Customer Reviews

Friends

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

 

 

Here's one the great cult bands of the 80's that many so-called experts missed. That's unfortunate because The Bolshoi made some excellent songs and they sounded like no one else without resorting to gimmicks. Led by guitarist/vocalist Trevor Tanner, they crafted dark, edgy music that often attacked the injustices of mainstream society.

The main single was the dramatic "A Way" (you'll notice that it is misspelled by Amazon as "Away"). This may have been the best alt hit released in 1986. It tells the tale of a beautiful, manipulative girl who uses her wiles to charm her way into the graces of the upper crust, the conformist & wealthy in-crowd. She fails to see that such false behavior ultimately will turn on itself and leave her alone now that she has alienated those who would have truly cared about her.

"Sunday Morning" is a knock on the hypocrisy of the church. It is a lovely piano ballad that chronicles the singer's decision to leave religion behind in his youth. It features the line, "Standing in line with a dirty mind... clean it up on Sunday morning. I don't wanna do it anymore." "Looking for a Life to Lose" (also misspelled on Amazon) peers into the minds of bitter, jaded adults who often pour their negative outlook directly into the minds of their children, never giving the young a chance at happiness; given Tanner's undeniable anger, sarcasm and bitterness, it seems this is autobiographical and that he wishes he'd had a better chance when he was young. "Books on the Bonfire" looks at the dangerous moments in history where books have been burned and reminds that this could and is happening again. Tanner says, "We put all the books on the bonfire. 2,000 years in a flame. I run like a horse in a fairground - rewind me and play me again." You get the feel that he is also implying that by dumbing-down the education system we are doing this metaphorically already. "Someone's Daughter" and "Modern Man" are standout tracks as well.

I would give this release a 5-star rating except that this particular version does not give you the 6-song `Giants' EP. The version I own has those 6 songs tacked on to the beginning - I guess that is out of print. Those songs showcase Bolshoi in their earlier even bleaker mood. If you can find it, "Happy Boy", "Giants" and "Fly" are all strong efforts.

All in all this is a great album that any fan of post-punk would appreciate.

I won't rehash what's already been said. I will say that it never ceases to amaze me that this band didn't become huge. Edgier than the Psychedelic Furs (and much better musicians as well), they should have been bigger than the Furs or the Cure combined. I saw them live in Chicago back in the day, and they were every bit as good as their records. A regrettable loss for those of us that knew them.

OK, I already have written a review of the import version so I'll just paste that same review at the end of my comments here. Also since Amazon gives us no detail about this it's hard to tell exactly what this is.

HOWEVER, this appears to be the domestic release of The Bolshoi's 'Friends'. If so, this is the one that you want. The domestic CD included the 'Giants' EP and is a better value than the import version.

I gave the import 4 stars due to the lack of these extra songs. Attached hereafter is my review of the import:

Here's one the great cult bands of the 80's that many so-called experts missed. That's unfortunate because The Bolshoi made some excellent songs and they sounded like no one else without resorting to gimmicks. Led by guitarist/vocalist Trevor Tanner, they crafted dark, edgy music that often attacked the injustices of mainstream society.

The main single was the dramatic "A Way" (you'll notice that it is misspelled by Amazon as "Away"). This may have been the best alt hit released in 1986. It tells the tale of a beautiful, manipulative girl who uses her wiles to charm her way into the graces of the upper crust, the conformist & wealthy in-crowd. She fails to see that such false behavior ultimately will turn on itself and leave her alone now that she has alienated those who would have truly cared about her.

"Sunday Morning" is a knock on the hypocrisy of the church. It is a lovely piano ballad that chronicles the singer's decision to leave religion behind in his youth. It features the line, "Standing in line with a dirty mind... clean it up on Sunday morning. I don't wanna do it anymore." "Looking for a Life to Lose" (also misspelled on Amazon) peers into the minds of bitter, jaded adults who often pour their negative outlook directly into the minds of their children, never giving the young a chance at happiness; given Tanner's undeniable anger, sarcasm and bitterness, it seems this is autobiographical and that he wishes he'd had a better chance when he was young. "Books on the Bonfire" looks at the dangerous moments in history where books have been burned and reminds that this could and is happening again. Tanner says, "We put all the books on the bonfire. 2,000 years in a flame. I run like a horse in a fairground - rewind me and play me again." You get the feel that he is also implying that by dumbing-down the education system we are doing this metaphorically already. "Someone's Daughter" and "Modern Man" are standout tracks as well.

I would give this release a 5-star rating except that this particular version does not give you the 6-song `Giants' EP. The version I own has those 6 songs tacked on to the beginning - I guess that is out of print. Those songs showcase Bolshoi in their earlier even bleaker mood. If you can find it, "Happy Boy", "Giants" and "Fly" are all strong efforts.

All in all this is a great album that any fan of post-punk would appreciate.

I taped a couple of Bolshoi songs from KROQ in the 80's, and a couple of their music videos from MTV, but never actually owned a Bolshoi album so decided to order this CD. Really glad I did. It's actually amazing how well the sounds hold up ten years or so later, these guys must have been way ahead of their time or something. Awesome album. I also did a search on the members and the keyboard player is now editor of electronicmusic.com. Way cool.

It never ceased to amaze me that these guys just did not get the respect they deserved. Met them back in the day, opening for Love and Rockets. I ran into Trevor a few years back at a Celtic Festival, still making great music. I heard that Paul is on the west coast, still doing electronika, but that may be rumor.
Bolshoi fans should definitely check out Trevor's solo stuff, as well as his Celtic bands, Celtic Soul & Rathkeltair.
Tune into RadioIO 80s on the net for LOTS of Bolshoi classics.

I was introduced to this album via WUSM radio (now defunct- R.I.P.) circa 1984? I woke up to it one morning and was just awake enough to slide a cassette (remember those?) into the tape deck. Very glad that I did... It's something reminiscent of every '80s band you ever heard, but way, way better. Probably closest to the Cure, if anything...but doesn't quite sound like them either...meh.

This is an album that is going to be embedded in once
innerself...will take you back to the 80's..
powerful rhythmn.."Away".."Modern Man".."Sunday Morning"..
All are masterpieces and the rest of the songs are all unique
and powerful, hurry and buy this before its lost again...

Would actually give this 4.5 stars,
just for the title of this disc alone,

is it

Friends

"O"R

Fiends

??

Check out the title cover art.

And "Sunday Morning"?

Probably the most poignant
and beautifully relevant song
ever written!

I remember first coming across this band by chance. I bought a compilation called Gothic Rock 2 on a whim when I was 16 years old at an underground record store I always shop at. Most of the bands that were on the two disc Goth Compilation was a nice introduction to the early goth sound. Out of all the bands that appeared The Bolshoi caught my attention. The name really stuck out for me and I was completely hooked by the song "Away" I thought it was an amazing song. For a few years I looked all over for there CD's but all I came across was the greatest hits. I was fortunate enough to purchase this album online. It's amazing and I love it. It's a shame not many people are familiar with The Bolshoi. Hopefully someone else will be lucky enough to stumble across this great band as I did.

I started to listen radio, the typical bands in the 80's, some pop, some AOR, etc. but my cousin Alice gave me a tape, in the tape I saw written only "Bolshoi".

My life changed about 1986 with Someones Daughter and Sunday Morning, I think a lot of people knows the piano tune in Sunday Morning without know this great song.

If you like the pop-rock made in the 80's, more rock than pop, buy it.