Joyful by Orpheus (Album, Folk Pop): Reviews, Ratings, Credits, Song list - Rate Your Music
New Music Genres Charts Lists
Joyful
....
ArtistOrpheus
TypeAlbum
ReleasedApril 1969
RYM Rating 2.91 / 5.00.5 from 43 ratings
Ranked#1,640 for 1969
Genres
Descriptors

Track listing

  • A1 By the Size of My Shoes 3:40
  • A2 Me About You 3:02
  • A3 May I Look at You 3:00
  • A4 To Touch Our Love Again 3:00
  • A5 Lovin' You 2:35
  • B1 Brown Arms in Houston 2:50
  • B2 As They All Fall 2:35
  • B3 I Can Make the Sun Rise 2:30
  • B4 Joyful 3:30
  • B5 Of Enlightenment 3:00
  • Total length: 29:42

Rate/Catalog

Saving...
0.0
Catalog
In collection
On wishlist
Used to own
(not cataloged)
Set listening
Tags
Save
Review
Track ratings
To rate, slide your finger across the stars from left to right.
Issues

3 Issues

3 Issues

4 Reviews

Definitely not great but I think it's easily their best record. The band took away all the negatives from the first two and return here with a very lush, stripped down and simple pop sound. Beautiful harmonies and orchestration adorn the tracks. Not a weak one in sight either. An underrated LP for sure.
Published
ADVERTISEMENT
This third Orpheus album doesn't have much to offer for me. I consider Ascending to be their best album althought it's not a good album either. Joyful is more folk oriented than their previous two albums and once again their sound is quite commercial. Some of these songs are listenable but definitely nothing very special and there just is way too much weak material included.

Orpheus has never impressed me that much. They have some nice songs but overall their sound and style just isn't my kind of stuff.
Published
The last great Orpheus lp as the original foursome. Just look at the gloomy facial expressions on the back cover. They do a Turtles track for God's sake!
What more did the fans want?!? BLOOD?!?
This is by far their most experimental lp and they even played around with haunting dead -air sounds and space inside songs such as the doomsday nightmare of 'To Touch Our Love Again'. I get chills listening to this one.

Very sad and morbid but with signs of lasting beauty. Ironically, Bruce Arnold went on to make lp #4 with Steve Martin #3 on Bell records. That one is so strange that it deserves to be in the "Hall of Shame" for something, I just can't figure out what?
Published
The third Orpheus album is not their best, but it is the one that comes closest to defining their essence. The orchestration is turned up, but doesn't drown the group out, and although a few songs could still qualify as "The Unbearable Lightness of Orpheus", the album defines the concept of "easy listening". I can't think of an album that's easier to listen to than this one.

In fact, if you take away the outside compositions that the label forced on the group, this album is pretty solid. Sure, the nine-note vamp that forms the basis of "Lovin' You", the closest they get to "rock", is still barely within shouting distance of the term, but Orpheus was never a rock band anyway. Their forte was placid, pleasant music, and that's what this album delivers.

"May I Look At You" and "I Can Make the Sun Rise" are just too damn upbeat not to like. The beautiful "To Touch Our Love Again" is the album's centerpiece, while the downbeat "As They All Fall" is its best moment. On both of these, the orchestration lends a majesty to the songs reminiscent of what the same treatment did for Fats Domino's "Walkin' to New Orleans".

It's a shame that Orpheus never got to follow up this, its most hummable, album, but the set's title was belied by its back cover. The guys look tired and disinterested, anything but "joyful", and the end of the group was not long in coming.
Published
ADVERTISEMENT
Votes are used to help determine the most interesting content on RYM.

Vote up content that is on-topic, within the rules/guidelines, and will likely stay relevant long-term.
Vote down content which breaks the rules.

Catalog

Ratings: 43
Cataloged: 47
Track rating sets:Track ratings: 1
Rating distribution
Page 1 2 3 >>
21 Feb 2024
RamDale  2.00 stars Poor, mostly poor tracks with 1-3 gems
28 Sep 2023
ElijahKozlov Digital3.00 stars
7 Jul 2023
smithy57 Digital3.00 stars george best
24 May 2023
geldofpunk Owned3.50 stars Good
26 Mar 2023
Modin Digital3.00 stars
8 Mar 2023
zevtra  3.00 stars
4 Sep 2022
spinning  2.50 stars tiny screendoor earholes
  • 2.50 stars A1 By the Size of My Shoes
  • 2.00 stars A2 Me About You
  • 3.00 stars A3 May I Look at You
  • 3.50 stars A4 To Touch Our Love Again
  • 3.00 stars A5 Lovin' You
  • 2.50 stars B1 Brown Arms in Houston
  • 3.00 stars B2 As They All Fall
  • 3.50 stars B3 I Can Make the Sun Rise
  • 2.50 stars B4 Joyful
  • 2.50 stars B5 Of Enlightenment
18 Aug 2022
20 Feb 2022
wakajawaka70 Vinyl3.00 stars Worthwhile
2 Feb 2022
magicsxxxxx Digital3.00 stars
9 Jan 2022
kurt72cobain Cassette3.00 stars Nice Record without Peaks / 56-64.9
8 Jan 2022
P_o_p  1.00 stars I don't listen to this anymore
5 Nov 2021
bhodges14  3.00 stars Above Average
25 Sep 2020
fhoffthehook Vinyl3.50 stars
24 Feb 2020
Poppa_Duke_Tyler  2.50 stars Below Average
....
ADVERTISEMENT

Track listing

  • A1 By the Size of My Shoes 3:40
  • A2 Me About You 3:02
  • A3 May I Look at You 3:00
  • A4 To Touch Our Love Again 3:00
  • A5 Lovin' You 2:35
  • B1 Brown Arms in Houston 2:50
  • B2 As They All Fall 2:35
  • B3 I Can Make the Sun Rise 2:30
  • B4 Joyful 3:30
  • B5 Of Enlightenment 3:00
  • Total length: 29:42
ADVERTISEMENT

Contributions

Contributors to this release: ochsfan, tymeshifter, Luke_Skytalker
Log in to submit a correction or upload art for this release
....