Customer Reviews

Do You Feel It Baby?

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

 

 

THE FUNNEST CD YOU WILL EVER BUY!
FUN FROM STAR TO FINISH AND IT NEVER LOSES IT'S POWER!
GREAT OUTER SPACE GARAGE ROCK!

It's good to see these Michigan garage rockers back after taking 35 years off. Damn, has it been that long since 96 tears? With that garagey sound that falls somewhere between Sir Douglas and Sam the Sham, these kids haven't lost a bit of their youthful energy. With the flambouyent lead singer ? aka Rudy Martinez, I think. Nobody really knows for sure who he is. And his trademark sunglasses which even his band members claim he has never taken off, these guys have released one hot little party album. Recorded live at Coney Island High (sounds like my kind of highschool) the Mysterians quickly plow through 19 Vox organ soaked garage gems from the past that's sure to please both the crustly old dried up prunesters and the gen-xyers too. The Mysterians had a few minor hits with songs like MAKE YOU MINE, the wonderful cool groovin' DO SOMETHING TO ME, and CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF YOU BABY which the alternative band Smash Mouth covered and made a smash mouth hit out of. I had a couple of these singles as a kid, but these new live versions put my scratchy 45's to shame. But of course these guys are best known for that little song they concocted in their Bay City, Michigan basement all those years ago, 96 TEARS. And they do a 5 minute version of this song here that's a killer. This cd is soooo much fun. It never loses it's energy thanks to the ? who entertains us throughout with his quick banter of little stories between each song that, of course always start with his trademark words baby baby. I love little low mantinence garage bands like this. These guys really know how to play, and they haven't changed a bit. The 60's are sounding good again. Let me hear ya say yeah baaaaby!

The major complaints about this CD is that some customers didn't know that the "captivating LIVE sounds" were live. They are. I was talking to a friend of mine about this band when he introduced me to this. He played it for me and I was captivated! I have ordered my own copy and can't wait! It's by far one of the most "out there" live albums ever! Get this one baaaybeeee! I CAN'T GET ENOUGH!

I agree with the reviewer from Florida: Amazon should give as vital information if the CD contains original material or later issues, eventually "live"-recordings. As I'm looking for original items this Live-CD wasn't very helpful to me! Hence the 2 stars.

Amazon needs to be more explicit about the recordings.

Not all people have browsers that can sample the music. Plus your samples conveniently remove the intro that alerts you to a live recording. We need a designation that it is the original cut preferably re-mastered.

This is a great CD. Several other reviewers seem to be unsure about the content but if you have this CD, it should be clear. The liner notes state that this was recorded live at Cavestomp '97 Coney Island High, NYC, Oct 25 1997. Two of the tracks were recorded at Coney Island High on Jan 17, 1998. It would seem clear that this is a live recording of basically greatest hits made in the late 90's.

As for the music, these guys have lost nothing over the many years since their recordings first appeared! Once they lock in a groove, they get down with the best bands out there and this is a really fun time capsule of a late 60's dance party. The organ fronting the band is terrific and quite unusual these days which makes this really different from most current rock bands. There are 4 or 5 tunes on here that are absolute killer grooves and I defy you to keep still while listening. Every song is good and there is lots of music on this disc.

Thanks to Norton for putting this out. I would also like to note that I have 2 copies of this disc and both have the same problem with a skip on track 5 in the same place so I can only conclude that there was an error in the manufacturing of the discs. Regardless, this is a great CD and I recommend it very highly. Now out of print, grab it if you see it!

Good live album -- see, it's subtitled "The Captivating LIVE Sounds" right there on the cover so's you can tell it's a live album -- with one of the great lost garage bands. The between-song banter is often hysterical, too.

? himself remains the epitome of rock attitude, maintaining that he was born on Mars, that he lived with dinosaurs, and that he will be singing '96 Tears' in the year 10,000.

With most faded 60s bands, that would be the end of the story. But a link-up with the Collectables record label produced one of the best revivals of recent years. Collectables is best-known for its huge catalogue of of reissues, mostly doo-wop, R&B and all kinds of 60s music. But when they discovered that the rights to the orignal Cameo label lay with ABKCO, after Allen Klein's takeover in 1967, they decided to fund an album of re-recordings. The sessions duly took place over four days in July 1997.

Such re-recordings are normally pale shadows of the originals, to be avoided at all costs, but ? & the Mysterians are the exception to the rule. The core original line-up of ?, Balderrama, Rodriguez, Martinez and Lugo quickly proved that they could still cut killer versions of their songs, often in one take. The 16 track album http://www.96tears.com was supported by live dates that showed they were still one tight and rocking band. They were, and still are, everything that rock should be.