If You're Feeling Sinister
by Belle And Sebastian

Almost every song here is a classic. Very solid album. A mix of the Kinks and Chamber Pop. The melodies are nicely developed, and the lyrics demonstrate a striking originality. 9/10! (Edited)

Just beautiful. Absolutely stunning vocals and lyrics. Especially the title track. Mayfly probably the second best song for me (Edited)

A really catchy album and kind of a throw back to
the 60s. Once you listen a couple of times you’ll be humming the songs round the shops like me. One of the albums of the 90s. (Edited)

Album Rating: 89.20
(892/10)

Belle And Sebastian (IYFS - UK - Nov 96) - If You're Feeling Sinister

18.11.1996

1.Belle And Sebastian (IYFS - UK - Nov 96) - The Stars Of Track And Field 99
2.Belle And Sebastian (IYFS - UK - Nov 96) - Seeing Other People 100
3.Belle And Sebastian (IYFS - UK - Nov 96) - Me And The Major 96
4.Belle And Sebastian (IYFS - UK - Nov 96) - Like Dylan In The Movies 100
5.Belle And Sebastian (IYFS - UK - Nov 96) - The Fox In The Snow 100
6.Belle And Sebastian (IYFS - UK - Nov 96) - Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying 80
7.Belle And Sebastian (IYFS - UK - Nov 96) - If You're Feeling Sinister 84
8.Belle And Sebastian (IYFS - UK - Nov 96) - Mayfly 76
9.Belle And Sebastian (IYFS - UK - Nov 96) - The Boy Done Wrong Again 76
10.Belle And Sebastian (IYFS - UK - Nov 96) - Judy And The Dream Of Horses 81

Ranked in order:

* Belle And Sebastian (IYFS - UK - Nov 96) - Seeing Other People 100
* Belle And Sebastian (IYFS - UK - Nov 96) - Like Dylan In The Movies 100
* Belle And Sebastian (IYFS - UK - Nov 96) - The Fox In The Snow 100
* Belle And Sebastian (IYFS - UK - Nov 96) - The Stars Of Track And Field 99
* Belle And Sebastian (IYFS - UK - Nov 96) - Me And The Major 96
* Belle And Sebastian (IYFS - UK - Nov 96) - If You're Feeling Sinister 84
* Belle And Sebastian (IYFS - UK - Nov 96) - Judy And The Dream Of Horses 81
* Belle And Sebastian (IYFS - UK - Nov 96) - Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying 80
* Belle And Sebastian (IYFS - UK - Nov 96) - The Boy Done Wrong Again 76
* Belle And Sebastian (IYFS - UK - Nov 96) - Mayfly 76 (Edited)

From lleon79 11/21/2023 00:04 | #300086

Pretty good. A very chill listening experience. Only problem is that it gets kinda samey after a couple of songs, but overall, I like it. (Edited)

Belle And Sebastian take everything that was good about their debut album and improve on it resulting in a fantastic experience for us. The lyrics of this album is where it truly shines with some fantastic tales told across the whole record. Stuart Murdoch is such a fantastic writer and his lyrics are so personal and relatable that it makes this record have an instant connection with most of its listeners. His delivery is brilliant as well with this vocal style being extremely appealing to my ears. Instrumentally, the group have improved as well with their diversity on display here with every performer shining in their own respect. At the centre of the music is the guitar which is consistently fantastic and grounds the sound they are trying to create allowing the trumpet, violin and all the other instruments to demonstrate their flare and add an exciting edge to the music. Overall, this is the best album by Belle And Sebastian that I have discovered so far with its vocal, lyrical and instrumental brilliance always blowing me away whenever I revisit.

Solid album (Edited)

From Jboy56 03/10/2022 11:04 | #282617

First listen:Cute music where all songs sound the same. (Edited)

From Rug 02/19/2022 23:58 | #281553

There's great work, and then there's work that transforms you as a person. It grips the trunk of your soul and shakes the rotten fruit from your branches.

If You're Feeling Sinister killed a part of me that was infected. When you grow up in a religious, far-right household, parts of you are bound to be deeply, irreparably sick, and the only treatment is to identify those parts and cut them out. Stuart Murdoch's loving, careful depictions of various regular people, the kinds of regular people that operate in direct opposition to the Puritan Work Ethic and thundering heterosexuality of the church, tenderly taught me what was sick and what was well...and sounded damn good while doing it.

As a young teenager, listening to this album made me feel guilty. Loving it left me feeling liberated. So I listened and listened until I couldn't feel guilty anymore.

There’s times where this really grabs your attention. Like the singer is telling a story that matters. Too often, however, it’s a breathlessly sung tale of another depressing situation played over repetitively strummed chords. (Edited)