Rising Above Bedlam

Couldn’t get this one on my music service. They had some of his other albums, but I wasn’t wild about what I heard.

10 songs, 51 minutes on its face isn’t super long. But when every song is the same idea—let’s marinate in an unchanging, unceasing rhythm for 4-6 minutes—it feels so much longer than it is. I even scrolled through the last two songs (patience: exhausted) and the same beat was playing at every point I stopped. A lot of two-minute ideas extended to five minutes. I think I might even love this if every song were a minute shorter.

This was all over the place

Some of the songs weren't too bad, even nice in parts. But then the guy would start this weird deep talking over the songs and ruin them

They couldn't pick a genre when they made this album. Seems like they just said yes to all

Bedlam indeed

2 ⭐️

I wanted to like this because he was so good in Pil and Sinead O'connor is on it but it's quite boring.

Feels like a very 90s attempt at world music by white people. The male vocalist was ugh compared to all the other vocalists on the album.

Wonderful

Odd, in a good way! Massive variety of styles and genres, some of them completely unexpected (no spoilers!).
An artist I knew a little through his work with others, although not as a lead/solo artist - I'll sort that once the list is done.
The guest vocalist on track 1 is a particularly pleasant surprise - especially given how big a star they were at that time.

Had some fun beats, feels non-essential otherwise. Don’t think I’ll listen to it again.

Nothing burger. Feeling kind. 3.

Hmmmm. I like PiL - but think it's probably Lydon's raw snarl that lifts it. This is.............. not good.

Had no idea what to expect here with such a strange band name, the first song reminded a lot of primal scream. The rest of the album is varied and interesting without completely loving this album, I found it interesting and makes me want to go back for more.

This album could’ve been cut in half, or even into thirds, and I would’ve given it a lot of credit for being (does this sound familiar yet?) a completely competent album with a great runtime that explores a variety of styles and explores them all in short bursts, with some mediocre vocals, and I’d have given it a 3.

The completely needlessly long runtime and repetitive production that actually permeates this entire album single handedly ruins it. It’s not an egregiously terrible album, but it just drains on and on, and it gets so utterly boring by the end that you barely realize the final track is the final track. It’s a 2, but it’s an Apocalypse Dudes-style 2 where individually, I’m sure these would be great tracks in bursts, but as a whole album, it’s just a miserable experience to me.

Didn't really enjoy this one. Not sure what the point of it was. Lots of different styles, but I don't think they went together.

Wouldn't have guessed this was the bassist in PiL, but it doesn't make it good, either.

Visions Of You is a fairly boring song, but Sinead O'Connor's voice elevates it significantly. The rest is pretty terrible.

Well, this is interesting. It isn't what I expected this album to sound like, but it still isn't really my cup of tea. It gives off that "desert in movies" vibe to a lot of it, and while some of the songs around the 3/4 point are better, it still leaves a lot to be desired. Perhaps were it more engaging up to that point I'd be more happy eith my experience, but it was getting to be a slog, and really only survived because of picking up. I really hate albums at this length. Either commit to the over the hour or cut down your filler.

Momentarily inspiring tunes drawing from both Middle Eastern and African traditions. There’s some great production choices on this record as well.

In the end, unfortunately, Rising Above Bedlam is just wildly unfocused, unable to convince the listener that there’s any sort of plan - but most of all it’s just rather tedious.

This was pretty good! I liked the bass playing and the overall vibe and sound. This is another album I had no idea about and would’ve never listened to until this project. If the second half of this album was as good as the first, it would’ve gotten a 4.

So this is where Kula Shaker got all their ideas. "Rising Above Bedlam" is patchy as hell, but you can see how its east/west fusion pushed things forwards.

Interesting mix of world styles. Very chill. Definitely something I would've smoked hookah to in college. It feels VERY 90s though, for better or worse.

More like descending into Bedlam!

Opening track was alright, then I kinda lost interest about halfway through.