probably the most depressing country-folk record. sets himself apart by not talking about riding horses and drinking beer with his dog or whatever country artists write about.

ethereal and bombastic. no backing band required. unfortunately, bixby is a bit of a one trick pony and his other releases pale in comparison, but he has a powerful voice and the lo-fi recording quality adds to the atmosphere.

Somehow preceding the legendary Erkin Koray, who's often credited with popularizing the combination of Turkish folk songs with Western music influences, this group of three brothers have a unique chemistry that results in a very consistent record that I'll listen to for the rest of my life. They do stay a bit closer to their Turkish roots than Koray, though.

Haram is exceptional. Their bassist really holds this album together. Presumably influenced by the great James Jamerson, but perhaps not.

Am I missing something? Sounds like any other subpar modern pop release. Seems like its trendy to give this a 0 because Fantano and Brad Taste gave it 0's.

Batshit insane songwriting, out of tune guitars, unusual song structures, weird rhythms, loose and almost lazy playing. On paper this would be a disaster but it all somehow works.

7 ratings with an average score of 75 is far too low. I believe this is one of the first examples of a faux-live album with numerous edits to make it a tighter package (don't laugh at my wording plz :))

It opens with a transformative rendition of the early rock classic Who Do You Love. Jim's voice is strong throughout and the three instrumentalists are on their shit. Fucking electric performances all around. I also found it a bit funny that Robby comes in a little too fast on Build Me a Woman ... read more

One of the only times I've ever appreciated a record company's decision to change what the artist had originally intended was when they decided to make Down on the Street the album's opener instead of Loose. I can't imagine this would have had the same impact had that crucial decision not been made.

I didn't appreciate this album for all it was worth the first two or three times I had listened to it. I had seen it receive great reviews on sites like rateyourmusic and I knew I was missing ... read more

Formidable first album by the most influential and greatest proto-punk band. I come back to this for We Will Fall and Ann, two great psych rock songs that are unlike anything produced by any band before or since.
I honestly can't believe these undisciplined, minimally skilled musicians made such great songs that are still revered to this day, same with Joy Division and the Sex Pistols. If you listen closely, Dave Alexander is constantly screwing up on bass. Losing time and flubbing/missing ... read more

Unbelievably consistent for its long runtime. So many themes explored, very holistic and all-encompassing. One of the most successfully ambitious records of all time.

I would have no problem rating this 100 if it completely excluded the cuica (the instrument that sounds like an exotic animal or someone rubbing their hand inside of a drum). I don't think it adds anything to the instrumentation and it makes it hard for me to take the song sections as seriously when it's included.

Beyond that, this is extremely beautiful, captivating, heartbreaking, imaginative, groovy, theatrical and so much more throughout its runtime. Very few albums offer an experience ... read more

Possibly the greatest troll in music. The image of a fur coat-clad newbie to jazz-funk, having just been exposed to it at some discotheque the weekend before, buying this introductory album just to be extremely disappointed will never get old.

I do like the songs, but I don't know what type of psychopath you'd have to be in order to listen to this on even a semi-regular basis. I bought this on wax for the meme, but I don't spin it more often than once a year. If you love this more than I do, ... read more

"Most people have never heard the album -- it’s been buried and rarely heard, so it’s been accepted as common knowledge that it’s awful and the truth is, it’s not." - AllMusic

Then why did you give it a 30?

No one mentions how these guys ranged in age from 15-17 and managed to create truly original and inspired songs that stand entirely on their own.

my mom used to let me play whatever i wanted in the car and i had ars moriendi playing when a city bus hit our car while we were visiting atlanta and made a bigass dent. good times.

Beautiful record with sensuous songs often reaching 30 minutes in length for a whopping runtime of 3 days. Unfortunately, it doesn't explore too many genres and relies solely on Circus Music and Musique Concrete pieces that involve Mike Patton scraping his hairy nuts against a customized, serrated microphone, after which you hear his pained screams as Trevor, Trey, Bar, Danny and Lengyel taunt and laugh at their singer's self-destructive fetish.

Absolute brilliance that was sadly never replicated by Kottke.

From a technical standpoint, I've never heard anything like it from a lone guitarist. If you really want to force a comparison, consider this a folk-y, pastoral version of Van Halen. Deliverance type shit.

The songs are genuinely catchy and memorable and have a lot of replay value for me. I always wanted to learn these songs by ear but the tunings are all over the place and often go wayyy down to a low A in place of the low E, and ... read more

Pretty damn good rock record. Gets a bad rep because it doesn't compare favorably to their monstrous releases preceding this album. Has gotten unfair treatment over the years.

The packaging is rather cool as well. Good photography but employs a questionable decision to have the images revolve around a small black sculpture simply called "the Object", designed by Hipgnosis, Pink Floyd's primary album art company.

Rather whimsical record, distinct from other Kraftwerk releases. Directionless but provides some cool soundscapes.

My best Goodwill find was buying this for $1.
Just so happens to be a misprinted release worth $50.
https://www.discogs.com/release/117914-Kraftwerk-Ralf-Florian
Sadly, there was no inner sleeve so the disc is a little fucked but still in playable condition.

"My gastronomicaaal, stupensityyy, is really satisfiiiiied when you're lovin' me-e-e, now tell me-"

Never in a million years did I think a baritone-voiced sexy black man would combine fake medical terminology with one of the greatest funk instrumentals of all time. Important album.

One of the only perfect albums to ever exist. Every track bangs.