Customer Reviews

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Knowing only the 1968 classic 'Fire', it hadn't occurred to me, before I bought this album, that Arthur Brown was trying to deter people from indulging in naughtiness! He seemed to be having so much fun performing the single on 'Top of the Pops'. But Brown was a former philosophy student from York University -- some books say he had also been a teacher -- and the first five tracks of this album form a conceptual theme. To my knowledge, this is still the most recent pop album which has proposed a literal view of Hell as place of fire and damnation while still selling a bundle.

I first tried buying this album in 1973. But the LP had already been deleted. (I still keep the quirky correspondence from Virgin mail order regretting that they could not find the album in their 'dungeons'.) But what lasted for less than five years on LP has survived for ten so far on CD. It was re-released by Polydor in 1991, complete with mono and stereo versions of five of the tracks. In some instances (e.g. 'Time/Confusion'), the mono version sounds better. (In 1968 some listeners had stereo systems, but most of us in the UK had monaural Bush Dansette all-in-one portable record players.)

Brown's music was at a formative stage. To my ear there is not quite enough instrumentation -- a guitar might have helped here and there. The 'Austin Powers' movies have not helped the listenability of this Hammond organ-dominated style of music. It is not quite Vincent Crane's finest hour -- that would come with Atomic Rooster's DEATH WALKS BEHIND YOU. Nor is it Brown's. In 1973, Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come released the wonderful JOURNEY, which is easily among the top 20 rock albums of the last century. Unfortunately by 1973 he was practically forgotten, and the band was reduced to touring minor venues such as my school, where they gave the best concert I have ever witnessed. (JOURNEY was remastered on CD in the early 1990s for a single production run, which meant that it was deleted almost as soon as it was released.)

Brown had the voice of a Gillan/Dickinson/Blasquiz (only better), the weird imagination of Vivian Stanshall, and the manic strutting of Mick Jagger attempting one of John Cleese's silly walks. Was he a prophet or the devil? They say that the devil has all the best tunes. Sadly he doesn't seem to have enough of them, because Brown had to give away most of the royalties from 'Fire' when someone pointed out its similarities to another composer's tune. And I hate to say it, but isn't that the James Bond theme which Vincent Crane's left hand is playing on 'Child of my Kingdom'?

There are 3 things that make this album exceptional. The first is AB's singing voice: for those who have heard him it's obvious that he has a gift which few can equal. The second: the theme of the 1st half of the cd: a personal spiritual struggle of great tension. The third: Vincent Crane's fantastic Organ work & Carl Palmer's drumming. No guitar here, yet remarkably moving music that fits both the theme & ABs voice. "Fire" was/is a huge hit single, but the first 6 tunes are all great. Try Fire Poem or Come & Buy. AB is a very creative, ORIGINAL, & different artist. I say "buy"!

Before Arthur Brown there was little with which to compare his music...and his act! He was one of the first to really understand the theatricality of Rock n Roll, and a grand showman he became. From him flow Bowie, Cooper, Iggy and so many others. Before him there may have been Screaming Lord Sutch's "I Put A Spell On You" but Arthur's was even better...and more exciting. If Chris and Bruce read this they will remember and agree, as will anyone who saw him live.

This album was the begining of an era and a style, and although the Who had already dabbled with the rock opera format in "A Quick One While He's Away" the first side of this album was presented live as if it were a non-stop operatic piece and was mesmerizing. Close your eyes and imagine.

Oh, and just for the record, that is NOT Carl Palmer's drumming on the album, it is Drachian Thacker who was too scared of planes to make the tour wherein Carl Palmer was hired to play on the tour and then stayed with the band and accompanied Vincent Crane into Atomic Rooster.

If Christopher Lee produced an album, this would be it. The soundtrack to a great lost Hammer films production, this is superior British horror psychedelia at its finest.

This blows everything on "Nuggets II" out of the room and off the planet. I wish I had seen him when he had his flaming helmet on and his insane organist wailing behind him. I'll bet the people that saw his stage act are still talking about it.

You don't hear this stuff on the oldies stations. This album is idiosyncratic and powerful. If you would like to hear what the cultural explosion of the late sixies was all about check this out. Mr. Brown's version of "I Put a Spell onYou" is operatic and deliciously demented. More than collection of songs the album is thematic-what was then called a concept album. He knew what he was doing. I liked it back then because, as Frank Zappa might say, it had virtually no teen appeal. Today, I realize he was on to something. Amaze your friends. Frighten your mom.

When Mr. Brown brought his show to Honolulu in the late '60s, only about 400 people showed up. The man generously envited *everyone* present to come down to the front and center section. And then he gave us an *incredible* performance! I've never seen anything like it since. Great music!

This is a hugely classic CD. I want to give it 5 stars. Several of the songs *are* 5 stars. Hmmm... Well, it's still one of the essential works that shook the definition of rock when it first appeared. (Like much of the music at the time.) Brown, of course, has an amazing voice. Arthur, my dear...I love you. You made a fine album.

Yes, but, the live show was ever better....

Originally released in 1968,as this was the debut record by Arthur Brown.Total of fifteen cuts.There are both mono and stereo mixes of "Prelude-Nightmare","Fanfare-Fire Poem",the unforgetable "Fire","Come And Buy" and "Time/Confusion".Sort of also liked "I Put A Spell On You" and their gritty cover of James Brown's "I've Got Money".Never knew it before I listened to this CD,but Atomic Rooster's Vincent Crane(R.I.P.)was the organist here.Nice lp reissue to have.Best described as zany psychedelia.Might appeal to fans of H.P.Lovecraft,Syd Barrett,Love,The Seeds,Fifty Foot Hose and West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band.

In the middle 70's, I heard a song from this album, most likey "Fire." I decided I had to have this record. I started at Peaches (long since dead and gone I believe). At least 10 record stores later, I still hadn't found it.

I looked on and off for over 2 years. Finally, I was looking in a used record store around the campus of OSU (that's Ohio, not Oklahoma!) where, to my surprise, I finally found it.

I think my search is a testiment to how important this album is and how good it is. I like the themes of evil on this record that show that artists can be inspired by evil as well as goodness. While I am not in evil's camp, good is best defined by its opposite.

I have loved this album ever since I found it.

I lost my vinyl copy of this album about a zillion years ago, so when I recently learned that it's available on CD I had to buy a copy. Woohoo! What a blast from the past! Hearing it again after close to 30 years I realize that Arthur Brown foreshadowed many other acts, along with shows like Rocky Horror and movies like Phantom of the Paradise.

This album is not for everyone, but if you like Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Klaus Nomi or the shows mentioned above, you need "The Crazy World of Arthur Brown." Yes, you do! His mix of blues, jazz, gospel, psychedelia and high camp theatrics is truly unique!

What some listeners might call a nightmarish descent into madness, I would call a truly "real" example of psychedelic drugs, namely LSD, and their influence on music in the sixties.

The one song that was actually playable on radio "Fire" is the most musical track on the album, and recognizeable to anyone about forty years old.

Not for the light-hearted, the content of this album plays out like an acid trip, with Arthur's moaning, wailing and sometimes "bluesey yelling" attempting to convey his experience.

Take this one with caution.