Desertshore
by Nico

Nico invented a style of singing that is uncategorizable which belongs to no particular tradition or to no particular time or place. It is a style that is totally original and appears to have emerged out of nowhere. Her eerie lugubrious litanies provided the platform from which would emerge gothic rock over a decade later.

'Desert Shore' was her second masterpiece and one of the most original releases of all-time. With this album Nico evoked the desolation of an icy and empty universe, as if after a colossal catastrophe. Here her voice was particularly cold, depressed and nuerotic whilst at the same time, shamanic and prophetic which tended to elevate her mystique persona.

The atmospheres she portrayed in her art developed into suspenseful and moribund depictions of the afterlife. The icy church-like harmonium sound and John Cale's viola added to an atmosphere of fatalism and feelings of eternal angst within a haunted nightmarish inner world. It is an atmosphere that is bleak, majestic and cosmic.

Like Homer, Nico was a beautiful and tortured soul not of this world who lived on another planet and sang about the apocalypse of planet Earth, as viewed from up above.
(Edited)

The best album of 1970 and easily her best. Desertshore mixes the darkest sonic landscapes of The Marble Index with the warm innocence of Chelsea Girl. Cale's arrangements are avant-garde at its most substantial, and Nico's vocals are always measured in their sobriety without giving the impression that she doesn't care about the music. Every time Nico plays the piano it sounds heartbreaking, and each noise Cale recorded in the studio finds its place. All the songs are solid, in the sense that they all have a bunch of elements that make the listen rewarding, and they are easily distiguishable (something that could not be said about her last one). Great album. Complex but simple. Grey but kaleidoscopic. (Edited)

From teague TOP 100 COMMENTER 01/24/2021 22:28 | #265024 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Ended up listening to this because it's one of Björk's favorite records, and I'll do anything she says. And holy cow this is so good. Beautiful, haunting, absolutely captivating in every way imaginable. Nico has never sounded this good, John Cale needs an award for this album alone. (Edited)

From CellarDoor TOP 100 COMMENTER 01/10/2010 14:40 | #8294 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

"Afraid" is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. (Edited)

A very otherworldly sounding album, that feels both haunting and beautiful at the same time. The sound is so cohesive and this atmosphere that Cale and Nico create together is stunning. Every song fits the tone of the album masterfully. The arrangement on this album by Cale is magnificent, my personal highlights being the piano, which sounds so delicate and raw, and the string arrangement. While some songs like My Only Child among others do not reach the same heights as tracks like Afraid, the tempo of the album is never lost which maintains the consistency of the album. Overall, it creates an experience that it will be very difficult to forget. (Edited)