135 of 171 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Half a loaf, if that, December 6, 2005
This review is from: Children of Nuggets: Original ARtyfacts from the Second Psychedelic Era - 1976-1996 (Audio CD)
You ever get the feeling you've been cheated? Of course, I stole that line from John Lydon, who was never in a garage band -- then again, neither were half the acts on this box set.
I've lived the garage thing for over 20 years -- since seeing The Raybeats and The Vipers at the Peppermint Lounge in NYC (with Mr. "Nuggets" himself, Lenny Kaye, spinning 45s downstairs) that fateful frozen February Friday in 1983, and Rhino's third "Nuggets" box only vaguely resembles -- or represents -- garage history as many of us who really lived it knew it.
The incredible first "Nuggets" box, the 1998 amplification of Kaye's original two-LP 1972 landmark, succeeded wildly because it comes quite close to being something definitive, a fine representative of a great, undercredited era of rock'n'roll. To a large extent, the same goes for the second box, too. But this so-called "Children of Nuggets"? In short, in no way is this collection anywhere near definitive. Half the box seems to have been put together by real garageheads, the other half by skinny-tie, checker-sneakered, L.A. new wave popsters out of "Square Pegs" casting, or co-opted late-'80s corporate college radio geeks who never had, like, y'know, a clue. Here are some of the good points and bad points:
The good side:
* Some of the early modern garage greats are represented here (Flaming Groovies, Cramps, Fleshtones, Chesterfield Kings, The Lyres and Jeff Conolly's pre-Lyres group, DMZ).
* The Three O'Clock both "befour" (as The Salvation Army) and after the name change.
* XTC's two best songs under their Dukes of Stratosphear alias ("25 O'Clock" and "Vanishing Girl").
* "Beauty and Sadness," a standout early track by the most commercially successful band aligned with the garage tribe, The Smithereens.
* Not one, but two tunes each from The Fleshtones, The Vipers and Australia's much-beloved Hoodoo Gurus.
* The Pandoras, the first girls of the garage. Paula Pierce lives ...
* Some songs that just dead-on hit the target and represented the garage era as well as anything: "Baby What's Wrong" by Pittsburgh's eternal Cynics, a howler with the nastiest guitar fuzz riff ever unleashed; and the fiery "Down at the Nightclub" by The Creeps, a Swedish band that was only good for one memorable LP ("Enjoy the Creeps") before going in terrible directions. "Where the Wolfbane Blooms" by The Nomads, Sweden's best-known garage band until The Hives. The Swingin' Neckbreakers, the mighty, mighty Jersey trio with the semi-title tune to their classic first album, "Live for Buzz." Australia's Lime Spiders and their ultra-primitive knuckle-dragger, "Slave Girl."
* Great bands on the periphery of the garage thang: New York surf hipsters The Raybeats (Danny Amis long before Los Straitjackets). The Untamed Youth, Deke Dickerson's teenage surf band back in Missouri. The Mummies, the Bay Area's unraveled kings of juvenile trash madness. Laika & the Cosmonauts, Finland's contribution to surf/soundtrack hip.
* The Fuzztones and other mainstays: Plasticland, The Miracle Workers, The Tell-Tale Hearts.
The bad side:
* Some of the bands on here that I liked a lot in the day (The Godfathers, The Plimsouls, The La's) -- simply didn't belong here. Same goes for The Soft Boys, That Petrol Emotion, Teenage Fanclub, The Posies, The Last, The Inmates and Primal Scream, among others. These acts belonged on Rhino's "Left of the Dial" box, if anything, not "Nuggets."
* Right bands, wrong songs, or not enough of them. This Fleshtones fan would've gone with super-rock stompers "Stop Fooling Around" and "Screaming Skull" instead. The Vipers' "Cheated and Lied" is fine, but what about "Nothing's From Today," "Tellin' Those Lies" or "Never Alone" instead of "Tears"? Or "10-5-60" or "Looking for Lewis and Clark" by The Long Ryders?
* How many times is Rhino going to use the same two Lyres songs ("Don't Give It Up Now" and "Help You Ann") in compilations? How about "I'm Telling You Girl," "Soapy," "She Pays the Rent" or "Not Looking Back"?
* If Rhino was attempting to incorporate British/Irish psychedelia/garage, it picked the wrong end of the '80s. No Teardrop Explodes, Echo & the Bunnymen or very early U2.
* Rhino tried to artificially rewrite history (and failed miserably) by drawing a line at 1996. This leaves out a whole slew of great young(er), more contemporary bands that deserved to be here: The Hives (of course), The Forty-Fives, The Mooney Suzuki, The Woggles, The Greenhornes, The Star Spangles, The Flaming Sideburns ... and did someone say The White Stripes?
* Speaking of the missing ... Oh, the land of the missing! Not just little nitpicks, mind you, but gaping holes. Most of the great girl groups: The Brood ("Since He's Been Gone"), The Friggs (whose "Bad Word for a Good Thing" has been all over Chevy commercials the last two years) and The Muffs. The two raw, powerful Detroit bands fronted by Mick Collins (Jack White's patron saint): The Gories and his current group, The Dirtbombs. Other prime Michigan groups (Outrageous Cherry, The Detroit Cobras, Demolition Dollrods). Rhode Island's psychedelic demons, Plan 9. The Gravedigger V ("All Black and Hairy"). True West. Marshmallow Overcoat ("Thirteen Ghosts"). Out of Connecticut, my pals The Double Naught Spys ("You Better Tell Me Now") and psych madmen The Not Quite. The Gruesomes, from Montreal. The Playn Jayn, from England. The Shoutless, from Sweden. The Cosmic Psychos, from Australia. Some of the stalwarts of the New York scene (The Cheepskates, The A-Bones, The Raunch Hands, The Headless Horsemen). The mighty Long Island garage pop bands (The Secret Service and The Mosquitos, whose "That Was Then, This Is Now" became The Monkees' comeback hit). Even Southern Culture on the Skids.
* Screaming Trees. You sure this isn't the "Children of Nirvana" box set?
I rambled about this box set because the garage thang inspires a LOT of passion among those who have truly lived and enjoyed it -- and, as mentioned, "Children of Nuggets" barely resembles anything like the musical history I or my friends (or even the bands) lived. I wanted to get this in before some of you do your Christmas shopping. To buy this at full price would be like paying for a full loaf of bread and getting half a loaf -- if even that. See if you can find this for half-price somewhere, because that's all it's worth. I've loved Rhino to death for 25 years, but this is, without question, the most disappointing and wrongheaded collection in Rhino's long history.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The full loaf and more, January 28, 2008
This review is from: Children of Nuggets: Original ARtyfacts from the Second Psychedelic Era - 1976-1996 (Audio CD)
If you approach this box set expecting a bunch of neo-garage revivalism, you will be instantly disappointed; the fluttering guitars and soaring harmonies of "Vanishing Girl," the first song here, have nothing to do with the Standells and only a passing similarity to the Electric Prunes. It's not like anything you'd really find on a Pebbles or Back From The Grave disc, and its psychedelic flourishes aren't even remotely acidic. The song isn't raw or crude or wild. Instead, it's an otherworldly pop masterpiece, full of quiet anguish and subtle humor, with delicately bewitching vocals shimmering over and around a stunning cascade of emotive melody, underneath which is a 60s-inspired rhythm full of sunshine and hypnosis. After that comes the Lyres' "Help You Ann," which is a quintessential anthem for garage rock revival, with tremolo guitars and snarled vocals and a cheesy organ and all that other good stuff. This set isn't dominated by either sound- "Vanishing Girl" and "Help You Ann" help set the template for Children Of Nuggets, but they're not the entire blueprint. Sparkling pop and pounding garage rock sit comfortably aside neo-psych, post punk, surf revival, new wave, power pop, and just about every other cool method of sound creation that existed between 1976 and 1996. The result is, first and foremost, that a bunch of great music is rescued from obscurity. This is a beautifully guided tour of everything that happened beneath the surface of the post 'Nam, post Nixon, post Frampton planet earth, a gorgeous affirmation of the freewheeling spirit of the 60s. It's living, breathing, rockin' proof that people really did put the lessons of the Beatles and the Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan and the Green Fuz to good use. Sometimes, they even hit the charts!
Does this multi-genre approach contradict the Nuggets spirit? Well, I would like to remind you that the original Nuggets LP, as compiled by Lenny and Jac, wasn't just about the Count Five and the Seeds. I mean, how do you explain the inclusion of Sagittarius' stunning pop symphony "My World Fell Down," or the Cryan Shames' sparkling "Sugar And Spice," or Mouse's Bob Dylan-inspired "A Public Execution," or the sheer studio art of bands like the Strangeloves and the Third Rail on the original LP? Nuggets wasn't just about mining the dingy garages of America, you know- it was about diving headfirst into the untapped musical gold mines of the 60s, peering into the shadow of the 'Stones and the Monkees to see what else was going on, and finding out that the answer was a resounding "a whole lot!" It's about artyfacts, man, artyfacts, and it don't matter where you dug 'em up from as long as you really dug 'em, dig? And that's why this set is a great addition to the Nuggets family, and why every fan of great music owes it to themselves to pick up a copy.
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