way. It sometimes sounds like you are transported centuries back in time (in a good way). If even the great master is a fan (Dylan covered "Canadee-I-O"), who is someone else to question it.

This came out of left field for me. Knew nothing of it. I have a soft spot for very old style folk music. I think it was due to the presence of Great Big Sea and Spirit of the West on Canadian radio and Much Music as a teenager. As a result I have an appreciation for this style of music. I really enjoyed and will likely come back to it in the future.

Didn't know the first thing about Nic Jones when I woke up this morning, but it's easy to understand why *Penguin Egg* was overlooked for the 1001 Albums book. By 1980, the golden years of British folk -- as most famously represented by Fairport Convention -- were already far into the rearview mirror, and apart from albums by Richard Thompson (from the same Fairport Convention), the English music press was probably too busy covering the punk / new wave explosion to spend enough time on less exposed figures playing traditional folk music instead. So, many thanks to the anonymous user trying to correct that mistake here. Of course, some listeners not versed into the genre might find this recording a little quaint overall, but as far as I'm concerned, my mileage on trad-folk fare has vastly evolved in recent years, and this now plays a part in the manner that I can appreciate this sort of album. I'll never tire of repeating this on this generator, by the way: the main cause of that evolution is falling in love with the work of Irish band Lankum, also mostly recording traditional folk songs (some of whom date from way, WAY back, ha ha), but doing it with a very personal and distinctive take. So I encourage anyone who likes this Nic Jones album to spin the records of those Irish musicians as well -- especially *False Lankum*, released two years ago. Now about *Penguin Egg*: "Canadee-I-O", "The Humpback Whale" and "Courting Is A Pleasure" are absolute gems. And beyond the timeless emotion seeping from Jones' vocal performance here, those songs also nicely showcase the man's abilities as a guitar player -- not only the picking and strumming technique, but also his use of open tunings or open voicings for the chords he plays. Here is, in a nutshell, what makes Nice Jones's performance sound so good to my ears. The rest of the tracklist might not be as striking on a first listen, but it's still perfectly fine traditional folk. Jones is sometimes joined by a very minimal group of supporting players, on recorders, accordions and the likes, and the result will play out nicely on your stereo in an idle Sunday morning. One last aside to end this tentative review: "The Humpback Whale" is a song originally composed by a folk scene figure named Harry Robertson, and if you go and find information about him, you'll discover the man has led quite an extraordinary life, related to his involvement in the whaling industry and how such a harsh life inspired him to become a songwriter. This anecdote is just an example of how albums like *Penguin Eggs* can also be entry points into a far larger world, where life stories and inspiring music feed from each other. If only for this, I have to support the suggestion I saw on my phone today. 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 4 8.5/10 for more general purposes: 5 + 3.5 Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ----- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 46 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 58 (including this one) Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 110 --- Hey, Émile. J'ai enfin trouvé le temps de répondre ! Regarde sous la review de *Young, Loud And Snotty* des Dead Boys !

Expertly done sea folk

This was a pleasant surprise! I listen to a lot of folk music from the UK and this is probably the happiest and most upbeat folk album I've heard.

Folky rock with accordion. If you're in the mood for folk, it's enjoyable. If you're not, it will be suffering.

This is one of the genres that just does not seem to transcend time. It's dated and kinda difficult to listen to. Wish I could be more positive about it.

An 80s Second British Folk Revival is bound to be a bit off, and there's this feeling I can't shake this whole album where it just feels... goofy? I mean, it just starts to feel like a parody of itself at this point, and decent instrumentation even wears thin after so long. Maybe singing this with some mates in a bar would make it much better, but this just feels off, and I can't do much in my mind to understand why, but I don't think I really care enough to figure it out, either.

Some delightful and apparently legendary folk from across the pond. If you are a non-UK listener check out the wiki page for this one to read about a bunch of folks you’ve never heard of saying they love this album

Very folky indeed. Almost like sitting by a bonfire, with some beer and some good company

Yay! Love this. I want to interlock arms with a fair maiden and skip in opposite directions when I listen to this. Good production, instrumentation, vocals, songwriting, and lyrics. This isn’t going to shatter the world, but it is very fun. 4/5

Loved this. 4 stars.

I felt like I should be near the sea with an accordion. Lovely album.

Lovely folk, never heard of it before

I am so very far from being into folk, and I firmly believe that all accordions should be kicked to bits, but despite this, I actually appreciated this album. I won't go as far as to say I liked it, but I did appreciate the skill and the artistry of it, accordions excepted.

Rating: 6/10

3.5

Interesting folk album, if not exactly my favorite thing to listen to.

It's a folk album, pure and simple. If that's your thing, you'll dig it.

Very solid, pretty straightforward folk. Another very tough story with this fellow. I liked it but didn't find it particularly special within its genre.

Yum

This was really lovely, perfect fall day listening. Thank you for sharing it. Fave Songs: Canadee-I-O, Planxty Davis, The Drowned Lovers, Courting Is a Pleasure

Folk inglés. Ni fu ni fa.

Nice enough

Ah, the springy and agile acoustic guitar playing was pretty tasty and really well performed and recorded, but I'm just not a fan of that overly earnest and keening vocal style that's the standard with this kind of folk music. Give me some instrumental Michael Hedges acoustic guitar playing any day over this, or some John Martyn. Cool to have heard it though, as I'd never heard of this acclaimed album before.

This type of folk music never really works for me, so I didn't connect with this much, but I also can't say that I dislike it. He has a nice voice and he crafts good songs that he performs well. It's not my thing, but if this is your thing, than I can only assume that it will really really be your thing 3/5

Meah Doesn’t offend

Dull dull dull

Sure was a folk album from the 80s.

There’s some amazing guitar and fingerpicking on this LP, but the storytelling and pacing are such drags that this felt like more of a slog than anything else.

This was just so, so terrible