Customer Reviews

Bizarro

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

 

 

I bought this album months ago on cassette in amoeba records on a whim one weekday afternoon and I was blown away. the trouble with a lot of recordings from the eighties is that otherwise fantastic albums can be bogged down with cheesy, dated production quality. however, this album (production included) sounds just as fresh and vibrant today as it did when it first came out almost twenty years ago. the songs are excellent. two chords never sounded this good. some of the songs go on forever using the same basic chord structure. yet, somehow, it never gets dull. i have the feeling that if this band were to come out today instead of twenty years ago, they would be instatly popular with today's music scene. this is very original, timeless music.the wedding present were definitely one of the best bands to come outta england in the late eighties.

If you're already a Wedding Present fan, then you don't need me to tell you that David Gedge & co. write some of the catchiest and most powerful guitar-driven Brit-pop of any band in the past 20 years. It's hard to choose a favorite, but I can't kid myself--it has to be Bizarro. I can't say enough about this cd. The two best words to describe it: FAST and FURIOUS. The fantastic song, "Brassneck", is quite possibly the best opening track on any cd I own, and it sets you up for the relentless onslaught that follows. Every song rocks--including the epic, "Kennedy", which is seriously one of the best songs ever written. Like most of the other songs on here, it just keeps building and building, the guitars picking up speed and power until you have to stop and say to yourself, "This is one of the best songs ever written!" And there's the equally-powerful "What Have I Said Now?, "Granadaland", the Pavement cover, "Box Elder, MO", and the list keeps going. To recap: in two words, FAST and FURIOUS. In one word, EPIC. Buy it.

Wow. I listened to this for the first time in years, and I was floored by not only the sheer speed & energy, but the ahead-of-its-time use of distortion, song structures, and rhythmic sound. So many bands today owe these lads a debt of gratitude, whether they know it or not. Listen to the opening rhythm guitar of "Crushed" ...It's hard to imagine any human alive can strum a guitar that fast.... and then they keep it going! "Brassneck", of course, is a favorite, but this is one of those rare entire albums that's so good, it's almost like a greatest hits!

As a previous reviewer mentioned, this player is fast!! First caught the wedding present in early 90's having heard dalliance (from 'Seamonsters') and decided to purchase this player. My vinyl copy is now a little frayed and have since upgraded to cd. I usually find frenetic guitar bands to be hollow and tuneless but this one stands out. Melody appears in all the tunes and it certianly is powerful. As with most of his work, Gedge writes about love lost. His lyrics are jealous and maudlin. He doesnt really paint a picture lyrically, hes no poet, but its honesty grabs you. The music is mostly full on natural guitar butchering, doesnt appear to be put through too many effects (how many strings must these guys have gone through), but the songs really keep the tune. And what with his angry little writings the power really shines through. You cant help but feel his emotions. Comparisons to the Smiths dont ring true for me. The Smiths never made anything this hard and rough, and lyrically this is playground material to Morrisey. I highly recommend 'what have I said now?', 'bewitched', 'take me' and 'granadaland'. Other reviewers have noted about 'kennedy', which for me is the weakest track, but it has been played to death as an indie anthem over here. That really is the only track i skip. For me, this is the best wedding present player. All in all a very pleasing collection and one that you will come back to, i promise.

With the opening of Brassneck you know you're onto something special with this album. The guitar drives, the lyrics mean something and the energy pours and pours. quite literally this was an astounding record at a time when people where mourning The Smiths and The Cure looked like they could rule the world. Gedge one of the most underestimated lyricists of England (forget Gallagher instantly) and his band put so much emotion into this record I honestly believe they couldn't match it ever again. Add this to the fact that one of the classic pop songs of all times ("Kennedy") also features (it made number 2 in John Peel's Seminal Festive Fifty of 1989 - along with about 5 other of the album tracks that year) and you know you have a record on your hands.

Certainly one of the memories of the 80's - buy it and try it.

Buy this NOW. That's about all I can say. This is a phenomenal, criminally underrated album, easily in my top 5 of all time, strong from start to finish. The more you listen to it, the more you'll want to listen to it, again and again, which is, after all, the mark of a true classic.

I first bought this album after seeing The Wedding Present play in Paris in 1995. I was so blown away by their great performance that they soon became my favorite band. Bizarro is one of my desert island disks for sure. Very unique guitar stylings, meaningful lyrics, and great musicianship. Great place to start on TWP but shouldn't be your final destination. Check it out.

I first heard Bizarro in my angry, young college days and it grabbed me and never let go, I still regularly listen to it today. The lyrics are full of love angst and confusion, great stuff!! A must CD for any fan of Bob Mould (Sugar and solo) and the early SubPop sound (Nirvana, Mudhoney, etc).

Bizarro was the Weddoes' second proper album (after George Best, they had released Tommy, a compilation of singles and session tracks, and the unlikely Ukrainski Vistupi V Johna Peela, containing two John Peel sessions of acoustic Ukrainian folk tunes). It included the single Kennedy (number 2 in the John Peel Festive 50 that year, one of five songs from the album to be voted in) and the original version of Brassneck, which was to be remade as a single recorded for them by Steve Albini. Each of Wedding Present's albums has a distinct identity although Bizarro retains the blistering guitar of George Best, and David Gedge's lyrics continued to mine the dark pits of romantic and sexual hell and dark despair. The longest track, Take Me!, ends in an extended instrumental section but there is no soloing, just the intense, repeated accompaniment, expressing all the emotion and pent up frustration in noise to trance-like effect. Glorious.

David Gedge & co at their vey best. With a mixture of fast and slow this is an album of great intensity and power. Be prepared for `KENNEDY', this song was meant to be heard.