Customer Reviews

Friday on My Mind

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

 

 

This is the Easybeats' big international breakthrough album, produced by Shel Talmy (the Kinks, Who, David Bowie, Creation). They had just arrived in the U.K., having completely saturated Australia. They had not yet absorbed any of the new sounds in London.

This album catches the Easybeats at the peak of their teen scream phase. Check out the great two-guitar interplay on most of the songs; this is one band that did not relegate the second guitarist to a minor supporting role. In fact, think of a 1960's era version of Television. That goes for the adenoidal vocals and tortured lyrics as well.

The extra tracks mop up most of the odds and ends recorded with Shel Talmy until he and band parted company after the commercial failure of "Heaven and Hell," the band's first real Vanda/Young mini-opera and their first track reflecting their exposure to the exploding London pop music scene.

In 1967, this album was probably a bit out of date. It would have made more sense in 1966. From the distance of thirty-odd years, however, this doesn't matter at all. Just buy this record as a fine 1966 effort and forget that it was really recorded a little later.

To many usual listeners of British Invasion music, this CD might be a bit jarring...perhaps due to their Australian roots, the Easybeats have a very different vocal style than many of their contemporaries.

However, although they are usually dismissed as a one-off, there are MANY solid songs on this disc (and on others by the band as well). In true Early Repertoire tradition, the liner notes are incredibly poor, but the generous (although chronologically-nonsensical) bonus tracks. Happy is the Man, Lisa, the title track, You Me We Love...they're all surprisingly good, and though the disc is quite inconsistent (OK, HEAVILY inconsistent), I would definately recommend it.

this is a great album,so full of great songs,even alternate versions of some songs,which this great band often did.It is superb musicianship,singing,overall it is a great 60s sound that could fit right in with songs from todays music."Friday on my mind" was a hit song the world over.A truly great song,other songs here,could well have been big hits,if hitmakers had given these songs a listen.I recommend this band to people who liked hearing the beatles,the rolling stones,dave clark five,the rascals,honeybus,the move or the kinks etc.The music they created was kind of a unique sound,polished and down pat.Music thats a joy to listen to.No imitations here.Highly recommended.

This CD purports to be a "remastered and expanded" version of the Easybeats' "Friday on My Mind." And it is...to a degree. See, Repertoire released this same exact disc in 1994; the only difference between this version and the 1994 version is some additional processing and some "single versions" of some tracks. As many of those single versions were hitherto unavailable on shiny disc, I foolishly plunked down the cash for this upgrade.

...and felt, well, somewhat let down. The "single mixes" are forgeries, created by simply folding the stereo programme down to mono. I cannot fathom why Repertoire felt compelled to do this...especially as the real mono mix of the title track is so widely available on CD.

So yeah. Get the cheaper, better-sounding 1994 edition instead of this one. You'll be glad you did.

I have a slightly different CD, difference being a few less bonus tracks, but no matter. This Aussie band were in their late teens/early twenties when they recorded this, and therefore has a bit more "teen" feel about it in terms of enthusiasm and lyrical content than the Beatles or Kinks, the groups I would suggest as being somewhat similar.

In terms of musicianship and song writing, they stand up to those two bands, with a bit more naivety, which is rather nice. Rock 'n' roll is teenage music, isn't it ?

The original LP, as released in 1967 includes the first 12 song songs on this CD. Of these, the following are as good as anything from the time:

Do You Have a Soul
Saturday Night
Pretty Girl
Friday on My Mind
Who'll Be the One
Made My Bed, Gonna Lie in it

Bonus Track, (recorded after this LP), Heaven and Hell is also good. Other songs on the record are all fine.

I highly recommend this CD to anyone who likes mid sixties rock, such as the Beatles and the Kinks. The Easybeats have their own style, they were not imitators.

some people think this band was just a one hit wonder and i think those people are wrong. i don't know what it's like in australia 'cause i have never been there but if they can make sounds like this almost forty years ago i bet it's an okay place to live. the suits they are wearing on the cover look really nice too. plus there's a song whose lyrics are "Made My Bed Now I'm Gonna Lie In It" which is also the title of the song and it kind of reminds me of a song called lay in the sun by godz and not just cuz it's about lying down either but cuz it's a really good song with really funny and simple lyrics.

I bought this CD just for the original "Friday on My Mind" track, and was very disappointed to hear that the song, while sounding much like the original 1967 version, was a remix with the lead singer given an echo effect. It's still superior to any of the versions I was able to find for the iPod, but I guess I'll keep looking.