Customer Reviews

Enter The Vaselines

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

 

 

I bought this and still prefer my old "Way of" collection. The "remastering" here isn't great, and even dilutes some of the songs. Best example: the fabulous "The Day I Was a Horse" sounds very different. Listen to it on both collections and you'll see what I mean. The lead sliding guitar is almost mixed completely OUT, and that was the best thing about that song. I love remasters, but some of these barely even sound like the original.

I'm not a Nirvana fan but boy did Kurt have some good taste in music. If you have never heard The Vaselines then you are in for a treat. Catchy, dirty, sexy and rawkaous all in one sitting. All killer, no filler. The live tracks and demos are cool and are an incentive to purchase for those who already own the previous comp. Great music to start the day to.

Worth the money. Get it. Moooooonnnnssstttteeerrrppussssssyyy.

So we all knew (most off us, at least) the vaselines via Nirvana.
And we liked those covers, didn't we? Well, this is the complete
stuff that this scottish band, plus a great bonus disc with demos
(nothing extraordinaire, but it is always interesting to be part
of the development of a song) and some live versions of great songs
by the vaselines in the 80's. And, believe or not, they sounded just
marvelous alive; how i wish i could see them now that they are on tour.

So, if you're a Nirvana fan, don't doubt it. Get this. And if you like
strange sounds and witty lyrics loaded with sexual references, and just
good music, get this.

I came to this group, like most, through Nirvana. I was therefor familiar already with a few of the songs on here (Molly's Lips & Son of a Gun come to mind). Sadly, these were pretty much the only songs worth listening to and Nirvana's versions are superior in every way.

That being said, I was surprised to find myself enjoying Son of a Gun a lot more than Molly's Lips when played by The Vaselines while the opposite is true for Nirvana. In fact, I'd go so far as to say Son of a Gun is by far the stand out song on the whole collection.

Nothing else here really impresses me. The songs all sound repetitive and dull for the most part.

Overall, the collection is decent but not great. If you've been meaning to check out the group, this set is more than you'll ever need and it's reasonably priced.

simply GREAT,
great songs inspiring you and the bands you have been listening in the last 20 years

Like most people, I came to hear of The Vaselines via Nirvana, a band who I've never cared for and and have always regarded as a the primary instigator of the rampant commmercialization of Punk throughout the '90s that effectively eradicated that culture. The Vaselines intrigued me mainly because of their name (sounded kinda dirty). I think they reunited recently hence Sub Pop's reissue of their work on this record. Out of curiosity, I bought the triple-LP version figuring that at least I'd get to hear something marginally different. But, WOW!! I was absolutely NOT expecting to hear what I heard. The material on this record is easily the equal of the Ramones and the Buzzcocks in their finer moments. Easily.

The Vaselines released 2 EPs and 1 LP during their lifetime. The Sound on their EPs was a combination of buzzsaw guitar savagery, sugar-and-honey drenched bubblegum and dreamy quasi-narcotic jangle. The songs were odes to juvenile sexual desire and all-round immaturity. This was Punk Rock in its kernal form. And the songs were so achingly gorgeous that in the same way that I could never understand why nobody "got" The Ramones timeless pop classicism back in the day, you'll find yourself wondering why The Vaselines songs weren't mega-hits either. Guess that's the price of being ahead of your time (or behind). As for the Nirvana covers, forget it. The originals flat out demolish them. Nirvana didn't really understand their goofy humour and gave tunes like "Molly's Lips" an embarrassingly serious take. Wrong. Plain wrong.

By the time The Vaselines came to record their LP, they seemed to have honed their skills as a snarling garage band. The central musical reference here is Iggy & The Stooges "Raw Power" (original Columbia mix, NOT the 1997 remixed abomination) and it compares highly favorably to that sludge classic.

Also included are some demos and live tracks but I don't feel they add any value to the Vaselines legends.

So there you have it. Teenage passion, amateur guitar-work, heart-wrenching melodies. Don't even think about passing this one up. I wish I could discover such confectionaries every day in my never ending trawl through the depths of Rock and Roll archeology.

Will appeal to fans of Lou Reed, The Gories and clumsy first time sexual encounters