Reviews (page 6 of 7)
Last thing I needed was a soft jazz version of In A Gadda Da Vida fronted by the guy from The Commitments.
alright, not my thing
Strong start but this really didn’t hold me, learning that was the original spinning wheel was nice though!
This was really fun
Not sure this aged well
This became annoying really quickly. There's one and a half good songs here, surrounded by self-indulgent tedium. I will always maintain that there is no place for a drum solo on any studio album, it's just there to waste time.
I found this mostly forgettable and occasionally annoying. The hits were all well and good, but the mid NOLA jazz and some of the cheesy covers brought this down. 2.4/5 -> 2/5
Just solid late 60s classic rock. Nothing special. A few hits. 2.85
I’m sure someone likes this kind of music but I don’t
I really hear different facets of this band’s sound depending on my mood. I can appreciate the soul influences and the big band/ brassy orchestral flourishes in spots, but today it just sounds like Tom Jones or some other Vegas schlock.
Only knew Spinning Wheel, didn’t care much for the rest of the album.
Meh
I don't fully understand what is going on with this album. There doesn't seem to be any sort of cohesiveness.
An all over the place album. It has enjoyable moments overall but lacks cohesion. It was a fairly interesting listen. 7/10 [DROP]
This was just... not for me I guess, usually I would be all over the jazz influence and genre mixings but it felt quite flat here tbh. 4/10
What a strange and unappealing album. I don’t get it. It’s all over the place with some not so great cover versions and the odd classical interludes. I mean good for them and they’re clearly good musicians but it does not make a good album. Baffling
I thought I would love this. But I didnt.
A mix of an album. Some good and some not so good. 2 stars. Fave track. Spinning wheel
First and last songs were good, everything in between was not interesting
Inoffensive jazzy rock.
Umm... no. I don't want to spend all this time just to listen to "You've Made Me So Very Happy", which is the only truly good song on the album. The whole thing feels like Tom Jones with a full orchestra, and everyone gets a solo, the songs stretch on too long and don't go anywhere. My rating: 2/5
Nothing could sound more 70s a.m. radio riding around in Mom’s 10 Chevy nova than this. Doesn’t resonate with me. It’s professional. I am going to check out the Al Kooper led debut to see if it’s got a little swing and grit to it but if has this seventies sheen then it’s in the toilet for me.
I was very confused when this album opened with my alarm song. The WFH moments didn’t stop there. Rocking out, then switch to some quiet flute. Throw some country into a jazzy track. Spinning Wheel is a BST original? So confused. Some great musicianship on display, but I’m not into it. 2/5
This is Emerson Lake and Palmer for jazz fans, and it is very mediocre throughout.
Couldn’t really get into it. I appreciate it but I more so appreciate I’m not into it
There’s something a bit charming about this, probably in large part because of Spinning Wheel (and its place in the heart of all CanCon lovers) but still, it’s kinda silly. And the performances are so tight - rhythm section admirably so - I don’t get the sense they were entirely conscious of how goofy it is.
bronk bo bonk bor bo ronk brooo aaaa aa aBRAAHH BRONK BOMNKKK
This record left me mostly indifferent, although I can't really explain why, since it should be right up my alley on paper. The band is certainly talented, but getting through the whole thing felt like a chore, I just didn't vibe with it. Maybe I couldn't get past the stylistic mess - they seem to be trying pretty much anything and everything to see what sticks, and can't make up their mind about what they want to do. Each musician is pretty good individually, with solid drums and competent vocals. There are also some tight arrangements all through the album, no doubt about that. But the jazz, country, soul and psych rock parts never really come together in my opinion, they just alternate from track to track with no clear direction. Spinning Wheel and Blues Part II are pretty much the only songs I truly enjoyed. I might give the album another try in a few weeks, but I'm not optimistic. 4/10
Ist mir zu durcheinander, nicht mein Ding.
Album má zaujímavé momenty, ale asi sa k nemu už nevrátim.
I am gonna love this when im accepting social security checks
Occasionally catchy, but still soulless cheese, really.
This is definitely an album on this list.
More jazz similar to temptations but too long , I’m not a big jazz guy.
nah
Not really sure what to make of this. It's really all over the place. Starts off with an instrumental relaxing song, then goes to some soft rock? This album doesn't know what it wants to be. Although I had a total blast listening to And When I Die. Best song: And When I Die
A little too jazzy for me. Favorites: And When I Die, You've Made Me So Very Happy Would I listen to it again: No (except the two songs above)
Meh, too much boring brass. Parp!
What in the Tom-Jones-meets-Chicago is this? Throwing Satie at the top is such a strange flex.
Did not do much for me, but can see it grow
Matige pop songs verbloemd met jazz intermezzos en solo's. Het is niet boeiend. Nog wel twee sterren omdat muzikanten technisch goed zijn.
Wel leuk, goeie muzikanten en vond de live sessies op t laatst het leukst. Ik heb mooie jazz dingetjes gehoord. Ik vind de zanger alleen een erg vervelende manier van zingen hebben en overal klinkt het als een soort feestband op North sea jazz, een festival waar ik alleen naar toe zal gaan als iemand gratis kaartjes over heeft.
I was surprised how much I didn't enjoy this album as much as I thought I would. Normally jazz rock is right up my alley, but this album felt very disjointed and uneven. I didn't connect with the A side at all past the first track, and the B side was better but not by much. Maybe needed more guitar and less horns
Цікавий альбом в плані жанру і музики, але він вийшов не дуже цільним
I immediately recognized the first song as a part of the Trigun soundtrack. This album had some great musical ideas but it felt more like a brain dump of music than an arranged album. This is probably one of the best 2 star albums from my ratings though. Very listenable.
I just couldn't get into it
Nothing too memorable. Sounded fine but not impressed.
176/1089 saw that the first track would be a classical variation and was pleasantly surprised (and relaxed) when i recognised it it then went in a different direction to what i was hoping from that, not bad necessarily but not as interesting to me going through this album a bit bored but liking it enough as background music while i cook and then randomly hearing that very familiar brass hook in Blues, Pt. 2 was fun variations and blues were my favourites, the rest were alright and decent listening just not particularly exciting or engaging to me 48/100
Interesting music, a little jazzy. But not great overall
Eh. Not all bad, but more bad than good, imo.
Felt very disjointed and many of the songs made no sense on their own let alone alongside the rest of the ones in the album. A few were fun but not nearly enough to put up with the rest of the album.
2 1/2. A couple of very good songs.
Not what I was expecting.
(43/100)
Not my thing but recognized the theme from movies, although I guess it was the original version rather than this one.
It’s a 3 on a good day. It is not a good day
Tituleres på spotify som "rocke-gruppe"... eehm..
Not bad, but just not my style.
Very variable. A couple of great tracks, a couple of trip inspired nonsense.
Wasn’t really sure what to make of this
So much variety here in brilliantly - executed jazz, rock and classical. And individually some of the songs are quite enjoyable. But, just like fish and sugar, it doesn't work very well when it's put together.
They're good musicians but the songs aren't there and his voice is annoying. Plus, is this a Christian album? Lot of overtones suggest that. Overall, a mess.
Technical Musicianship - 5; Artistic Sensibility - 1. Their ability to pass back and forth between styles is impressive. But it's so specifically arranged and deftly performed that the overall effect is of a television orchestra. It's like the 50 year old musical director of NBC decided to do a side-project to show all of the kids how hep he was. But what makes any artistic project worth auditioning is a point of view; and I can't find one here. Thank God the Stooges and New York Dolls came along to save us from all of this showmanship.
A lot of blood, sweat & tears went into me suffering through this one. I have always felt the 70's were unique musically in that for every great rock record produced there was a bunch of filler garbage that was a result of expanded studio capabilities that were deployed in a terrible way. At least we got Hank's musical number off this one. https://youtu.be/zUwSaO2SnHQ?si=b1gPUzmIecyMelP0
2,4 - Joa, das war ein Album. Lief gut durch, an manchen Stellen aber dann auch arg nervig. Highlights: More and More, God Bless the Child
No es el tipo de música que me gusta. No disfruto del todo el frenesí en los solos que tienen varias canciones, la mezcla de sonidos puede ser un arte maravilloso sin embargo, no soy alguien que lo pueda encontrar en el caos.
Yikes. This was all over the place. I'm 470-ish albums into the project now, and I can usually predict whether an album will be averaging more or less than 3. I'd have put good money on this being less than 3, but I'm surprised to see it's currently 3.1-something. I'm afraid I thought it was terrible. Being able to play really well has, sometimes, elicited a third star from me, even when I haven't really enjoyed an album. But not here. Yes, they can play. But the songs are mostly delivered in such a way as to sound really bland, if not hilariously bad at times. Trying to be positive, I liked the random salsa burst in the middle of God Bless the Child and one or two other trumpety moments. For me, no matter whose songs they're singing, they generally managed to make them sound very bland or excessively drawn out. It all needed to be dirtier.
непримечательный
I dunno man. I don't know. Decent. But. I have to hear this before i die? Im not sure i do? Fine Blues p2 absolutely sucks, waste of time and takes away the positives. Insipid
The horns are cool.
Couple ok songs but the whole like orchestra production doesn’t really do it for me the way its done here.
I like jazz, I can handle rocking soul, but the two together here did almost nothing to me. Can’t say there’s anything I would want to revisit, though it has the odd good jazz breakdown or shouty chorus.
Not my style of music, even for that era
A little bipolar. At one end is the buttery smoothness of Sometimes in Winter, at the other the toe curling barndance jiggery of And When I Die. I don't know.
Loud, bombastic, and full of energy. The frontman sure sounds like he’s having the time of his life. I just can’t really say the same. It’s inoffensive, but still kind of falls into that category of big band brassy music that you kind of have to love to really be on board with it. I give BST a soft 2/5. ⭐️⭐️
1,9/5
3 Couldn’t finish it, was doin me bloody tree in tbh
not for me.
5/10
Super corny and hate the production and arrangements
Early rock.
meh 2/5
I thought this was fine. Perhaps too over the top for me. 4/10.
Did not really like this one. Pretty endless and repetitive - although I'm sure it was influential. 2.5
Eh
fun but not something id listen to again
Jazz-rock mix žanras man nėra itin artimas, tačiau albume labai patiko variantion on the theme by erik satie: first movement. Pačios grupės pavadinimas ankščiau buvo girdėtas kažkur, tačiau jų muzika ši kart buvo pirmas kartas. Galbūt tam tikru momentu kitokioje aplinkoje (ne vasaros dienos metu) klausyčiau dar kartą.
It wasn't bad, but it just got boring.
What is this album supposed to be? I never figured it out.
The rating feels a bit harsh - This isn't a bad album necessarily. There's nothing wrong with it musically, it can be catchy. I found it incredibly boring though. Now, granted that this was '68, maybe the genres this is playing in weren't as developed as what I'm more familiar with - Especially the jazz and funk influences. But that's a generous assumption on my part, and I'm not sure that's true. It just feels really basic. It would be a fine album as background music in the extreme periphery of whatever I'm doing, but listening to it directly felt like a whole lot of nothing. Lets take for example the album 'The Kids & Me' by Billy Preston. This was 6 years later and it feels like the mid-70's, but it has a much better handle at how to make music like this sound fun and engaging. That's not a terribly complex either, its feel-good pop music. But I hard time accepting that just 6 years later there was some radical re-imagining of how music like this was made. And even if that was true, there is plenty of more engaging music from the 50's and 60's this could have drawn influence from. I guess to my ears it sounds like protestant kids trying to get in on some genres that they really don't understand, and through proximity of their own tepidity, due in fact to how watered down the music is, this made it a bigger hit in American pop culture where mainstream listeners already shared the same sensibilities.
Look, I can kinda understand why people really love this album, and if I squint and turn my head and maybe lay down sideways I can maybe see how it’s good. But it has some of the absolute worst production values known to man, with everything so thinned out as to be unlistenable. The music is pure technique and zero soul, with absolutely no punch or drive whatsoever. As someone in the artist notes put, this is a band that can’t decide if they’re an ultra pretentious pop band with horns or a jazz section masquerading in pop circles, and that’s it’s biggest failure. It’s not the worst album because the music is incredible on point. But when everyone coming after you improves on your sound, maybe your sound isn’t very good.
such a weird blend of influences i kept questioning who this was for. then the saloon organ solo came in & i realized the answer was no one. sunshine of your love interpolation im gonna kill myself
Very middle-of-the-road record to my ears. There are some nice progressive and jazzy ideas here and there, but as a whole, the music just isn’t compelling enough for me, and at times, I found it downright annoying. A good example is the Laura Nyro cover, "And When I Die". How did they take such a beautiful song and turn it into this? Their rendition of "God Bless the Child" is nice enough, though. I must be missing something with this one, but the only positive I got from listening was that the playing was pretty solid throughout. Still, I have no intention of revisiting it. 2.5/5
This album was either being excellent or shit, so I’m not quite sure what to give it. It was shit a good bit more though
2.5/5
This was musical whiplash. Chaotic changing of genre with almost every track. This did not feel like a cohesive album to me. It’s not *bad* but it’s certainly bizarre
The first song I thought this was some experimental classic band, then switch to some 60’s prog rock then switched to some Christian rock, then almost alt country then some bluesy song then to some free-form jazz jam band. Way too many directions. I would have given it one star but I somewhat liked "You've Made Me So Very Happy", "Spinning Wheel" and not sure about "And When I Die". Don’t need to hear this again.
Spinning wheel most listened to for good reason
smiling phases TOPP.
They're obviously talented, but for whatever reason, these guys never resonated with me.
1960s jazzy. Medium for my taste. I dont like very much but i dont hate as well.
Big heavy thumping clumsy rock n’roll n’all that jazz. Once I’d finished the record – or, really, once it had finished with me – I remembered the Satie at the top and had a genuine chuckle. It’s a bit of very well done fun (though I might have had a cringe at some of the vocal intonations). Che-yeah! 2.5.
I found the album fine to listen to but it didn't really move me in any way, shape or form. I thought it was quite a safe blend of jazz/rock without any real standout moments. Pretty bland overall. 2.5/5
2.75
Hey, not as bad as a post Al Kooper outing coulda been, and this is just so well known now with Spinning Wheel et al. Prefer.Little Milton's More and More. Some nice jazzy touches, but fairly MOR US stodge all up.
This was my parent's thing, they seemed to mention the band often but I don't really remember hearing them at home. I have never listened to this album or even their best of collection - but everyone knows "Spinning Wheel" which still gets a decent amount of airplay today & "You've Made Me So Very Happy". It hasn't aged all that well, it sounds older than 1968 to me ("Sometimes In Winter" for example). First thing I noticed was that a few of the songs should have been 3+ minutes but rang in at over 5 minutes ("Smiling Phases", "God Bless The Child") and that the horns were out in front of the vocal (poor mix). This is more jazzy than rock 'n rolly. I went into this hoping to learn something about a band I've been hearing about for 40 years but I was disappointed from start to finish. This doesn't hold up well and I can't imagine how it made this list; it's not cutting edge even for 1968, it has two hits, the band isn't a name mentioned in the halls of Rock & Roll, zero influence from what I know, by most accounts they're a two hit wonder. Not worthy. Disappointingly, 2 stars is all I can muster up for this album. I didn't enjoy the experience and can't determine why it made the Top 1001.
I like the horns that keep popping up but otherwise I think the album is boring.
I'm just not really sure what that was
Not bad per se but very unmemorable
Unique blend of instrumentals. Neat to hear the brass. Not really for me.
NO IDEA why I know the opening track but I do?? Must’ve been used in some Film or TV that I have seen. Sadly it is easily the best part of the album, and by Blues Pt. 2 the pretty flutes from the opener have turned to ugly farts.
Bit jazzy
Too much blues. Good recording, though.
This album just feels chaotic. What the fuck are they doing? What the fuck are they talking about? How did this beat out Abbey Road for album of the year in 1970? Especially considering the majority of it wasn’t written by them. Vocals aren’t particularly attractive either. Instrumentation is good if that’s the type of thing you’re in to, but classic rock jazz gets on my nerves unless Chicago is doing and, by the fucking way, there isn’t a single thing they do on this album that Chicago hasn’t done better. The only bit I really enjoyed was the part of “Spinning Wheel” when he says “and show you the colors that are real” and his voice gets all weird on the word ‘real’. On the whole, though, it all feels self-congratulatory. If this is the best they have to offer, I’ll go elsewhere. 2/5
★★½
Not uninteresting but it's mostly aimless, all over the place without much cohesion.
2.25
Jazzier than I expected. Sometimes beautiful yet sometimes rambling on like jazz.
Nah
It’s like the high school jazz band won nationals and got to be guest performers at a Vegas show. The best song is an original, but so is the worst. The rest of this record— literally every other song— is just meaningless covers. Sure, they’re covers by extremely talented musicians, but they’re still covers. On principle alone, this isn’t essential because it’s a cover album. In practice, it’s not essential because it’s boring and forgettable.
I fell asleep twice.
So...many...cheesy 60s cliches. The word cheesy kept coming to mind with almost every song. Particularly cheesy: Sometimes in Winter (cheesy music, cheesy lyrics), And When I Die (sounds like a cheesy Broadway track), You've Made Me So Very Happy (oh, so cheesy), and the cheesy horns in Blues Part II during Sunshine of Your Love. Rare exceptions: Spinning Wheel (except for the cheesy last minute, but the verses have a cool funky groove), God Bless the Child (good because the song is good, but there are much better versions out there). More and More was borderline...it has potential, but I think I was just too cheesed out. I hoped the album would get better as I listened a few times, but nope.
If you start your album by messing with Gymnopédie, the album bloody better impress me - and this, for the most part, did not. It's fine jazz funk pop rock... Stuff... But nothing stellar outside of And When I Die, and mostly it just feels like a slightly more pretentious version of Chicago. Meh, not coming back here I don't think.
This is the first artist generated here that I have seen perform live: Park 96, Calgary, 2007, about 1.5km as the crow flies from where I'm sitting writing this. I was 11. I remember feeling like something cool was happening! This won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1970, notably beating The Beatles' Abbey Road. The album's highly proficient and deeply inessential. I'm a sucker for Satie's Gymnopédie — maybe the most beautiful melody ever composed — but, come on.
nice enough but i just dont get it
So far it's decently mid across both days. Can't say I was too impressed with this album. Maybe it just hasn't aged well over the last 50 years but it wasn't hitting.
uhhh okay. yeah. yeah this was okay. i’m probably never gonna listen to this again. this is what i imagine every other song sung by the “don’t you forget about me” guy sounds like. like. yeah. okay. debating bw 2 and 3 but i think we’re going w 2 because of how bored i was
Pre-listening thoughts: this is the third day in a row we’ve gotten an album from 1968, and the seventh album from the 1960s in 9 days. What is going on. Post/during listening thoughts: ok so this literally just started but the Erik Satie intro is really beautiful. In terms of the rest of the album, it is… quite all over the place. I don’t know that I’d call this genre fusion; more like genre warfare. What is going on. 4/10 DID I NEED TO HEAR THIS BEFORE I DIE: no Fav tracks: Variations on a Theme by Erik Satie (both of em), Sometimes in Winter Least fav tracks: Smiling Phases, And When I Die, Blues Pt 2
'You've Made Me So Very Happy' was kind of good, but that's about it.
Got Chicago’s first album AND this, all in the same week! So many horns! So many flashbacks the summer I worked at the mall and the same music played on a three hour loop! (I don’t care for this.)
Lite för jazzigt.
From the artwork I was expecting a pretty dour roots/blues album, so it was a welcome surprise to hear some sprightly brass and jazz mixed in too. Even so, I lost interest during the more meandering sections. Plus it’s mostly covers (although the best track, Spinning Wheel, is a notable exception), so I don’t feel it deserves more than 2.5 stars.
Never liked this - even when I was eight.The 'big band' blues style - on the surface it's authentic looking, but underneath it's just schmaltzy & showbiz. Similar to Chicago.
Standout Track: And When I Die
pretty thin - a hippy take on the idea of a soulful big band, but there is not much more here than a couple of nice arrangements by Al Kooper
It was okay
Nope. I see the historical relevance but nah, not my vibe. I’ll round waaaaaaaaay up cuz I didn’t hate it
GUT
Talented musicians but not my style
A great opening track, and a great closing track (even though it's just a reprise of the opening track). But everything in the middle is boring as hell.
Didn't connect with this one. Thought it was going to be promising from the first half of the Satie, but then it was mostly half big band jazz, half rock singing, didn't meld for me, felt like a pub band.
Spinning Wheels is a good listen. Otherwise, this one isn’t for me.
Can't say this isn't a fun listen. It's schlocky - I kept thinking is this Tom Jones or Engelbert Humperdinck. But there are at least three songs I knew most of the words to without any memory of hearing much less actively listening. They're just in the ether. There are moments of great musicianship but I there are too many Vegas inspired horn flourishes.
This is a weird one. I expected to like it, but found it was more of a slog. I like jazz, and I like pop, but this felt too 70's to me.
Bit boring really.
I hated this. It would’ve been better without vocals
Ein bisschen Blues, Jazz, Big-Band und Rock im Stil der späten 60er. Also würde man „The Who“ & „Simon & Garfunkel“ mischen. Vieles von den Stücken überzeugt nicht. Interssant klingt „And When I Die“, ein typischer Song ist „Spinning Wheel“ und fast unhörbar ist „Blues Prt.2“. Ingesamt halte finde ich das Album schlecht.
Cool musical arrangements, similar to Chicago. But, I don't much like this sound and the religious stuff bugs me.
Dpinning wheel go hard
Not bad
Bit of a mess, and there's a drum solo.
Memories of years ago. While they are a great band something about them just never resonated with me.
Too much noodling. Too much genre jumping. Too much flute.
Weird album. 2 very good songs, the rest are meh.
Song good songs and probably incredibly influential on all the different genres it covers, but is a bit of a mess
Not my style.
Classic rock is classic even if it leans a bit too much into interminable jazz solos.
Really cheesy, but some great sample ideas
Not my thing
Didn't care for this at all. I get the appeal back in the 60s, but jazz rock is pretty bad. 1.5/5
Too jazzy
Aside from the fact I didn't expect renditions of classical music to bookend this album, the rest of it was just passive music that I could barely muster any attention to. Nothing remarkable or entertaining, but nothing horrible.
There were a few good songs on it, but a lot of it just didn't connect with me.
Cool name. Thats about it.
An above average jazz band decides to, for some inexplicable reason, to infuse low effort pop into their music. 2 wasted potentials out of 5
Loved some parts, hated some.
Good but not for me
He turmelevat itseään jazzahtavalla jammailulla, mutta heidän rootsahtavampaa hupailuaan on paikoin oikeastikin hauska kuunnella. You've Made Me So Very Happy on kelpo sävellys.
Some of it was ok but other bits were too jazzy
didn't get on with the guy's voice, that kind of boomy 60s soulful singing just doesn't do it for me
This album was fun at the beginning but it got stale later on. The jazz parts aren't good and don't help with my listening experience. I think the vocals are too sparse and overwhelmed by the solos. "Smiling Phases" was alright and the saving grace of the album. The final track "Blues Pt. 2" is like an ELP song that's been bogged down. 2 stars for "Self Titled".
This album has a little bit of everything that was hokey about the late 60s.
good start - everything else was there i suppose !
I like aspects of songs, but there are sections that, for me, ruin the vibes in every song. I think it’s really interesting, not something I’ve heard much of, but misses the mark for me when it comes to what I’m looking for in an album/song. Also everything sounds slightly the same... 2/5 for me.
it's fine but boring i don't have a lot to say, much like this album spinning wheel is by far the best track but even that didn't really grab me 2/5 perhaps a 1.5/5
Starting off with a song that could easily be played by a Gelfling from The Dark Crystal isn’t what I’d call a “hot start” to an album. This really doesn’t get better in my opinion. Again, as I’ve stated before, I can’t give this a 1 star because it is musically far better than that Grimes album I heard. It’s a 1 star as far as real artists go. Though I did like the musical breakdown of More and More. Choice Cut: More and More
The drums on Smiling Phases is very energetic. And then you get Sometimes in Winter. This album does not age.
Giving it a higher mark because the album contains a few old classic tunes BUT too much low energy unfocused tracks. Barely listenable because of that…
Not bad, but all over the place.
2/5. There are a lot of influences from other bands here but doesn't feel like a fully practiced sound. Like, the song arrangements are not very well made despite a lot of loud sounds to seem like it. It kind of feels like B-side Chicago songs. To be fair, I do enjoy some of these songs but not an album I would vibe with. Best Song: Spinning Wheel, God Bless The Child, Blues Part 2
The instrumentals on this album were phenomenal, but I couldn't stand the vocals. Probably just a product of the time, the lyrics were astoundingly stupid, unfocused, and meandering. The last two, mostly instrumental tracks were my favorite.
Ohh, soft rock, this is pretty beige. I did enjoy some of the musicianship, bass playing in particular but the content was bland.
Early rock sound, heavy on instrumentals.
Has some iconic tunes but didn't really grab me.
The lead singer has a great voice, but just left me a bit cold
It was ok but none that I knew. A bit samey all the way through. Can’t say why it’s a ‘must listen to’ album.
Strange album, wanders between jazz, rock, psychedelic etc. Instrumental pieces are distracting. Couple surprise (to me) 70s classics show up late that almost pulled this up a star. High 2.
Small town bar house band takes requests and invites locals up to sing
Uh, yeah, I don't know who came first but this has such strong Chicago vibes that I feel like there was a wave that both of these groups had to be simultaneously riding at some point. That said, I actually have a Chicago album and even that is enough for me. I don't think my heart has enough room for a lot of this horns-rock from decades past. It's just not my thing and so if Blood, Sweat & Tears was actually the forerunner of this movement I'm sorry. That all said, what they are intending to do is done well so they're going to get more stars than something whose quality I can't even discern.
This was described as Jazz Rock. Maybe too much Jazz for me.
Not a fan. It was just weird, and not in a way that I appreciated at all.
listened 2x to expanded version (1h 9m). decent. 2.4/5
Love his voice. Don't love the elevator music
Ugh. Leave this music in 1968.
This album confused me lol, not really sure what it's trying to be. It's great in some parts and forgettable in others, very odd choices
Not bad but none of the songs were too enjoyable. Middle 2.
Inoffensove
Not for me
All over the place. I don’t think I’ve knowingly listened to Blood, sweat and tears before and I’m not likely to do so based on this album.
Unique and not in a good way.
Vintage. OK.
Gott klassískt rokk, spinning wheel er það sem maður þekki best.
Opening and closing with a weird Gymnopedies arrangement is a… bold choice. I like a lot of what this is trying to do, fusing jazz and some classical with a Creedence-esque bluesy rock sound, but it quickly ran out of ideas and some of the instrumentals were just quite weak, particularly the awful 10-minute track towards the end
naja
This came out in the late 60s, but you could be forgiven for assuming it was from the mid-70s. It’s a mix of roots rock and jazz that doesn’t really gel, with a vocalist that sounds like James Brown and John Fogerty had a love child. An unfortunate amount of soft rock feels.
This album was confusing as hell. Found myself absolutely hating parts of it and other times really enjoying it. The common theme for me was that I HATE the vocals. He doesn't have a bad voice, it's just cartoonishly 60's lounge singer. All I could think of was Will Ferrell from Anchorman singing all the songs.
Zat er aan het begin lekker in. Maar het werd steeds zenuwachtiger. En dan nog blues pt2 en smiling phases. Die 2 nummers waren bij mekander al een half uur. Dacht dat dit album nooit meer zou stoppen...
Just alright
Horn stabbed to death.
First four albums: Child Is Father to the Man Blood, Sweat & Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears 3 B, S & T 4 I mean at least commit to the bit
2 - I honestly expected folk stuff when I went into this album, but that isn't really what we have here. Despite surprising me with its contents, I still remember almost nothing from this listen. Perhaps I see potential for something I could quite like, but as it is, I don't really care.
Jazz isn't my thing. There were some cool moments on this but I mostly couldn't get past the jazziness
Spinning wheel is really the only highlight, and that’s just ok. Generic jam band stuff otherwise.
It's perfectly fine just ain't my cuppa 2.5/5
Very much Not Music I Like©️ but there are idiosyncrasies in the lyrics and delivery here that pull it out of the gutter for me. Two and a half. Fave track: And When I Die
Some interesting instrumentation and vocal work, but pretty lame in the end. Some tracks could probably lend themselves to some fun soundtracks set in the 70s, but overall as a record I’m not sure this hits the mark completely. Two and a half. Fave track: And When I Die
Some good some weird
Identity crisis
Sounded like a Christmas album
Just some typical late '60s rock but with lots of horns.
I'm sure they are a talented group of guys, but I just don't like it, never have. Their sound almost comes off as creepy to me for some reason. 2 stars.
though a bit early to be classically 'prog' this is proto-prog - very talented musicians demonstrating how talented they are at length. I think I like prog for prog's sake - so Rush, Yes, even early Genesis - rather than the 'progging up' other genres like classical, blues or jazz - both of which are on offer here to lengthy and tedious effect. Spinning Wheel is an absolute tune though so drags the whole thing up to a two.
Not their best album and doesn't help they mostly a one hit wonder band.
Didn't grab me
When the album started with a nice Satie cover I thought “hey maybe my preconceived notions about this band were wrong” then Galway through that song they did a dramatic style shift to absolutely confirm my preconceived notions. Every good song is derailed by some dumb jam. Spinning Wheel does slap (even though it would be a lot better without the jam and the dumb flute (?) part).
This is a tough one. A couple of famous songs in the middle. And interesting open (that I probably liked the most of anything). Spinning Wheel and You Make Me So are memorable songs but... man, I just don't like 'em. I just don't like 'em! There I said it! Do the lyrics and orchestration come off too cheesy for me? Yeah, something like that. But whatever it is, they make me feel embarrassed. Very strange. Maybe a childhood trauma. God Bless The Child is a great song, but not on this album it isn't. I don't know. This was very close to working for me without working for me.
Peculiar one, this. Underwhelming rock music married with uninspired jazz. I suppose in its own time this was quite forward thinking stuff, but here in 2023 it sounds a bit frayed, a bit moth-eaten and altogether pedestrian.
Can I agree with you both at the same time? Love how this record songs, but don't love the record. Guy sounds like Tom Jones (or maybe vice versa, I dunno) and I can't quite make out what direction this record is headed. It's like trying to walk a dog on a leash and expecting it to go in a straight line; just not happening. My arm/ear is getting yanked all over the place and we're basically walking in a circle. Still. It does sound good! And I kinda like that they sneak in the riff from "Sunshine of Your Love" in a song. But also kinda hate that. Again, dog yanking the arm.
I thoroughly enjoy "Spinning Wheel," and "You've Made Me So Very Happy" isn't bad, but the rest of the album wasn't for me.
It's fine. It doesn't really interest me.
This was pretty enjoyable, but it was a bit much for me.
Riktigt jävla långtråkigt
Not a fan.
Well this was odd. Jumped around all over the place and didn't quite settle into a rhythm. Admired the hutzpah but it didn't make me want to listen again...
2.25
This is one of them albums for me which is so inoffensive it’s difficult to be honest about. It has some decent songs, and they’re obviously talented, but there’s nothing that grabs me. A lot of it passed me by, but to give it credit there were parts that made me listen. This is somewhere between jazz and rock, but not enough of one or the other to be truly interesting for me.
This was a bit all over the place, the church organ made it sound a bit Christian rock sometimes, then it's funk, soul and blues on different tracks. It was nice enough but not sure any of the genres were really worth listening to.
I don't really know what this is! Quite good in parts, but with jazzy interludes in songs. Frankly, I've had enough of jazz over the last 3 albums. But, bits of this were actually quite good. I recognised spinning wheel. 2.5 I think. Might've given it more if I wasn't jazzed out
This is odd. Not "bad odd", but odd. At times very strong flower-power vibes with harmonies and strumming and other times veers into freewheeling jazz territory. Conclusion : I didn't hate it.
Part of that late 60s/early 70s rock turn towards Americana, BS&T looks to Jazz and Big Band as well as the more expected folk and blues, bringing plenty of horns and (unfortunately) flute and strings into a rock band template. The album is all over the place in terms of genre, but the horns sound good and the bass really does a lot of the heavy lifting giving these songs a bit of energy and momentum lost when the main songwriting instrument is the piano. The extended organ noodling is very boring, but the deeper groove jazzy jams with a trumpet/sax lead did draw me in. It doesn't always work, and when it does it isn't really that good - I'd rather listen to folk rock or jazz rather than both at once.
it had good songs to offer but i dont enjoyed this record that much unless from 3 songs
Very dated some decent songs. Are there any albums made this century on this list?
Mostly ecchhhh. Don’t care for the flute or the brassy parts, which is a lot of it.
Not amazing. A bit annoying and just noisy at some points
The vocals are decent but the songwriting is uninspired whilst the music is dull jazz rock. I'd rather play some Brian Auger.
Yeah ok suppose recognise spinning wheel. Not the music to shater your bones but not unpleasant. Must I listen, hmmmmmmm not so sure hombre.
It's an odd album, starts off one way, then goes in the complete opposite direction... it's all over the place! Were there parts that I liked? Yup, some good tunes in there. But as an album, it feels like a mess. 2.5
Sekavahko, jäi vähän epäselväks kokonaisuus - oliko sitä? Välillä kyllä toimi ja siinä mielessä tuli kuunneltua kyllä ihan ok
Very few albums can mix jazz and rock well, this isn’t one of them just a bit all over the place
This is what people who don't like jazz think jazz sounds like.
The needle combing through the grooves of my mind as I take some mind melting medication is etching a picture of you into my brain. The fear of this not being reality makes me buckle over and shit my insides into a bin. Is it a dream? Is it a nightmare? Is it the ramblings of a man so high on hallucinogens that he can't muster a decent memory? Is Nigel Spackman a real man, or is he just a concept?
This album feels confused.It’s nice in some parts but rambling and grating in others.I’m not a huge jazz fan so I guess I was already biased against it but the album itself doesn’t even seem to want to commit to just jazz,branching out into other genres such as rock and funk,which could be considered interesting but unfortunately it’s all just kinda bad?I liked the classical parts.Weirdest part was when the bass line was sunshine of your love by cream for like a minute.
Meh
A little all over the place. Nothing grabbed me. Spinning wheel was aight.
Talented people producing dreary music.
2.5
Not my music
No idea what to expect going into this one, which is kind of best case. Leads in with a folky little number; sleepy acoustic guitar and some flute melodies. Give way to some trumpets and drums that bleed in production. Goes from calm and sleepy to suddenly jazzy and infused with chaos / distress. Smiling Phases continues the latter half of Variations with a Hammond organ line mixed in with some smoky vocals. Feels sort of like a love child between Steppenwolf and The Guess Who. Digging the jazzy interlude into a piano solo. Feels like improv -- these guys probably jammed live. Kind of let this drift into the background for the next two songs. Sounded fine, but mostly forgettable. And When I Die is a weird number to me; kind of all over the place. It's sort of like polka met broadway in a back alley with southern rock. Not feeling the resulting fusion. It kind of reminds me of a shitty precursor to Karn 9 Evil by ELP. Odd to me that this it (according to Spotify) the third most popular off this album. God Bless the Child is kind of a goofy track as well. It has a southern bluesy vibe that breaks out into a little Latin infused jam before coming back to the bluesy vibe. Its not _bad_ necessarily, but its a weird thing to capture on wax. I had no idea that Spinning Wheel was by BS&T... I think I heard this song as a kid on some singing show (American Idol or similar). I think that the hook is rather catchy and his gravelly vocals contrast nicely with the rest of the brassy production. Composition is weird as hell; weird that this made it to radio. It bounces between brassy pop and white-washed jazz / soul that would be okay to bring home to momma in the late 60s. I'm a soft 2 on this one. There are bits and pieces to like on this album, but in general the compositions are a mess without fully leaning into an eclectic image. I feel like they had the idea to play multiple styles inside of a single playtime and then decided to make an entire album that way. End result is something that just feels messy and disjointed.
blud songwriting avout love: thank you miss for loving me.. thank you thank you thank you 100x incredible songwriting kynäviekko "Had "Variations on a Theme" and "Blues, Pt. 2" been omitted from the album, it would have felt so much more cohesive. But they're there. And they're awful. And so "Blood, Sweat, & Tears" earns a middle-of-the-road 3 stars." Herra kusipää tyhmyri.. TÄTÄ ALBUMIA EI OLISI LISTALLA ELLEIVÄT NUO KAPPALEET TEKISI TÄSTÄ UNIIKKIA TEOSTA SAATANAN HUO RAN PENIKKA NUO KAPPALEET ANTAVAT TÄLLE ALBUMILLE TÄHDEN NUMERO #2... IHAN RESPECTABLE SCORE ON 2 TÄHTEÄ EIKÖ HERRA YMMÄRRÄ SITÄ HÄH.. enempää ei toki heru souless songs.. "Unfortunately, there aren't enough bright spots to tip the scales into a positive score" objektivistille 3 on hyvä respectable albumi.. ei täällä paskaa olla tultu kuunneltana.. voi kaikille albumeille vitoista heh.. Gaussin käyrästä jos kuulltu heh englanti poika kirjottana lukioko missattu pitkä matikka a-level matikka... .. 3.00 average.. ei ymmärrä ei voe käsittää..
More like Boring, Boring & Boring if you ask me. I've heard a few of these songs thousands of times on the radio and they never made me want to delve deeper into the band's catalogue. It's just basic rock/jazz fodder for the classic rock machine.
This was so horribly uninspired it's nearly a 1, but at least it's competent... so it's saved, but barely.
While I might admire Al Kooper's vision to fuse rock and jazz (particularly big band jazz), he had left the building by this second LP, and BST were on their way to becoming a harbinger of everything that is loathsome about over-engineered 70s jazz-inflected rock music. According to the wikipedia page, the band has had more than 165 members over the years, and the band has essentially become as franchise instead of a band. In his lengthy contemporary review, Jon Landau of Rolling Stone dismissed the album, writing; "The listener responds to the illusion that he is hearing something new when in fact he is hearing mediocre rock, OK jazz, etc., thrown together in a contrived and purposeless way." I could not agree more. Spinning Wheel is pretty great song, but everything else on this album is just awful. Of the covers, there is a not a single song where the BST version has anything to offer compared to earlier versions. God Bless the Child made me vomit into my mouth a little bit. Blues Pt. 2 is an appalling pastiche of blues riffs and posturing. The more I listen to this, the more I dislike it. Very recently, I purchased (for $2) a Taiwanese bootleg pressing of BST Greatest Hits from 1972. It has five tracks drawn from this self-titled album. It is worth $2 just for Spinning Wheel and Lucretia McEvil, but the rest of the album probably needs to go on skip. Or in the skip.
Blood, Sweat & Tears is the second album by the American jazz rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears. It was commercially successful, being certified quadruple platinum in the US and winning the Album of the Year Grammy in 1970. Fun fact: this was one of the first albums to be released with 16-track recordings - allowing better mixing and overdubbing. The music on this album was more popular in general, because the songs weren't as adventurous as the first album. This made some critics state that the album is mediocre while being more accessible to listeners. I enjoyed this album for its "mediocre" rock which I felt had a jazzy, country spin to it. My favorite tracks were the first and last because these are adaptations of Erik Satie classical movements which are amazing on their own.
Good fun and some good tunes
Meh. Not really into this, but also didn't actively hate it.
Not a fan of this one, uninteresting soft rock songs made worse with schmaltzy orchestration and incessant jazz solos.
This album was a mess and not very listenable.
Vad i fan rökte de på när de gav denna album of the year de va semi ass 1-2
Not my bag at all
Uff, esta vez no estaba de ánimo para esto
Fun but all over the place
well, that was a thing. this album was so schizophrenic and all over the place that once you kind of got into a song, it took a weird left turn. and it was like that with most of the songs. depending on where you were at in the album, you could get: what sounded like game show theme music; random harmonica; random wooden blocks played that imitated a galloping horse; a lead singer, who at times sounded to me like he was doing a bad impression of tom jones; and a random callback of the cream song “sunshine of your love” during an almost twelve minute instrumental. to be honest, the only song that i particularly cared for was “spinning wheel”, which i really dig. everything else to me sounded terrible and non cohesive. i just don’t get it. i guess the song that i enjoyed the most was the last song, because then i knew this album was almost over.
Some amount of nostalgia listening to this - I think my dad must have had an album of theirs. But my overarching feeling about all of this is that they're just trying to hard to be awesome and clever. The lead singer's vocal style is the inescapable emblem of that attitude. I want to like it because of the skill and musicianship but I can't get past that other stuff.
I was reading up on this album, and it apparently beat Abbey Road for the Grammy in 1970?! I'm not even the biggest Abbey Road fan, but that's a snub and a crime. This album is really weird. Starts with a cover of a classical piece, then goes into a Traffic cover, there's an 11 minute full-on jazz jam and it all ends with another classical piece. Overall an interesting enough listen, but definitely not my kind of music.
Past it (and Spinning Wheel isn't enough to save the day)
Some good moments but overall not something I'd be looking to listen to again
The album has a 60s psychedelic touch to it that can be very interesting, but also can be dragged out at times.
Rätt trist alltså
Det svänger egentligen rätt bra om några låtar men har sjukt svårt för sån här jazz-rock-fusion. Chicago-vibbar.
meh
this… did nothing for me I’m afraid. I was glad when it was over. ALSO just when you THINK it’s over the last song is almost TWENTY MINUTES LONG so enjoy that.
Jazz / Prog nonsense. I think. I’m not even sure what the fuck that was. But not worthy of a second listen to try and figure it out.
Mine for listening to this mess or theirs for writing and recording this? There were a few bright spots in each song then it all turned a bit jazzy. It sounded like a band having an identity crisis. This was a 1970 Grammy award winner? Astounding decision making.
No thank you
What a bunch of self-indulgent crap. Their playing was tight: good for them. However, the arrangements and composition were a meandering sap-fest that made no sense at all. If this does it for you, then great. But for the rest of us.....
This one’s not for me, sorry. Another album I don’t understand why it’s here. But then again, who am I to decide who deserves a spot on this list? It was a huge struggle to get to the end, but I made it… though I think I lost a lot of blood, because I feel pretty weak :-(
No es el género de música que escucho. No me gustó
Blood, sweat and tears is what's needed to get through this pretentious mess. Strangled vocals pretending to add emotion, pseudo classical/jazz horns, cod-psychedelic lyrics, boring tunes. This album can fuck right off. Best Tracks: And When I Die; Spinning Wheel; You've Made Me So Very Happy
This album was like a dive bar in the cascades. Not exactly my favorite sound but I heard some inspiring stuff. Favorite track off the album was More and More - Live at Cafe Au Go Go, NY.
Didn’t like it at all. All over the place stylistically with a mishmash of all the things I hate - jazz, overblown horns, funk, drum solos. Nope.
Makes you realise how blummin' good the Beatles were this is not remotely innovative
???????????????????
Jazz rock like this has got to be in the bottom five genres
mixing a lot of stuff here and unfortunately some of the stuff is the wankery jazz that makes me feel physically unsettled
What in the MOR jazz rock is this? That version of God Bless the Child sounded like if Joe Cocker had been the guest singer at the gymnasium dance in West Side Story. There’s certainly a lot going on but I don’t feel like any of it really gelled.
They tried every genre on this thing. Who asked for this? A bunch of talented musicians making kind of stupid music
This is a lot of really well played nothing, if this were to have pivoted and been an instrumental/jazz album instead I think I would rate it much higher. Even then, the music wasn’t terribly memorable. I find the lyrics to be pretty shallow and uninteresting; in general this seems like a way station on the sad slide from soul/r&b into yacht rock.
Not a fan at all.
Horseshit. Just appalling nonsense.