Chelsea Girl

Longest 45 minutes of my life

I've heard farts that held a better tune than her singing. Even the guitar was out of tune

1 ⭐️

All those one star reviews and this is her most approachable record, haha. I think this is a strange beautiful and intriguing if apparently unhappy experiment. You can feel Nico, the musicians and Tom Wilson all pulling in different directions. I like those big heavy Germanic vowels in her voice. I suppose she is a bit flat in places. I forget how much that can upset people. I think you can make a case that without Nico's heavy clang of a voice the likes of Ian Curtis, Siouxsie, Robert Smith, Marc Almond, Morrissey, (all fans) don't have the confidence to sing in their own instantly recognisable and unique ways.

Anyway it is a bit daft and dismissive to include this and not at least one of either The Marble Index or Desertshore, both of which are much fuller expressions of Nico as an artist and I would argue far more influential. The Industrial scene and all of post punk are thoroughly indebted to those two records.

I really don’t like this. It’s not necessarily bad, but I can’t stand the singing and that’s about all there is on this album. The instrumentals are barebones—which is fine, but the vocals need something to help them and the music isn’t cutting it. Halfway through this, I just wanted to stop. 1.5/5

Pretentious nonsense but Nico & John Cale had already earned that right by 67.

It probably deserves 4 stars, but I just don't love her voice.

2.5/5. I think this album actually starts out pretty strong. the opener “the faintest of the seasons” and “these days” are both great songs, and I also enjoyed the title track. But much of the rest of the album is just pretty forgettable. Also bogged down at points by some unnecessary orchestration. I love Nico’s contributions to the first velvet underground record but I was left underwhelmed by this solo album.

Hmm. Not exactly a great singer is she?? But some of the music is surprisingly pretty. Was not expecting a string quartet!

Kind of get why it’s on the list due to all those involved, but if you take that away I doubt it’d be considered at all.

Got as far as track 3 and gave up.

1

Extremely atmospheric baroque pop with unique vocals that makes for a fascinating listening experience.

Ooof man. This was a difficult one to finish. Total snoozefest.

It’s cold, wet and dark. I have a stinking cold and I’m working from home. This album captured the moment. Is that what heroin addiction feels like?

Nico was a German who learnt to speak English, Spanish, and French during her travels through Europe. By the time she started her music career in 1960s New York City, her gifted voice and mixed European accent made her sound totally distinct to her British and American contemporaries. There are only so many singers who have an instantly recognisable voice, and Nico is one of them. Her voice has an ethereal quality which vacillates between sounding mysterious and, when called for, haunted.

Recorded immediately following her debut with The Velvet Underground, on this solo debut she surrounds herself with gorgeous chamber instrumentation and warm guitar picking. This typically acts as a whimsical backdrop for her vocals to take centre stage, but the music goes to a wide range of places. She provides cutting edge folk rock performances but also shows that she is suited to more mysterious, medieval style baroque pop songs. Daringly she adds into this pleasant mix some more experimental and uncompromising moments too - music as modern art.

Had the internet existed in the 1960s Nico could have garnered a huge audience of people who love slightly off-beat, forward thinking music. But in an age where music was limited the radio and physical record sales, you can see why this would have struggled to find purchase. Of course, thanks to albums like this, as time went on she became a star.

Why is this on here?

"These Days" har jeg loopet mange ganger uten å vite at det var Jackson Browne som skrev den. Før jeg gikk videre med Nico måtte jeg høre Brownes egen versjon fra 1973. En fin Eagles-aktig countrylåt, og jeg tror jeg definitivt må høre mer på Browne.

Men det Nico har fått til med den låta er såklart mye mer minneverdig. Det er faktisk Browne som spiller fingerspillet på den, og det er litt skittent spilt opp mot de flotte strykerne. Stemmen til Nico blender det perfekt med sin ikke klokkerene, men nydelig særpregete stemme.

Plata er også produsert av Tom Wilson, som jo har jobbet med både VU og Bob Dylan, for å nevne noen. Nico har visst på et tidspunkt mislikt albumet selv, fordi hun egentlig ville ha mer bass og trommer, men hvor da? Det hadde vært interessant å høre hennes egentlige visjon for albumet, men jeg må si at selv savner jeg ingen instrumenter. Det er minimalistisk og de få instrumentene som brukes er brukt på en så kløktig måte.

"It Was A Pleasure Then" kunne godt vært en VU-outtake. "Nico gjør også "I'll Keep It With Mine" bedre enn Dylan selv.

Plata er litt seig til tider, men det er egentlig bare deilig. Angrer på at jeg ikke har hørt mer på den før.

From the first notes plucked on the guitar at the start of the album, I was sure this was going to be right up my alley.

But instead, I found a plodding album, that does too little and too much all at once. The string and flute overdubs are too saccharine and Nico sounds detached from the songs she sings. I feel like the bones of this album are alright, but the whole is worse than the sum of its parts.

Dit was me even teveel na Liz; weer een vals zingende dame. Bij Liz leek het mij nog eens expres aangedikt. Nico lijkt wel haar best te doen. Dat levert iets meer sympathie, maar niet per se meer luisterplezier. De begeleidende muziek scoort wel meer punten. De opzet past in de jaren '60. Met name de viool brengt een geluid van verder vervlogen tijden. Het is nog nog wel een aardige combinatie. Dat wordt ons vooral gebracht door Velvet Underground. Dat lijkt dan het beste wat zij ons muzikaal hebben nagelaten.

Kortom, dit is echt twee keer zo goed als Liz. Kom ik, naar boven afgerond op 1 ster.

I didn’t mind it at all. I’m not it hint to relisten, though. I feel like, if I wanted to listen to this album, I would’ve already, you know? It’s a three from me, dawg.

Es ist ein Debütalbum, das zwischen Folk, Barock-Pop und melancholischer Poesie pendelt. Mit Songs wie „These Days“ und „The Fairest of the Seasons“ zeigt Nico eine verletzliche, fast entrückte Seite, die durch orchestrale Arrangements unterstrichen wird – allerdings wurden diese ohne ihr Wissen hinzugefügt und überdecken stellenweise ihre künstlerische Intention

I really don’t understand the overwhelming number of negative reviews for this album. The instrumentals are beautiful and Nico has an enchanting voice even if she isn’t the best singer out there. This kind of baroque chamber pop is really cool and there isn’t enough of it out there

One of the positive reviews mention her "raw and untrained voice" as something that makes the overall experience better. I could not agree less. The one thing I find interesting about her performance is that the lyrics have several rhymes that only work in a german accent.

I hope this sounds better in German…