In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (studio album) by Neutral Milk Hotel

Once this album gets its claws into you it won’t let go. By the time I’d listened to it 2 or 3 times I knew it was easily a top 10 album. Now after many years of listening to it, it’s a great shout for my favourite album of all time. I keep coming back to it. Also anyone talking about poor vocals just doesn’t get music. Jeff Magnum’s vocals are raw passionate and intense which suits this music perfectly. Couldn’t imagine it any other way.

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A surrealistic work of musical and lyrical genius. I have never heard anything like it. The themes explored are deeply profound: connection, love, genocide, memory, creation, autonomy, dependence, and weltschmerz.

This is an album worth listening to over and over again. It is one of the greatest works ever put to record and while no song is a hit, the totality of excellent tracks sums greater than its parts, standing as a timeless expression of the human experience in all its pain and glory. 10/10!

Not a bad album, but even after 4 listens, I just don’t get the hype.
Especially the vocals are average at best

Embarrassing to admit: I only listened to this album because of all the hype. And the first listen I couldn't see why it got the hype. Next time I heard it, I liked it although I thought it was still over-rated. Third listen I loved it. A case of Emperor's New Clothes? Probably. Most people I know with decent music taste vary from indifference to hostility. But I love it.

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I don't understand why this album is so highly rated. The songs aren't bad but the album just sounds like a demo tape to me. It could be so much better if the whole thing was re-recorded with a decent producer at the helm. This album just sounds like it was recorded in one take. A lot of work needs to be done on the vocals and the instrumentation for me to want to listen to it repeatedly.

I like the sonic experience, vocals a bit boring though

I am now addicted to this strange masterpiece.

Just a year or so ago I would casually return to it from time to time with the curiosity of a boy poking a failed firework, but recently I find I’m battling myself like a neutral milk junkie, struggling to go a week without a listen, drawn to its sensual dream-like adolescence, strange timbre and brave vocal shapings.

The music is pretty good. The lyrics are interesting. The vocal performance is absolutely disastrous and I simply can't enjoy almost any of the songs here as a result.