Bandstand [Import]

Family | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 6, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Mystic Records
• ASIN: B0000C84LF
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #405,758 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Burlesque

2. Bolero Babe

3. Coronation

4. Dark Eyes

5. Broken Nose

6. My Friend the Sun

7. Glove

8. Ready to Go

9. Top of the Hill

10. The Rockin' R's [*]

Editorial Reviews

2003 reissue of 1972 album, that's unavailable domestically, includes four bonus tracks, 'The Rockin' Rs', 'No Mule's Fool' (Live), 'Good News-Bad News' (Live), & 'The Weavers Answer' (Live). Mystic Records.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars FAMILY'S "BANDSTAND": AS GOOD AS DICK CLARK'S, April 23, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Bandstand (Audio CD)

a CLIFFORD HODGE review

Family was ahead of its time, prefiguring the likes of Roxy Music by using an assortment of instruments previously not normally used in rock bands, such as clarinet, for example, and displaying a slight jazz influence; but what is most noteworthy about this band, popular in the U.K., but little known in America, is the almost unbelievable vocal intensity of front-man Roger Chapman, and by this I do not mean volume, I mean just sheer emotional bust-a-gut, pop-a-vein-in-your-face intensity. How did he do that? Jim Morrison should have been so intense. MC5 could have learned a thing or two. James Brown,...well, that's the level we're talking about here. Truly. Never have I heard the likes of him, nor do I ever expect to. And the band was equal to him instrumentally. Just listen to "Broken Nose" on this album. The frantic violin starts you wondering how the nose gets broken, the music providing an irresistable aural image. And then there is "Burlesque," and the incredibly poignant "My Friend The Sun", a simple ballad you would not expect from someone who sings "Broken Nose," or "Weavers Answer," not on this album, but one of their most haunting numbers. A 60's - 70's British band, Family had a sound quite its own, not in that common blues category a'la Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Savoy Brown, Groundhogs, Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Graham Bond, et. al., nor fitting into the psychedelic slot with such as The Strawberry Alarm Clock, or the garage sound of the Troggs or Them. Family just sounded like Family, perhaps one of the first progressive mainstream bands - as opposed to the progressive experimental. Theirs was a sound which was very easy for the average listener to relate to and adaptable to FM radio play, which makes it hard to understand why they were not played a lot more in the U.S. If you were to listen to my "The Best of Family" vinyl compilation, you would say that virtually any of these songs could easily have been a top 40 hit single, while at the same time having your interest piqued by the recognition that this was different from other things you'd heard. "Bandstand" is not Family's best, but it is quite good, and certainly much better than 99% of what you might have heard over the last 20 years on that other "Bandstand". If I didn't have it, it would be first on my "buy" list.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Happy Discovery., May 24, 2010

By 

OLD GUY. - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bandstand (Audio CD)

Very worthwhile album. Bubbles up into the top quarter of my regular listening. Family was for me a happy discovery after having gulped down most of what the Industry Empire told me was relevant. Fine musicianship, wonderful tunes--they actually reached a high level of quality in a time where many were being over-rewarded for much less. They were also legitimate practitioners of unrepentant creativity and I assume, partying. So, ultimately they may have missed their own boat.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still Solid, Classic, Powerful, Excellent, Dense, Wonderful, May 10, 2004

By 

loce_the_wizard "loce_the_wizard" (Lilburn, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Bandstand (Audio CD)

Family was always the real deal, the working person's band, a group that did not pander to the top-40 crowd, recording executives, or misguided program directors.

Roger Chapman and Charlie Whitney are certainly the most underrated duo of songwriters ever to front a rock band. Few realize just how many songs they composed together in both Family and later in Streetwalkers. Chappo's vocal prowess once led "Rolling Stone" to dub him arguably the best rock vocalist ever. The remarkable guitar playing of the versatile Whitney, the solid bass lines and backing vocals of John Wetton (his counterpoint to Chapman worked remarkably well), and the ever steady drumming of Rob Townsend still sound fresh and inventive. One quibble is that Poli Palmer sometimes goes overboard on the synthesizers making some passages clearly show their age, but then he redeems himself on others by tossing in the odd quirk.

The opening track, the classic "Burlesque," kick starts this session. "Burlesque," which can bring any moribund gathering to life, is one of the few Family songs any of my friends can recall having ever heard. Solid power rock songs such as the darkly humorous "Broken Nose," the snarling "Ready To Go," or lament "Top of the Hill" anchor the CD, and these are all tracks that, together with "Burlesque" can easily toe to toe with the best hard rock of the '70s. The acoustic tunes such as their gentle anthem about dealing with depression "My Friend the Sun" or the homage to memories in "Coronation" songs are even more remarkable for their beauty when contrasted with the grittiness of the real rockers here. Clearly, Family covered all the bases. Even the throwback bonus track, "The Rockin' R's," which harkens back to early '60s pop of the pre-Family line up of the Farinas sounds great on this remastered CD.

The fact that Family never broke through to become as big as its contemporaries does not diminish the importance of their body of work. Their music is worth the effort to seek out. I envy those of you who will soon be hearing some of this music for the first time.

If you already have Bandstand on a remastered CD with bonus tracks, then the only reasons to grab this latest edition would be for the bonus live tracks, but getting a copy of the long-awaited Family Live CD should satisfy the need for the live material in a more complete manner.