Customer Reviews

Lovey

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It seems that Lemonheads fans are split into two categories: Pre-"Lovey" and Post-"Lovey."

Pre-"Lovey" had the band in a harder, more punkish style.

Post-"Lovey" had the band in a mellower, more melodic pop style.

It was not until the following album, "It's A Shame About Ray," that the band was pushed into headliner status. However, one can see that it was "Lovey" where the transition took place, bridging both eras. A little hard in some places (though not as hard as earlier stuff) and a little pop in other places.

Whether you love the older or later versions of the band, "Lovey" is a good album, but, in my opinion, not as good as what was yet to come (as I am in the group that prefers the later Lemonheads).

"Lovey" opens with a group of cheerleaders cheering enthusiastically, which devolves to pained screaming, which leads to some rocking music. When the instruments come together in unison, after a purposely sluggish start, a great tune, and eventually a great album, kicks in. On "Ballarat" and other tunes, Evan Dando sounds similar to Kurt Cobain, during a time when hardly anyone knew who Cobain was. And that's certainly fitting, given that this album represents a burst of creative rock 'n' roll energy during the early 1990s.

"Lovey" features several great tunes: "Half the Time" is a sweet, mid-tempo tune that's sugary but not lightweight. "Ride With Me" also contains a feathery sound, sweet and harmonic, but with a tinge of grittiness that supplements Dando's sometimes bored and wary aura. Though many of his vocals are mumbled, you've got to love Dando's childlike, everyday lyrics that simultaneously manage to convey humor and the weight of the world. "Lovey's" coolest song is "Li'l Seed," a rocker where Dando and his friends take a stand on a subject near and dear to their hearts. (Hint: the seed of which they speak ain't for growing corn). Guest musician Corey Loog Brennan plays an awesome guitar solo on "Li'l Seed," and contributes on "(The) Door." "Stove" follows an endearingly simple formula, and is gone before you realize how great it was.

These tunes vary in sound from dreamy to mosh-ready. At times, the lively instrumentation is a hyper contrast to Dando's indifferent baritone, and there's a coolness and substance to these songs that prevent them from ever going out of style. Some may find The Lemonheads forgettable; I find them irresistable.

I would argue that the first 4 tracks off of "Lovey" are the best songs that the Lemonheads ever waxed. "Ballarat" has an ominous vibe to it completely unlike anything else that I've heard by the band with it's distorted vocals and the ghostly "oohs" and "ahhs" provided by a female vocalist during the refrain . The folk-tinged "Half the Time" is indicative of the sort of songs the band would release on their next outing, "It's A Shame About Ray", but the shoddy production actually raises it a notch above those songs in my opinion, as it creates a feeling of intimacy that was rarely captured on "Ray". "Year of the Cat" is an absolute masterpiece, maniacally shifting between a number of weird-ass dynamics before finally settling into a fast 3-chord groove for the remainder of it's criminally short duration, and "Ride With Me" is a pleasantly downbeat, largely accoustic number.

Unfortunately, the tracks that follow don't have much personality. While they're loaded with humorous, ironic lyrics, the musical backing is extremely generic, and those funny lyrics are often quietly muttered out in a way that's unintelligible. It sounds like Dinosaur Jr.-lite. The tedium is alleviated a bit in the last third with their pretty-but-forgettable cover of Gram Parson's "Brass Buttons", and the untitled track at the end of the album, a schizophrenic answering machine recording of a woman rambling on in unassociated Spanish phrases among other things, got a deep laugh out of me the first time that I heard it. When one of your best tracks is a skit, though, you know that your album is in trouble.

This is a band overlooked and underappreciated by many. Lemonheads will unfortunately be remembered by the general public as a novelty act with a male alternabarbie doll as a frontman. This is not a true depiction of Evan Dando or the Lemonheads. Although most of what the Lemonheads are and were owes a huge debt to fellow New Englanders Dinosaur Jr. by the time of their breakthrough album It's A Shame About Ray they had created their own distinctive sound.

One of the first bands I was in was basically a glorified Lemonheads cover band. Like everyone in that band It's A Shame About Ray was my introduction to the band, but also like everyone in that band after getting into the Lemonheads I preferred Lovey to Ray. What makes Lovey superior? Well I guess it's a matter of taste...nothing against Ray it's more accessible/poppy. Lovey had a harder edge and some turns into the absurd and random. Although it's not as hard as their earlier albums, this album was a transition from their punkier sound to their folkier sound. From the song Half The Time with the great absurdist lyric"Moving up the neck of my guitar/Turn the lamp off I see where you are" which corresponds to an ascending chord progression-understated brilliance. This song is how most of Ray would sound. But this album also has a beautiful Gram Parsons Cover-Brass Buttons. Some songs that could pass for metal(Li'l Seed, (The) Door). An understated powerish ballad Ride With Me. A love song to a Stove(definitely a highlight). And probably my favorite Come Downstairs. Plus as a tag the funniest answering machine message ever put on an album..." I am Pauline. I am Potato Man. I have Potato boys. Building strong bodies in five different ways....I'm leaving a message on the telephone and my mom's just coming...goodbye" at 33 minutes there is no filler on this album. In a time when some people felt "cheated" if an album was not at least 40 minutes, that's another thing I like about this album.

All in all this album stands above any Lemonheads album before or since. If all you know from the Lemonheads is It's A Shame About Ray check this out...you might be pleasantly surprised and agree with me.

The Lemonheads got screwed. They got screwed by the media. They got screwed by the biz. They got screwed by the fickle public. When Evan Dando seized control of the group from former leader, Ben Deily, it gave him an opportunity to unleash some truly brilliant pop songs on the general public. The general public responded by only paying attention to their rocked out version of Mrs. Robinson. It was truly the public who missed out. If you love great song writing, pick up Lovey. This album is before the fuss. If you are not moved by the song "Ride With Me", I'm afraid you're dead inside. How many people in the history of Rock n' Roll have written a love song to a discarded kitchen stove? What is a better way to say goodbye to the listener than the closing song "(The) Door"? The production value isn't as slick as their later releases, but the songs are understated monuments of pop brilliance.

The Lemonheads got screwed. They got screwed by the media. They got screwed by the biz. They got screwed by the fickle public. When Evan Dando seized control of the group from former leader, Ben Deily, it gave him an opportunity to unleash some truly brilliant pop songs on the general public. The general public responded by only paying attention to their rocked out version of Mrs. Robinson. It was truly the public who missed out. If you love great song writing, pick up Lovey. This album is before the fuss. If you are not moved by the song "Ride With Me", I'm afraid you're dead inside. How many people in the history of Rock n' Roll have written a love song to a discarded kitchen stove? What is a better way to say goodbye to the listener than the closing song "(The) Door"? The production value isn't as slick as their later releases, but the songs are understated monuments of pop brilliance.

My first Lemonheads album, this was a taped copy now replaced by my cd. Evan lays the blueprints here for his later masterworks. This is a midpoint where he began to kick off his thrashy past and discover cool melodies.

This cd is harder to love and contains many fewer standouts. Listening to this again I realise why I still had doubts about the band. Evan is still struggling to find his true voice and even the Fort Apache team can't produce a great product.

If you came to this blind you would doubt what lay ahead. It contains a few pointers with his Gram Parson's cover and Juilanna on backing vocals on 1 song.

This album isn't up there with "It's a Shame About Ray" overall but not many albums are. What it does have, though, is several very good songs and one song, "Half the Time" that is among the greatest songs I've ever heard. I have a friend who's a successful singer-songwriter who feels pangs of jealousy because he didn't write it.