Customer Reviews

Levittown

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

 

 

24 years after Pink World appeared on double vinyl album, Planet P Project aka Tony Carey is back with a three part trilogy. 1931 Go Out Dancing Pt.1 and Levittown are the first 2 discs in the series. There is not a working title for the third disc and Tony says it will be a while before it appears more than likely a couple years. This disc is just brimming over with gems (from the classic PP sound of the title track, "Saw A Satellite", and "All God's Children" to the more updated sound of "In Babylon") and comes in at over 66 minutes. Liner notes are as well thought out as the disc and give more perspective into the project and why it has taken so long.
Carey wrote all the songs except 2 which he co-wrote and of course produced, engineered, and "kitchen-sink'd" the project. This one grows on me the more I listen to it, looking forward to part three and it's great to meet Planet P back on Tranquility Base.

From the satirical opening intro to this album through the many gems along the way, this cd is a musical masterpiece. Tony Carey has lost none of his talent, he isn't burnt out, irrelevant or simply repeating himself. What we have here is excellent, guitar-oriented rock that contains some cutting lyrics. The opening to "White Sands" speaks of a project paperclip that took place at the end of World War II and imported German scientists for our American space program, saying "they had more blood on their hands than Pontius Pilate". White Sands is a perfect name for this tune, invoking the innocence of such stuff i.e. white sand, while in the background loom the murderers of the third reich. Needless to say, the song itself is excellent, followed up by 'Saw A Satellite' which foretells of the end of the era of privacy and the start of global electronic monitoring. 'In Babylon' we find visions of currently happening things, such as jihad and the devil wearing sandals and a robe, if you believe this... 'Where We Want You' speaks of the government's ability to make you believe (and by implication, do) whatever they want you to by manipulating the truth. The last song 'Go Out Dancing' tells of the payoff for all we've done: Plague and the end of civilization. Each of these songs is set to lively tunes. Immensely entertaining, and, if you are so inclined, thought-provoking. Each song tells a story (always Tony's strong suit, whether on Planet P Project cds or cds released under his own name) and the stories add up to an excellent concept album. This is the best cd of its type, and one of the best overall, that I've heard in years. If you haven't gotten the idea by now BUY this!!!

I am so happy Tony is still producing music under Planet P Project. I have been waiting for this one for a long time and I was not disappointed. A great c.d. Loved his music for a long time and this is definitely a keeper. Levittown, don't leave home without it.

I purchased "Levittown" on the strength of the first album of the "Go Out Dancing" trilogy. At the time, I knew next to nothing about either Planet P Project or Tony Carey; I was captivated by the strength of the music alone. Ironically, I had tipped off a well-respected radio presenter, his copy arrived before mine, and he let me know that he found it amazing and hadn't had it out of his car CD for quite some time.

Even with those high expectations, I wasn't prepared for the magnificent album that is "Levittown." In my years as an online entertainment channel manager and as a listening assistant to a well-loved radio personality (sadly, he died shortly before the release of "Levittown"), no other album has so completely stopped me in my tracks. The music flows perfectly, beginning to end. Both the choice of instruments and the content of the lyrics couldn't be improved. The sound quality is flawless.

It isn't necessary to know anything about Planet P Project before purchasing "Levittown," nor is it mandatory to listen to Part One of "Go Out Dancing" first. This album stands on its own merit. For those who are detail-oriented, there are extensive liner notes, and they are indeed informative.

I've been a die hard tony fan for many years..then he seemed to vanish for awhile..after listening to this CD Levittown several times i see Tony hasnt lost any of the creativity that he always posessed...wat i like the most is that each song is a story and he's a master teller..i will enjoy this for years and watch for more content..
thnx

As a PPP fan really more than Tony's true solo material I love the G.O.D. stuff. I got into it because of a tragic circumstance with a friend that was paralized in a car accident and it was the one thing that connected us again after many years. I thank Tony for that and have told him that several times.

I did get my hands on the promo CD of the original G.O.D. that should have never been released a long time ago. Before mySpace and Napster or even before I knew there was a community on the internet devoted to TC. So I have seen this project of music grow and evolve into this Trilogy of music. I love the expansion Tony has done to those songs. I am devoted to this G.O.D. project. I can not wait for part 3 not just to finish the trilogy; but to see where it will go. I am partial to The New Frontier, Levittown, This is Heaven, and Go Out Dancing songs (the tracks are updates of the original). Yesterday was Jackie Robinson day in baseball and I can never resist playing This is Heaven every April 15th. Just as my own personal tribute to a great man; long live number 42 in the minds of free men (Jackie Robinson's retired baseball jersey in every team across baseball). I would then say that I have grown into the What We Did track. Just awesome in words and the mood it invokes.

As I have said and people who know me know; Planet P Project has been a great musical force in my life. This is a must buy even if this is not the case for you. As Tony's Project has moved from Sci-Fi to Political so have I.

Support Tony Carey! Get this music! And you will be changed!

as a big planet p fan i am having a hard time placing this disc at #2 or #3 i put the first project at #1 with awesome songs as king 4 a day static send in letter but toss up on pink world and this one but am leaning toward this one as it really is growing on me..heck this is tony ssecond best (not far behind) must have

A few weeks ago, I published my first review of Tony Carey's new Planet P album titled "Levittown." In that review I made no bones about the fact that I hated it. I felt it was entirely anti-American, especially in context with today's tumultuous times. I felt the political ideology underlying the lyrics was a sad, boring holdover from 1960s hippie culture, a blast from the past that seemed to have missed everything that has happened in the last 30 some years and one that certainly ignored the war that "radical" Islam had launched against America and the west since its biggest victory on 9/11. But since I wrote that review I have had cause to doubt my initial interpretation. In fact, I have realized that my reaction was based more on my own prejudices than in a closer examination of the album on its own merits.

So, here is my mea culpa. I have to admit that the true context and purpose of the album might have flown right over my head and I allowed my prejudices take over to fill in the blanks.

First of all, I have to say that I was not very proactive in linking "Levittown" with the previous album, "1931" (from 2003). I vaguely knew they form two parts of a trilogy, but I just didn't take enough time to study the progression from one to the next. Taken together, they present a sort of history lesson of human made misery (is there any other kind?) and, of course, a warning of human stupidity. That, I did get, but what I didn't get is that Carey wasn't positing that this was only a fault found in western civilization. His is a story of human failings, not solely western ones. This trilogy was also supposed to be semi-autobiographical, so it is natural that it be set in the west of his experience. I was not aware of the semi-autobiographical intention with this project until now, though.

Before I go on with my changed impression, I feel compelled to reveal the prejudices that caused me to break bad on this one the first time 'round.

First of all, Carey is about 10 years older than I. When his first few Planet P albums came out in the 1980s I was in my early 20s and not politically interested. So, his themes (echoed in the newer works) did not resonate with me. I only considered Planet P Project (1983) and Pink World (1984) as just cool tunes. And since the 80s I never took the time to revisit the themes of the albums.

Now, since 9/11 I have been increasingly exasperated with "the world," especially our feckless "allies" in Europe. I had a low opinion of them before (due to the fetid UN) but after 9/11 my attitude about Europeans has grown even more sour. Europe seems to be in NO way a friend to America, liberty, democracy or western traditions (The recent news that England sat on her hands in Iraq because she made deals with terrorists so as not to get her soldiers hurt is a prime example, not to mention Europe's uselessness with Iran and the recent attacks in Georgia). Well, I mention Europe because, in case you didn't know, Mr. Carey lives in Germany and has for several decades -- a fact I had known previously.

Anyway, I say that because after I picked up "Levittown" the main prejudices that I came away with were these:

-Carey is a 1970s American rocker (said hippie to me)
-He's an ex-pat American living in Germany (says fled America because he hates it to me)
-The songs are all about western totalitarianism (says he sees none elsewhere to me)

With these prejudices in mind I read that into his every song on "Levittown." Being used to the shallowness of most "art" these days, I never considered for a second that it was any deeper than that.

Now, today I find the war with Islam the chief world issue -- and I do believe it is not a war with "radical" Islam, I feel it is a war with the entire concept of Islam. Islam is a political ideology, totally integrated with the religious. Our big world problem is not energy. Not global warming. Not Britney Spears. And, when I picked up "Levittown" and it seemed to me that, in this day and age, the only criticism he had was aimed solely at the west (as I perceived it, anyway),well all my above prejudices came back to me. All I could hear was a 70s hippie that fled the USA because he hated it, a guy who had a mindset that was stuck in 1968 when all that was evil in the world was spelled US and A. And since most of Europe STILL feels that way, I ascribed it all to Carey, as well.

But here is where this all went over my head. There is still a part three to come and the liner notes of part two clearly show that Carey "gets" the very same issues that motivate and worry me today. I quote from the back page of the CD liner:

"...'Levittown' was originally intended to semi-autobiographically portray that (Carey's generation). Then some other stuff happened, which changed the picture radically. All sorts of chaos, and then of course the Big One, 9/11."

Carey also pointedly carps about the "fatcats in private jets" selling the "fear" of global warming. This, folks, could be none other than our snake oil selling former VP, Al Gore. This fact alone shows me that Carey isn't taken, hook, line and sinker, with the vacuous leftist ideology popular with American academics and European elitists and their sycophantic mimics in the "art" community across the world.

Next I went back to the album with this in mind and re-read the lyrics. I had a new feeling of where Carey was coming from and it made me feel quite differently about his effort with "1931" and "Levittown." That feeling has made me change my mind about the third installment, the one I initially claimed I would not bother with. Now, I need it to complete this picture so that I can discover just how Carey's "history" completes itself. There is obvious hope that I may have misjudged this effort by only seeing it for its parts.

One more thing here. I still don't completely agree with his overly dour look at western history. Taken in totality with human history, western history is a steady and amazing drive to enlightenment, moderation, and liberty that one can too easily miss with Carey's dour lyrics. Certainly one might assume that Carey is purposefully driving his point home in the most stark way possible by highlighting all the bad the west is responsible for. But, I fear that such cynicism also too easily drives any mediation of the good by focusing so heavily on the bad.

Like I said before, I just get so sick and damn tired of west haters saying "well you guys had Hitler, so everything you've done is hypocritical." This single minded self-loathing -- the same self-loathing I now think I wrongly ascribed to Carey -- is the sort of thing that is used by too many to paper over their lack of historical perspective and their inability to understand human nature. After all, even though man's nature is basically a selfish, evil one, it is the precepts of capitalism, democracy, and Christianity as created by western culture that has mitigated toward a more enlightened attitude. I'd like to see some artist out there actually take that into consideration for a change, instead of acting as if everything we've ever done is all woe and damnation.

I am not sold that Carey isn't a bit too pessimistic for me, but having looked closer at the first two parts of his trilogy (with a little help from a friendly elf) and more closely read the liner notes, I find that my initial off handed assessment might have been too hasty. I am cautiously optimistic that the final chapter of his trilogy will show that he isn't as hateful toward western civ as I had at first assumed. So, while I am not completely sold on Carey's viewpoint, I am no longer so sure that his is the ideology of the failed, self-loathing, hippie culture of the left that so infuses most of the vapid members of the entertainment industry (Hello Dixie Chicks).

I really do agree with him that we must not forget the lessons of our own history. But, to focus solely on our faults while celebrating none of our best is, I fear, a mistake that blinds us to the dangers we face from without.

In closing here I will selectively quote Abraham Lincoln:

"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

This is a message not just for Americans, but all people striving to improve our western values. From Greece to England, France and Germany to the United States of America and to the protean democracies of Eastern Europe, Iraq and Afghanistan, we must yield to those better angels of our nature. Yes, we should not forget those historical deficits, but don't let those gremlins overshadow what makes us great, those ideals and philosophies that make our efforts sublime.

So, I will be waiting for part three of Go Out Dancing. As GOD is my witness.

(For Amazon readers, if you want to see my original review, unaltered, go to: http://conservablogs.com/publiusforum/2008/08/11/is-amazoncom-deleting-new-conservative-book-reviews/)