Are U Shakespeare

Trip Shakespeare | Format: Audio Cassette

Product Details

• Audio Cassette (September 10, 1992)
• Original Release Date: 1989
• Label: Twintone
• ASIN: B00008FXVE
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,462,986 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not their best, but better than the rest, October 22, 2004

By 

Craig Payne (Ottumwa, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Are You Shakesperienced (Audio CD)

Trip Shakespeare was an amazing band. When you add up their talents, it seems they shouldn't "jell"--for example, power-pop drumming, the quirky intelligence of the lyrics, the pure fun of the funky melodies, the occasional acid-rock guitar solo, and the operatic, over-the-top vocals. But it worked so well. This is maybe not their best recording (probably that would be "Lulu"), but it's still better than bands of the same era that hit it "bigger." Plus, it has a few of my favorite songs: Reception (what a killer chorus); Toolmaster of Brainerd (although I have to admit the studio version pales beside the harder-to-find "live" 10-minute epic); and really, most of the others. I sing along to everything. Trip Shakespeare had a knack for singing even relatively silly lyrics as though everything depended on that particular song--for example, see if you can help singing along with "Oh northern with your eyes so bright, can you see the home breaking on the shore tonight?" This CD bears up under my only true "musical" test, the test of repeated listening. It still sounds fresh, and, like "Ron Klaus Wrecked His House" by Big Dipper, or "The Mayor of Simpleton" by XTC, it brings back a lot of fun memories.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars not quite there yet, July 8, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Are You Shakesperienced (Audio CD)

The second offering from Trip Shakespeare (first with Matt's brother Dan) is a hit-and-miss record--much like their first. While there are a few great tunes, like "Two-Wheeler", "Diane" and "Toolmaster From Brainerd", the album still lacks the magic they would create on their two subsequent releases, "Lulu" and "Across The Universe".

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars this is their best work, March 30, 2006

By 

mark thingmaker (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Are You Shakesperienced (Audio CD)

I consider myself very fortunate to have discovered Trip Shakespeare in 1988, while they still had about 5 years left together. I have very deep feelings for this band, fond memories of their shows and songs.

The music on AYS? has a lot of innocence and humor. There are songs about a glass statue, a fish, a guitar hero, and a despondent wedding crasher. It's packed with clever vocal hooks and harmonies. For me, TS were always best represented in concert, where the raw, gritty guitars dueled and danced (I often wonder if a concert DVD will ever be released). The songs on AYS? definitely capture that side better than the later albums. They are charming, a bit rumpled, yet they still display a great command of pop design. Maybe that's why I'm more attracted to this album and Applehead Man than the two later A&M releases, Across the Universe and Lulu. Those albums contain well-structured pop songs, but they are either too cute or too earnest for my liking. They are very polished albums, and that's part of the problem. If you like Semisonic, I suppose you'll probably enjoy those albums a lot.

A couple more things to add: I found a great used CD of AYS? at a record store for $8, so look around a bit before dropping $50 on a copy. Also, I highly recommend Matt Wilson's solo album Burnt, White and Blue. It has some lovely songs.