The Mellow Zone
by 
Repo 
- Chart updated: 10/14/2020 13:15
- (Created: 07/12/2020 16:43).
- Chart size: 3 albums.
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FOLK ROCK HEAVEN
Ok. So I'm essentially cheating on my very first post. This is not a proper album! But the US release (I think) of the first ten songs from Donovan's double album A Gift From A Flower to a Garden back in 1967.
BUT, every song is folk rock perfection. AND. If this had been released on it's own instead of part of that semi-sprawling double album, I'm pretty positive it would be mentioned in the same breath as Love's Forever Changes or The Byrds' Mr. Tamborine Man. I'm not kidding. But it wasn't and so it isn't.
Anyways these ten songs zip by in a very playful, poppy and colorful way as you'd expect from Donovan, and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to put a quick smile on their face.
Grade: Well it's absolutely essential 60s folk-rock especially if you like your folk-rock on the poppy side of life so it gets an A. [First added to this chart: 10/14/2020]
Ok. So I'm essentially cheating on my very first post. This is not a proper album! But the US release (I think) of the first ten songs from Donovan's double album A Gift From A Flower to a Garden back in 1967.
BUT, every song is folk rock perfection. AND. If this had been released on it's own instead of part of that semi-sprawling double album, I'm pretty positive it would be mentioned in the same breath as Love's Forever Changes or The Byrds' Mr. Tamborine Man. I'm not kidding. But it wasn't and so it isn't.
Anyways these ten songs zip by in a very playful, poppy and colorful way as you'd expect from Donovan, and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to put a quick smile on their face.
Grade: Well it's absolutely essential 60s folk-rock especially if you like your folk-rock on the poppy side of life so it gets an A. [First added to this chart: 10/14/2020]
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[First added to this chart: 10/08/2020]
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KISSING YOUR SISTER
Well they chose their name right. I’ll give them that. Sarah Records unleashes it very first LP in 1989 with The Orchids debut and it’s… nice. Precious. Like their namesake, they’re very fragile. Delicate. Needing just the right climate & environment in order to survive. Something that could easily wilt on contact with a stern gaze or a faulty heating lamp. They have the feel of early Belle & Sebastian - too fragile & sensitive for life.
“Indistinguishable…. Inoffensive… Comfortable….” These are the three adjectives Allmusic uses to describe Lyceum. And they hit the nail on the head. This is good, inoffensive Sarah Records jangle pop. If you needed to describe Sarah Records sound, and one of their compilations wasn’t handy, this would do nicely. But it doesn’t really stand out. The Orchids haven’t really developed their own distinctive flair just yet. At this point, they’re just… nice. And in the dating world and in music, that’s pretty much the kiss of death. The aural equivalent of kissing your sister. At least in this case, it’s very cute & endearing sister. Interestingly, they would borrow form the Madchester scene in a good way to cultivate something much far more interesting with their next album - Holy Orchid. At this point, however, they seem to be apologizing for their very existence. At least they’re well behaved.
It does contain one stunner - “Blue Light” - which sounds like the most impassioned heart-on-sleeve song that New Order never wrote. “If You Can’t Wait” is a also a keeper. Again, this is a good album. Just nothing super special yet. It pales in comparison to The Field Mice’s Snowball released in the same year.
Attention Bargain Shoppers: The original release of this album suffers mightily due to Sarah’s head scratching philosophy that singles should NOT be on the album. Say what? Using some “value-for-money” double-speak that was somehow swallowed by their adoring & thus gullible fan base. “Why make you pay twice for the singles that you had already bought?” said Sarah. Hogwash says me. They just wanted you to keep buying their singles AND their albums. Buy everything! Luckily this “philosophy” was later corrected in 2005 when Lyceum was re-released with the singles tacked onto the end. That’s where you’ll get the real bang for your buck. Definitely worth hunting down.
Grade: B-
RIYL: Twee & Jangle Pop
Well they chose their name right. I’ll give them that. Sarah Records unleashes it very first LP in 1989 with The Orchids debut and it’s… nice. Precious. Like their namesake, they’re very fragile. Delicate. Needing just the right climate & environment in order to survive. Something that could easily wilt on contact with a stern gaze or a faulty heating lamp. They have the feel of early Belle & Sebastian - too fragile & sensitive for life.
“Indistinguishable…. Inoffensive… Comfortable….” These are the three adjectives Allmusic uses to describe Lyceum. And they hit the nail on the head. This is good, inoffensive Sarah Records jangle pop. If you needed to describe Sarah Records sound, and one of their compilations wasn’t handy, this would do nicely. But it doesn’t really stand out. The Orchids haven’t really developed their own distinctive flair just yet. At this point, they’re just… nice. And in the dating world and in music, that’s pretty much the kiss of death. The aural equivalent of kissing your sister. At least in this case, it’s very cute & endearing sister. Interestingly, they would borrow form the Madchester scene in a good way to cultivate something much far more interesting with their next album - Holy Orchid. At this point, however, they seem to be apologizing for their very existence. At least they’re well behaved.
It does contain one stunner - “Blue Light” - which sounds like the most impassioned heart-on-sleeve song that New Order never wrote. “If You Can’t Wait” is a also a keeper. Again, this is a good album. Just nothing super special yet. It pales in comparison to The Field Mice’s Snowball released in the same year.
Attention Bargain Shoppers: The original release of this album suffers mightily due to Sarah’s head scratching philosophy that singles should NOT be on the album. Say what? Using some “value-for-money” double-speak that was somehow swallowed by their adoring & thus gullible fan base. “Why make you pay twice for the singles that you had already bought?” said Sarah. Hogwash says me. They just wanted you to keep buying their singles AND their albums. Buy everything! Luckily this “philosophy” was later corrected in 2005 when Lyceum was re-released with the singles tacked onto the end. That’s where you’ll get the real bang for your buck. Definitely worth hunting down.
Grade: B-
RIYL: Twee & Jangle Pop
Total albums: 3. Page 1 of 1
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The Mellow Zone composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 1 | 33% | |
| 1970s | 1 | 33% | |
| 1980s | 1 | 33% | |
| 1990s | 0 | 0% | |
| 2000s | 0 | 0% | |
| 2010s | 0 | 0% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Donovan | 1 | 33% | |
| Ashra | 1 | 33% | |
| The Orchids | 1 | 33% |
The Mellow Zone chart changes
| New entries |
|---|
| Lyceum by The Orchids |
The Mellow Zone similarity to your chart(s)
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Other custom charts by Repo
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991: Even More Gems | Repo | Custom chart | 2025 | |
| 1992: Even More Gems | Repo | Custom chart | 2025 | |
| Pitchfork Music Fest 2018 | Repo | Custom chart | 2018 | |
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A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(
We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.
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