House Tornado

Throwing Muses

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 1, 1991)
• Original Release Date: March 22, 1988
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002LDZ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #189,612 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Compilation for U.S. indie icons includes the 1988 album, House Tornado & the 1988 EP, The Fat Skier (o.o.p in the U.S.). Featuring Kristin Hersh & Tanya Donelly. 17 tracks. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A 2-in-1 rockin' good time., October 28, 1999

By	Michelle (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: House Tornado/The Fat Skier (Audio CD)

I would highly suggest picking up the import version of "House Tornado" so you won't miss out on its sidekick "the Fat Skier". Some of the best songs ever penned by Kristin Hersh appear on these two wonderful releases. Hersh writes the coolest, craziest lyrics and the music that accompanies them is amazing. It's not all poppy-sounding like their more recent stuff which is why I love it so much. There are so many energetic emotional songs on this disc. Oh I love it.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Muses at their peak, September 12, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: House Tornado/The Fat Skier (Audio CD)

I need to start this quote with another amazon user's take on this disc:

"But seriously, HOUSE TORNADO is just a rehash of the Muses' first album. The same eccentic vocals, wailing guitars, and odd time signatures are here. However, HOUSE TORNADO is of significantly lower quality than the first album. David Narcizo's drumming is often astoundingly great, but the songs are not written to emphasize it and it disappears quite a bit in the poor production."

Because you can take most of what he said, invert it, and you'd be correct. First, House Tornado is quite different from anything that preceded or came after it. It's really a dressed up acoustic album. An album of quiet songs that are played hard and passionately. The production on the record is beautiful. It was done with Paul Kolderie of Dinosaour Jr, Buffalo Tom, Hole, etc. fame. I particularly enjoy the emphasis on the acoustic guitar which was pretty rare for this era. You can actually hear the Muses guitar strings as they strum and change chords.

The real reason to get the import version of this is "The Fat Skier." It's just about impossible to find, and it's just as essential of a part of the Throwing muses catalog as any of their best music.

As for the comment that Kristin Hersh has "eccentric vocals" on this record....well, that's about as telling as commenting to someone that "its so boring that Jimi Hendrix played his guitar with so much distortion."

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When the Throwing Muses were AMAZING..., May 19, 2000

By	Eric Swanger (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

i remember buying this album (it was the import version) in 9th grade, which would be 1988 for me. it is still one of my favorite albums. i always loved kristin hersh's rantings and ravings...and they were pretty experimental then...lots of great percussion, and that great post-punk/hillbilly sound. their early records were very edgy, very free association, and very loud. going to see them live was the ultimate, but listening to their first album (now out of print) and house tornado is about as close as you can get to GOOD music from the late 1980s. it certainly kept me company.