Paris 1919 (studio album) by John Cale

Good melodies and decent album

John Cale becomes more pop in this one

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From teague 07/06/2020 05:33

I was expecting the weirdness and the experimentation of the first two VU albums, not a copycat amalgam of Beach Boys and Procol Harum. Still pretty alright, just seems out of left field coming from the guy who played the noisiest viola I've ever heard on a rock record.

From Crumpet 03/01/2018 20:18

I used to really like this album, but overtime I have come to appreciate and adore it. This album is perfectly written, every song is packed with intellegent lyrics accompanied by beautiful music.

This album shows that Cale is a very well read man, featuring refferences to Shakespeare, Graham Greene and Dylan Thomas among others, the lyrics really are the best part of this album.

Every track (and I’m not exaggerating, I mean EVERY track) on this album is brilliant, it really is one of the most consistant albums of all time, as well as one of the best. My two favourites are the opener “Childs Christmas in Wales”, title inspired by the Dylan Thomas piece of prose of the same name and the title track, obviously entitled “Paris 1919” which is one of the best songs ever written (and written very well, I would say).

From JulianR 11/17/2017 03:51

Interesting stuff. Definitely not anything like the velvet underground. It's odd, it seems like Cale was kicked out of the band cuz he wanted to go even more experimental and Reed wanted to be more pop, but then Cale went pop anyway. I think this album will take a couple more listens to digest fully

From flamingyesdept 12/06/2016 20:45

Wonderfully sweet album - the antithesis of the raucous rock of Lou Reed. Consistent and concise

Quite a straightforward and dare I say it, conservative album from John Cale. Paris 1999, is a thoroughly enjoyable record with moments of rock'n'roll, especially on, Macbeth, and some nice orchestral sounds, the title track being the most obvious example. There's even some reggae on, Graham Greene. It surprised me, on first listen, just how accessible and warm it is. Nice songs too.

From RoundTheBend 04/03/2016 19:12

Hmm... well now I know I'm a Lou Reed fan and not a John Cale fan (unless there's other better albums of his).

From Nobodyisemo 10/18/2015 00:41

Inconsistent first half. It's a soft-ish album, very pretty, and obviously quite unlike VU, besides Loaded, and Sunday Morning-like tracks that eclectically populate their other albums. Graham Greene is funky and baroque, the strangest combination, it would fit comfortably on Vampire Weekend's self-titled. I really wanted to love the album, but I just like it a whole lot.

Fave Tracks: Andalucia, Paris 1919, Graham Greene, Antarctica Starts Here
Meh Tracks: The Endless Plain of Fortune, Macbeth (the track is pretty hot, it just doesn't fit with the lovely baroque)

Best-post VU album ever.