Customer Reviews

Complete Singles Collection

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

 

 

I already had the Roky comp, I Have Always Been Here Before, some of these songs are included there although most are the stereo versions from the lps. When it comes to sixties archival material, I'm all about the singles and all about the mono mix, when available. Here we have both for the 7 singles released by the 13th Floor Elevators during their breif existence. The final four tracks, in stereo, except for You're Gonna Miss Me, are the singles from a French ep with excellent fidelity, so I'm happy they're included here, as well. The single version of Slip Inside This House is greatly edited from it's 8 minutes on the Easter Everywhere lp but since that longer version is on the Roky comp, I'm happy to have the much harder to find mono edit. All of these nuggets are from the best available sources and remastered in punchy mono. This is my first Elevators purchase, it's a real good fit for me, but I think you would be hard pressed to find a better synopsis of their best efforts.

1 You're Gonna Miss Me 2:30
2 Tried to Hide 2:22
3 Reverbaration 2:47
4 Fire Engine 2:37
5 (I've Got) Levitation 2:36
6 Before You Accuse Me (Diddley) 2:37
7 She Lives (In a Time of Her Own) Erickson 2:56
8 Baby Blue (Dylan) 5:12
9 Slip Inside This House 4:06
10 Spash 1 3:52
11 May the Circle Remain Unbroken 2:42
12 I'm Gonna Love You Too (Maudlin) 1:58
13 Livin' On 3:24
14 Scarlet and Gold 4:59
15 Reverbaration 2:53
16 You're Gonna Miss Me 2:30
17 Fire Engine 2:37
18 Tried to Hide 2:48

I bought this solely for the B-side single version of "Tried to Hide," which I loved in the '60s. The slower album version, which is on most compilations as well, sounds like the boys recorded it on grass; the faster single version sounds jittery with caffeine (or, OK, speed); its tight arrangement, with instruments dropping in and out, is reminiscent of the Music Machine. The French EP tacked on to the end of this fine album is the album version; compare the two and you'll see what I mean.
The annotations are astounding, with a scholarly attention to detail worthy of a bibliographic monograph. Great sound, great package, great price.

This wasn't shown as being in stock with Amazon, so I ordered the import version.
I'm sure the content is identical, but I liked the idea of having the full set of digipack editions of the Elevators, all matching on my bookshelf.
This domestic version is the digipack, while the import is a jewel case edition. Not a real complaint, but I think it would've been nice to have this mentioned in the product info.

13th Floor Elevators: Music of the Spheres - Complete Singles Collection

I got it yesterday and listened to it once all the way through. It's pretty bad. First, it's a very, very LOUD CD. I had my amp on 25% - 30% power and it was pushing the LEDs waaaaaaay up there. It's like they took these old, analog, recordings and tried to make them sound as loud and brilliant as something from today that was recorded digitally for CD release.

Second, the mix is pushed waaaay up into the treble part of things. This makes the recordings sound brittle and shrill.

The combination of the first and second deliberate mess-ups make for that you can FORGET listening to this CD at a loud volume. 13th Floor Elevators not at a loud volume? What's the point? Additionally, the first and second deliberate mess ups have ruined this disc.

What else?

There's a TON of hiss on some of these recordings. Howcum the Roky CD Club's versions of the SAME songs don't have as much? Oh, yes, this version boosted the sound waaaaay up and jacked the mix up into the treble area. So the hiss got magnified.

The bass guitar actually distorts on some songs. Scarlet and Gold is messing unlistenable because of it. MESSING UNLISTENABLE! The bass guitar is just this low BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM throughout the song. It's messed up; a horror show.

Let me tell you people, I'm EARS OF STONE KILOH and I can hear this hoot! And I'm playing my music through a top of the line system. You've all seen my video.

Charly? Drummond? Who-the-mess-ever! YOU MESSED UP!

The French EP is a drastically different mix on some songs:

Reverbeation - Roky's voice is louder, the jug is mixed down and the band is quieter. It just sound plain different

You're Gonna Miss Me - Can't hear much difference.

Fire Engine - Different and cleaner mix than IA.

Tried to Hide - the band is toned down a bit and Roky is enhanced.

But the French EP is no reason to buy this CD. Save your money. Or spend the money and see for yourself. I could give a hoot.

What the mess? Who did this? Whose fault is this?

I'll put all of this on the blog soon.

Listen to this piece-o'-crap and then listen to the Roky CD Club's version. I rest my case.

Beware.

Kiloh