38. Starsailor -- Tim Buckley

Mojo Says: "Folk singer as screaming mood instrument. Starsailor fans need not apply."

Album: Starsailor
Artist: Tim Buckley
Year: 1970
Length: 35'54"

Track Listing:

1. Come Here Woman
2. I Woke Up
3. Monterey
4. Moulin Rouge
5. Song To The Siren
6. Jungle Fire
7. Star Sailor
8. Healing Festival
9. Down By The Borderline

Favorite Tracks:

1. Monterey
2. Moulin Rouge

Worst Tracks:
Buckley's voice ruins basically every other song, though Jungle Fire and Star Sailor are especially grating.

Is it weird?:
Yes, but not in a good way.

Review:

I am tolerant of bad singers.
Captain Beefheart. Johnny Rotten. Les Claypool. Frank Zappa. 60's Bob Dylan. David Thomas. I love all of them, either despite or because of their bad voices.
But, even I, apparently, have a limit.

Tim Buckley, father of golden-throated music legend Jeff, is past my limit.
From the yodeling, to the shrieks, the whining, and the "impassioned" singing, it's all truly unbearable.

This album would've been mildly interesting if it were instrumental, but nothing is really worthy of praise. Innovative, maybe, but beyond being slightly challenging, there is little to enjoy about the music on any level. It's too weird for its own sake and doesn't manage to make anything legitimately entertaining.

And let me reiterate, these vocals are probably the worst I've ever heard. I was going to give this a 5, but I figured I couldn't really give it higher than a 4 when an album is actually physically painful to listen to. Maybe I'll give some of Tim Buckley's less experimental works a try at some point, but this was just really, really bad.

Grade:

4/10

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