Customer Reviews

Black Snake Diamond Role

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

 

 

Considering Robyn himself said that by the time of Underwater Moonlight The Soft Boys were just a band playing his songs. Well, so is this. And it's the members of The Soft Boys as well. So basically Robyn just selected which soft boy plays on which track - utilizing their strengths as the songs called for them. In addition to Morris playing drums, the excellent Vince Ely of The Psychedlic Furs plays on some tracks (although it does not list who played drums on "City Of Shame" - odd). Some great tracks here: "The Lizard", "City Of Shame", "Out Of The Picture" and "I Watch The Cars" are all Robyn at his very best. "Do Policemen Sing?" sounds like a silly Monty Python song, "Love" is beautiful
and "Meat" sounds like the soft boys never broke up (or have any reason to).

The bonus tracks included here (on the Rhino/Sequal releases)
are all great and chronologically accurate.

However the big letdown is that instead of adding additional mixes of "The Man Who Invented Himself" (Hitchock's best single) and "Brenda's Iron Sledge" (also fab) to this release they replaced the originals (!!??!) and put new mixes in their place. Why would you try and fix something if there's nothing wrong with it in the first place? The real kicker is that the mixes that were chosen to replace the originals are by no means superior.

The difference in "The Man Who..." is that they removed the sax (which only added to it's already fun and quirky swing)!
And "Brenda" for some reason now sounds dull.
Uh, yeah, what an improvement. Stupid!
For these original mixes search out the original Glass Fish import edition. So if anything by issuing this definitive edition on cd you still have to buy the original to get the original versions of tracks.
Robyn at his creative peak!! Unmatched!

As both a fan of Robyn, and a buyer/seller on this glorious site, I should like to point out that while this is among my favorites of his...the song listing currently associated with this recent YepRoc release is actually the proper song list for another recent Robyn re-release..."Eye". No doubt the song listing currently on view for the "Eye" disc is the proper listing for this disc.
Got that?
Anyway, buy them both and sort out the discrepancies on your own...you won't regret it.
KimBob/Amazonplaza

With the Soft Boys officially dispersed, one may have expected a darker album to creep up from Robyn, but this debut solo recording is anything but.

Using most of the Soft Boys throughout as backing musicians, Robyn casually creates a solid work including some of his best straight-up pop ("Acid Bird", "The Man Who Invented Himself") a terrific Soft Boys-ish rocker ("I Watch the Cars"),a genuinely touching ballad ("Love") and music much stranger than what had come before ("Do Policemen Sing?", "Brenda's Iron Sledge"). Yet in spite of the contradictory tones, there is a solid bond holding this album together which still enchants 18 years later. Add to that a fine bunch of bonus cuts, including the great funk (!) single "Grooving On A Inner Plane" and you have a cd well worth plunking your money down for. Grab it now, before it goes back out of print!

One of the most influential albums on me. I remember first obtaining an Italian import of this in the late 80s and thinking it was so chunky. Everything about it was blissfully low-tech, including the practically photocopied looking b/w cover. Having only heard "Globe of Frogs" at the time, it also exposed me to the more disturbing (and hilarious) dimensions of Robyn's songwriting talents. From the jubilant "The Man Who Invented Himself" to the ridiculous "Policemen Sing". And, hey, Thomas Dolby even crops up (as Robyn would later do on "The Flat Earth").

Often categorized as a Syd Barrett wannabe (which might be true) or worse, a novelty act, Robyn is so much more than that. His massive career, spanning from the late 70s to this day is a testament to both his talent and stamina.

My one complaint on the CD re-release is that missing sax on "The Who Invented Himself". We are told that this was a "single version" which was substituted on subsequent pressings. Well, it was a bit better ...

Hitchcock's first post-Soft Boys album is one of the strongest in his catalog. It's an enchanting and inventive record in which typical Hitchcockian wierdness ("Brenda's Iron Sledge," "Do Policemen Sing?") is paired with a lovely and graceful melodicism ("Acid Bird" and "Love," two of Hitchcock's finest moments). Other highlights include the manic rocker "Meat" and the stoned and eery "The Lizard." Great stuff.

Rhino's reissue adds five bonus tracks, including the surreal spoken word piece "Happy the Golden Prince," a slowed-down and VERY heavy take on "I Watch the Cars," and an early version of "It Was the Night" that redeems the overproduced mess on "Groovy Decoy."

A couple of minor irritants: Rhino's reissue replaces the original versions of "The Man Who Invented Himself" and "Brenda's Iron Sledge" with an alternate, sax-less version of the former and a new remix of the latter. Why, why, oh why? Let's have these as bonus tracks, by all means, but for god's sake, why tamper with the content of an album that's been around for 20 years?

Robyn Hitchcock / Black Snake Diamond Role (Rhino version)

The "Yep Roc" version listed by Amazon has a list of the songs, but they are songs from a DIFFERENT album (as of January 2012). Look up the "Rhino" version on Amazon, which has the correct list of songs, and audio samples for the "Black Snake Diamond Role" album. Hopefully Amazon will correct this problem.

Back to the actual CD: This is a fun quirky album from the man who may someday become the very definition of quirky. A Four Star album. Rhino Records' version is very good.

Musical genius.Also bought this cd to replace a tape bought yrs ago.Love the cool tones mixed with trippy tones.A must have.

One can well imagine that if Syd Barrett had continued to write and record music, some of it might have sounded like Robyn Hitchcock. At any rate it is obvious that Hitchcock is very inspired by Barrett, and his vocal phrasings are often similar to those of Barrett.

This album was Hitchcock's first solo release after the dissolution of the band The Soft Boys and Hitchcock shines with having written all material on the album; including the eight bonus tracks. Moreover, the songwriting is at a high level, and only very few numbers seem unimportant. If you are not already familiar with Hitchcock's music, it may take some time to get an overview of the eighteen numbers, which, besides being in debt to Syd Barret, also have borrowed a portion from the melodic early punk, Alex Chilton and sixties bands like the Who and the Velvet Underground.

The ten original tracks are generally fine, but a few songs should be highlighted - f.x. the catchy opening "The Man Who Invented Himself". Also the Pink Floyd inspired "Brenda's Iron Sledge", the melodic Who inspired "Out of the Picture" and not least the final number, and the only ballad "Love " stand out.

The bonus-tracks are for the most part fully in line with the original ten tracks, and also here several could be highlighted. I will bring forward two of the slower songs, the evocative "A Skull, a Suitcase and a Long Bottle of Wine" and "It was the Night", which might well go for an Alex Chilton recording.

An exciting album which belong among the most recognized in his extensive production; partly as a soloist or as part of the bands the Soft Boys and The Egyptians.

Hitchcock's first post-Soft Boys album is one of the strongest in his catalog. It's an enchanting and inventive record in which typical Hitchcockian wierdness ("Brenda's Iron Sledge," "Do Policemen Sing?") is paired with a lovely and graceful melodicism ("Acid Bird" and "Love," two of Hitchcock's finest moments). Other highlights include the manic rocker "Meat" and the stoned and eery "The Lizard." Great stuff.

Rhino's reissue adds five bonus tracks, including the surreal spoken word piece "Happy the Golden Prince," a slowed-down and VERY heavy take on "I Watch the Cars," and an early version of "It Was the Night" that redeems the overproduced mess on "Groovy Decoy."

A couple of minor irritants: Rhino's reissue replaces the original versions of "The Man Who Invented Himself" and "Brenda's Iron Sledge" with an alternate, sax-less version of the former and a new remix of the latter. Why, why, oh why? Let's have these as bonus tracks, by all means, but for god's sake, why tamper with the content of an album that's been around for 20 years?

Robyn Hitchcock's earliest albums also are among his best: he was lively and fresh and, depending on your point of view, his eccentricities in songwriting and performance hadn't developed into shtick as they tended to with later releases. BLACK SNAKE DIAMOND ROLE is best heard within it's original line-up of songs: in this case, the addition of some of the "CD-only" material only shows that sometimes the longer playing time of a CD isn't an advantage. "Happy The Golden Prince" is interesting to hear---once. After that, it's a major annoyance, the shaggiest of shaggy dog stories. But songs like "The Man Who Invented Himself," "Acid Bird," "Do Policeman Sing" and "Love" are keepers, each song showing another facet of Hitch's considerable talents. Same with the others on the original album's list. A good reissue---just wish it had been a GREAT one!