Customer Reviews

The Flying Lizards

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

the flying lizards' first album remains one of the most timely records of the new wave era. their playful wacky style reminds me of early "art of noise" tracks before they started making mtv videos and became pretentious.

while they are only remembered for their deadpan version of money with banjo accompanyment, there are many fun tracks on this disc. i really would like to hear the 3 bonus tracks too. other standout cuts include an electronic instrumental that would fit right in a fripp/eno record, the danceable funky "russia" the so bad it's funny opera "der song von mandelay" or the cheesy organ ballad "tv" that ends with the band playing "nose flutes".

i can clearly hear this album's influence in solex's second album "pick up". if you like flying lizards, you might like her too. she kind of sounds like a cross between lizards and portishead if it was fronted by cyndi lauper. if amazon has an audio file, check her out. it's really a shame that they don't have files for this lizards' album as it is an essential new wave classic of the same caliber as early devo or talkingheads.

i like the album so much, i've bought it THREE TIMES! really. i lost my first copy, wore out my second, and bought my third as an import at an auction for a clean copy and because of the full color inner sleeve.

if you like silly experimental music that makes you tap your foot, you can't go wrong with flying lizards' 1st album and the two album on one cd "daft" by the art of noise. solex sounds a little more detached and serious, but her off kilter vocal rhythms and cutesy voice are infectious.

i also have the flying lizards "secret dub life" which sounds nothing at all like "lizards it truly is a dub album. an instrumental dub album devoid of "lizards'" tongue in cheek playfulness. i've been looking everywhere for fourth wall, but it seems to have sold out a long time ago. i've heard that it's even better than "lizards". finally, they realeased another album i believe that was never recorded to cd whose name eludes me and i can't find my trouser press guide.

flying lizards and daft are two of the best cds to listen to when you need a laugh, but they're so much fun to listen to, that it's easy to wear out their fun factor. play either cd for a friend... and you're likely to get the "you're crazy" look as most sheep... i mean people refuse to listen to any music... i mean corporate sludge that the radio doesn't cram down their throats 20 times a day. flying lizards is truly music for the adventerous!

Imagine my eagerness to put the album I ordered from Amazon into my CD player. Only knowing a couple of classic hits such as Money and Tv from years ago,did not really know what to expect

The album blew me away...the female vocalist has a distinct voice, well spoken with a tongue in cheek attitude. Her enunciation only adds to the stark but alluring beat of the songs. Money is perhaps the most accessible of all the tracks but the other tracks that stand out are TV,the line "I knew you'd go far in my white convertible car..." just ouses class and a certain seductive tone the way the lead singer intonates those words. One very unique feature of the Flying Lizards is to make the mundane interesting just by the nasal very slow pronounciation.

A very refreshing version of summertime blues, slowed right down to accentuate the boredom associated with "summertime blues". The interruption of US senator to announce there is nothing he can do if he can't get her vote is kind of out there but humerous.

The amazing thing about this album is the variety of themes and sounds on it. One song appropriately called guitars is just that, a lot of guitar noise. Something only the 'Lizards would get away with doing. Contrast this with the next song which is plain eery, called The Window. References are made to vampires and like adding a darker side to the album.

Following this is Tube, which is a very experimental song, light and cruisy in its intro then kind of blending into a mish mash of discordant sounds which somehow achieves a very funky sort of sound. The last song on the album is an extended version of Money - a brilliant one I might add

All I can say in wrapping up is this band were and still are extremely underrated. They have to be one of the most innovative, humour-laden (compliment) group around. I find the lead female singer's voice really adds to the eclectic nature of the music. Found myself playing the album over and over I liked it so much. As well as the great lyrics there are some really good breaks and riffs in the album

I would strongly recommend this album to anyone who is into experimental music, something a little off mainstreet. Also who likes original lyrics with a good solid beat

This 1979 album from the experimental band Flying Lizards contains at last four classics: Der Song von Mandalay, TV, Summertime Blues and Money (That's What I Want). The first is a camp ballad with a gripping female vocal, the second is a weird and hypnotic pop song sung partly in French that reminds me of the artist Cristina of the famous Ze label. It ends in a series of atonal vocal loops. The third and the fourth are minimalist deconstructions of the old classics; the first with an aloof female lead vocal with male vocal infusions and strange innovative percussion, the second quite similar but with more charming electronic bleeps and found sounds.

Dub techniques are used throughout the album to great effect, whilst the arrangements on the aforementioned four highlights are superb. The other songs like Her Story and The Flood are not as memorable and are mainly percussive explorations, sometimes with muffled vocal samples. Tracks like Trouble and Events During Flood fall into the ambient category, being quite moody and evocative instrumentals. This CD reissue contains three new tracks, including the single edit of Money. Those whose musical tastes include artists as diverse as The Residents, Material, Was (Not Was), Lene Lovich and Meredith Monk will definitely love this album.

Of all the New Wave acts that crashed the postpunk scene and were prematurely devoured by mid-80's pop mediocrity, the Flying Lizards' epoymous mini-opus has remained the dearest to my disillusioned heart. Finally, finally, finally, it's made its way onto cd, remastered and sounding almost TOO pristine (I do miss those vinyl pops!). Chock full of apathy, irony, and indescribable oddness, the album stands alone amongst its (mostly forgotten) peers as an example of just how far out there pop music can get and still be endlessly playable. Masterful in its own deliberately insignificant way.

Less a review than a testimonial. This was absolutely the most cutting-edge, coolest album I possessed in high school. I bought it in cassette version and played it over and over on an old tape player--the old mono kind with the big buttons and the pop-up cassette door. Only three or four people in town listened to it as far as we knew.

Eventually, it got eaten.

I've been looking for twenty years and only found the 12-inch extended remix LP of Money for my trouble. This is such an incredible find and a must-have for anyone who wants to hear talented musicians having fun testing the limits. The album still holds up; definitely worth the price!

Driving down a back road in a '74 Ford LTD, I remember first hearing Flying Lizards. It was on an 8-track tape I had gotten from the cutout section of the local record store. Money, and Summertime Blues are two examples of the ground-breaking techno-style of this group. The imaginative use of trash can lids was and is genius. I can't wait to hear it again. (the 8-track tape is long gone, and I have been searching for this CD for a decade!)

I bought this LP when I was in 5th grade. We used to be able to bring records to school on occasion. This record always received more comments than the others (mostly the popular Disco stuff). I have been listening to it off and on for the last 22 years. I just recently converted the LP to MP3 with pops and crackles and all. I love it. That's the way I'm used to hearing it. If you like Money, I think you will very much enjoy the rest of the record....maybe even more!

I first started listening to the Lizards in about '84, and have been searching for this release on cd since the early nineties -- if for no other reason than for White Convertable. I'm glad to see that they haven't been entirely forgotten, and that some of the new alternative music fans are starting to learn that the music they think is new is, in many cases, a sound pioneered 15 or more years ago. Thanks, Amazon, for offering the Lizards again.

This CD is really cool. It is super new wavey with touches of dub studio tricks thrown in and deadpan, hilarious renditions of rock songs. There are cool songs with women singing in French or German that Stereolab totally rip off and neato ambient electronica beats and stuff. Really mind boggling to have been 1979, some of it sounds really 1998 ala DJ Shadow or someone like that. The Flying Lizards are electronic and new wave pioneers up there with the likes of Eno and Kraftwerk but more relaxed, looser, and spontaneous, and with much more style and humor than the latter.

The Flying Lizards, basically, are David Cunningham and a cast of various players (notably vocalist Patti Paladin) who drift in and out during their troublesome and fun studio mayhem. This album, released in 1979, is the first outing by the Lizards, done in the wake of Cunningham's departure from This Heat, and it introduced a wide audience to a whole new flavor of music, mainly thanks to their twisted cover of Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)". But it's much more than that. Starting with a totally destroyed cover of Brecht and Weill's "Der Song von Mandalay" as scored for ruined piano, drummer on broken kit and speed, and deranged Nazi parrot, the album charts a wild, fun, wacky, and often challenging course through some very adventurous stylistic experimentation. The sub-lo-fi cover of "Summertime Blues", for example, crosses sonic paths that really wouldn't be better-explored for at least another 20+ years. A couple of things, though, don't precisely fit in here, most notably the low-key and samba-ish "The Window". Sadly, the stronger and more cohesive follow-up to this, "Fourth Wall", doesn't appear to be available these days. Still, it's a classic of the great post-punk experimentation period, and a must-get for those into sonic tinkerage.