Ys

Why make twelve minute long songs when you are going to repeat the same musical phrase over and over again?

I hated this. I hated her voice. I hated how long and meandering the songs are. I hated the arrangements, the recording, and just about everything else.

Somehow she took everything I hate about Bjork and made it possibly worse. Wait, I don't think it's possible to get worse than Bjork, but it's bad.

Unique and different. I liked the folky feel, but it is not something I can see myself wanting to listen to very often.

Lyrical, ren-faire-ish music. Bjork adjacent, but doesn't hit the same. She has a good voice, but not for me, 2*
Not giving it 1* because I didn't hate it like some other albums on here, but I never need to listen to this again.

I found Ys by Joanna Newsom to be a difficult and ultimately unpleasant listen. Her childlike vocal style didn’t resonate with me at all, and the songs—long, winding, and seemingly directionless—failed to hold my attention. The album felt more like a test of patience than a musical journey. I won’t be revisiting it.

Favourite Song: None stood out.
Least Favourite: Honestly, the entire album.
Album Artwork: It has a quirky, Tudor-inspired charm. I wouldn’t hang it on my wall, but it’s an amusing and memorable cover.

Lush orchestrations and a interesting voice. Some moments were a little sleepy but overall this was a memorable album. 3.7/5 -> 4/5

No chance of listening to the album with my stream provider. It's probably not my genre either. And the music of The Muppet Show hasn't stuck in my mind/hearing as a must-listen either. I probably didn't miss anything. 2/5

Better than Coldplay

Interesting, and you can see the talent, but also not my thing.

I absolutely love Joanna Newsom's whole thing. I am more familiar with Milk Eyed Mender, but I have heard this before, and I think this album is spellbinding. Firstly, and most controversially, I love her voice. I can see it being grating, but it just works for making the music seem like its in its own self contained world. This is the Ys' strongest factor to me, it is like Newsom builds this fey kingdom and invites the listener in. This is further achieved with the instrumental palette, all harp and violin and accordion, to name a few. Not to mention the detailed, lengthy compositions and vivid lyricism. I have no complaints about Ys, and I absolutely love it.

Дуже неординарний альбом, який вміє дивувати. Джоанна Ньюсом створює тут певну казкову атмосферу, але при цьому ти розумієш що ця казка - доросла.
Авант-поп, 5 довгих пісень, цікаве аранжування. Музика, яку цікаво досліджувати.

My God I hated this album. I honestly can’t think of one positive about it.

On the surface, there's much to dislike with this album, but it unexpectedly turned out to be an incredibly absurd and beautiful album!

I have nothing nice to say, so I'll keep my mouth shut

1 ⭐️

cool concept. well executed

Challenging record to say the least but I will buy into it...

It's beautiful but it feels like, musically, it's sort of motif heavy. That's a way of calling it repetitive but technically savvy. I won't fault her for it anymore than I fault kraftwerk which I ranked significantly higher than most. I don't really care for her voice? Feels like a bit wilder bjork but over the harp it seems jarring. Really well done lyricism.

Sometimes when using this list or website, you may come across an album that you listen to but find it hard to articulate your thoughts about it. After a second or third listen, you might even click 'didn't listen' because you feel you need to revisit the album later.
This was one of them.
Initially, I was quite skeptical about it. While "The Milk-Eyed Mender" was undeniably beautiful, I worried that the addition of orchestration would cause Joanna's music to devolve into annoying bombast.

Fortunately, that concern turned out to be unfounded. The orchestration is not only subtle but also very powerful. It adds significant value to the album, which I had nearly dismissed as a possibility beforehand. Joanna has clearly evolved, and with this album, she successfully steps outside the 'freak-folk' genre. The entire album is filled with beautiful music, and many of the compositions seem almost perfect.

And this is normally completely not my style. But I loved it

Not to be confused with the series of RPGs with the same name, Ys is a pretty alright album. Like a couple of albums i have done here, the lyrics in this album seem like they are telling some kind of story and in these albums, the lyrics are most often the best part and that does apply here. Joanna's voice was pretty good despite taking me a bit of time to get used to and the music was a little long-winded but fit well with the songs and was something i liked. I do believe that this album would be a fairly difficult one to get into but i did end up liking what i heard. Honestly, not a bad way to start off 2025.
Best Song: Only Skin
Worst Song: Sawdust and Diamonds

Newsom earned her place as one of the tentpoles of the aughts folky indie movement. This album is everything you'd want out of something like this. It's epic, but also intimate and personal. Emotive, but also intricate and technical.