Customer Reviews

25th Anniversary Box

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am going to tackle this four CD version of the Resident anniversary collection with the die-hard fans in mind, as I don't recommend a newcomer risking the big bucks for this and be dissappointed. (For you I definetly reccomend the 2 CD US version).

The fourth disc will be of greatest interest, as it contains unreleased and rare material. I can say that most of it is worhwhile. "Hallowed Be Thy Ween" is the oldest track here, predating the first album, and it is a wild, stream-of-consciousness sound collage of people being goofy with a tape recorder. It's very prmitive sounding, yet engaging and listenable. "Love Me" is the closest here to a love/pop song tune, albiet a twisted one (makes me wonder about the horse noises at the end). "Siren Song" is the coldest sounding track, with it's delicate synths in a echoey room, it's also a favorite of mine. "Spaghetti Sunda" is one of the Residents best instrumental arrangements that I have ever heard, nice orchestration and imaginative progression from start to finish. "Tryin' to Beat It" is a take on a certain Micheal Jackson song, and it's funny as hell, with it's familiar hook being played on a out-of-tune piano. "The Cry of the Crow" is the most mysterious sounding. It's a hand-clapping song with unitelligible lyrics that sound demonic. "America" is a short and lovely take on the national anthem.

Well, there are other tracks here, but I've hit the highlights. This in combination with the other three discs of released material is a near-perfect treasure. Some low spots, most are great. My rating is based on the entire collection.

This 4 CD import version of OP, OT, OHM, is a must for serious Residents fans. There is so must unreleased, hard to find stuff here. You will probably find that you listen to this release more than any other in your Residents collection.

A spectacular collection featuring 25 years worth of music from the world's oddest and best band. A definite must-have for any serious Residents fan. Don't let the price tag scare you. It is worth every penny as you get tons of great music and wild sounds.

This is the European edition of the late-Nineties compilation, released in the States as a double album but in Europe as an ambitious four-CD overlook of the Residents' long and baffling career. The extra space is made up of what the band call "Concentrates" - cleverly edited distillations of their most famous albums, condensing forty-odd minutes of music into about ten. It's not a great place to begin if you're merely curious about the band, as shelling out seventy dollars on spec is a big risk. But The Residents' music is more or less indescribable. If you were to say that it sounds like a bunch of minor characters from "Southern Comfort" had been let loose in a digital studio, that would be only half the truth. Their firm commitment to imbecility is at the root of their genius. Witness their raging, psychotic cover of Satisfaction, which came out around the same time as the Devo version and is infinitely superior, one of the most alarming records ever made. Compare this to the loping nursery-rhyme tune of The Gingerbread Man; few American bands have this kind of range. Long may their eyeballs stare.