Customer Reviews

Best of Ladies & Gentlemen Suburbs Have Left Build

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For my money, one of the most intriguing bands ever. I can just count my blessings I still have all of their albums in pristine condition on vinyl. For convenience this is a nice cd. It contains their big hits but to be honest every song they ever did was a hit. Music For Boys is still anthemic though. As someone else he said, if they were born 10 years later they would have been huge.

The Suburbs are one of the most amusing and fun to listen to bands of all time, possibly because they were also loaded most of the time! They were "the other band from Minneapolis" when Prince and Morris Day were in their early heydays. They never took themselves too serious but, knew how to write and play music that would make Amish people jump up and DANCE! If you followed VH1's "Bands On the Run", they basically are Flickerstick. The Suburbs never became big time famous but, everyone who heard them had a stomping great time. They started in the late 1970s so, you will hear hints of early punk driven mostly by bass that was (and is) pure dippy fun on the club dance floor. This collection spans much of their best of from the Polygram era put onto Twin/Tone Records. The great songs are mostly there including "Love Is the Law", "Music For Boys", "Rattle My Bones", "Cig In Backwards", "Cows", "Drinking With An Angel", "Waiting", and "The Best Is Over".

The bottom line: Pick it up ... and play it at parties. The music is still way hip today and you'll want to learn how to play bass if you can't already!

I "discovered" these guys while at was at UW Madison and followed them until their demise. A killer live band (when relatively sober) with smart, dark lyrics. If you like driving, funny, well written rock then you should buy this CD.

...and tape your wife to the ceiling.

This music is for those that love the powerful drive and the darkness of the Seattle sound, but love the rhythm of great dance music! Imagine a sound that begins with edgy, rhythmic guitar, the kind of warm bluesy sound that only a Stratocaster, a Mesa Boogie, and a master (Bruce C. Allen) can produce. Now add a solid, creative bass line (Michael Halliday) and the steadiest, cleanest driving beat (Hugo Klaers) in rock and roll. It's the kind of infectious beat that makes even non-dancers want to dance! - this is the real thing, no rhythm machines here! Vocals are like voices from the dark side - sinister, yet smoothe (Beej Chaney and Chan Poling). The lyrics are sometimes grim, at other times puzzling, but always amusing. The finishing touches are done with remarkably creative and beautiful piano interludes (Chan Poling), something that one would not expect to hear with music that has this kind of punch. The Suburbs' music is tight, high energy fun performed by a five man band - all musicians - no electronic gizmo wizards. This disc spans their career from the late 1970's through the late 1980's. If you didn't know that, you might think after listening they were a new band. Their music is timeless. "Music for Boys" is a great example of their powerful, dark, rhythmic sound. "Cig in Backwards" is trademark Suburbs rhythm, smoothe guitar work and enchanting vocals - another dance masterpiece. "Tape Your Wife to the Ceiling" is a fast paced punk sound. "Spring Came" is where the band shows their versatility and their love for life with a fast, almost calypso beat. "Girlfriend" is one of only a few slow songs the band performs. It starts slow and builds to a powerful, emotional finish. The emotion that comes from Bruce Allen's guitar and Chan Poling's piano just needs to be experienced to be appreciated. If the house is ever burning, the first things I'm grabbing are my Suburbs vinyl albums, the band's live disc, "Viva!", and this disc!

As a Minneapolis native there is no other words to describe the Burbs here on this album..."the best"! After years of all albums being out of print, hard to find etc. This gem came from TwinTone. The burbs will light up your mind and take you backa few years to when things were just a little simpler...this disc is gonna make you want to roll down your windows, punch the gas and give a hoot out the window as you speed through downtown!

If this band would have had their 1st release in 1998 they would have become BIG. Their sound is unique, they are very talented. The bottle got in their way on occasion, but what a great band. Incredible live show! Wish I could play the Beej-tar!

Sounds like home! Even stranger, for those of you lucky enough to be in the Twin Cities, you can hear cuts of WAITING and MUSIC FOR BOYS on Minnesota public TV between shows. And, if you listen very closely, you can hear the same cuts (mostly WAITING) on the kid's show DRAGON FLY TV (a st. paul produced show). Talk about having your youth coming back to haunt while watching TV with the kiddies.

Buy it! Relive your youth. I bet you can't resist getting up to dance.

I am also a true Minneapolis Minnesota native, and the Burbs rock the house! I got my goggles on, and it's so bright! I see in color, not black and white! Is this the only album with "Waiting" on it? That is the best one on there. I also like "Goggles","Music for Boys","Cig Machine","Spring Came"...all of em really. The publishing company that did this CD is about 40 blocks away, I'm close native! BYE

You won't regret buying this CD. The tune "Music for Boys" alone, is worth the price of the CD!--one of my all time favorite songs.

I bought this album for the song "Waiting" but I also found some other songs on th CD that I did not realize were by the Suburbs so I got a nice bonus too..