Customer Reviews

Monster Movie

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are scant few records recorded in the late 1960s that sound like they could've been done last week. The Velvet Underground's "White Light/White Heat" is one. And this is another. "Monster Movie" belongs in the same pantheon of influential greats as that record, to be sure. Starting off with the berserker sonic vortex of "Father Cannot Yell", the band carves out a wild patch of territory somewhere between noise-rock, jazz improv, New Music, and beat-poet-ranting that hits home like a .44 magnum bullet to the brain even to this day. The whole second half of the release is taken up by the amazing 'Yoo Doo Right', which is one of the truly great jam classics of all time, featuring astounding work by all the band, topped by the ranting, yowling declamations of Malcolm Mooney. As opposed to the 'peace and love' and candy-rock pretentions of its contemporaries, "Monster Movie" is like salt on a raw nerve...and it hurts so GOOOOOD!

The thing that impresses me most about Can is that while their sound changed dramatically over the years, there was an amazing consistency to their classic run of albums. Monster Movie was their debut, and the only full-length album they released with Malcolm Mooney on vocals (Delay 1968 didn't see the light of day for many years afterward.) On Monster Movie, one can point out many similarities with other acts, such as the acid-drenched Velvet Underground guitar tones, the funky extended beats a la James Brown and the beat-poetry-as-vocals approach of the Doors. But Can sounds nothing less than completely original in the way they blend these elements with their own unique perspectives.

Mooney shared the same offbeat concept of lead vocals as his successor, Damo Suzuki. The big difference is that Mooney was an expatriate American and spoke English as a first language, meaning you can actually make out what he's "singing" (reciting might be more apt!) Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Damo Suzuki's work with the band, but it's cool to hear the vocals so upfront and lyrically discernable on a Can CD. Mooney tosses off terrific little poetic non-sequiters like the one I used in my review title all over this album.

Elsewhere, guitarist Michael Karoli, keyboard player Irmin Schmidt and bassist Holger Czukay were playing a lot rougher and more psychedelic than later albums, while Jaki Liebezeit was his usual precision-controlled monster self on drums. This was a sound that the band would continue through tracks like "Mother Sky" and the Tago Mago extravaganza, before abandoning it for a more ambient direction.

"Father Cannot Yell" is a perfect encapsulation of this early style, with Mooney ranting about fathers who haven't been born yet while the band kicks up a storm that could rival the great "Mother Sky" for intensity. Can's twisted take on the "Mary Mary" nursery rhyme culminates with Mooney's hoarse repetition of the title repeated until it becomes an incantation, while the band swirls and pounds. The real sleeper here is "Outside My Door," a terrific psychedelic nugget with some nice (uncredited) harmonica that was unique in the Can lexicon. By the way, my copy shows this song as being 7:22 for some reason. It's actually 4:05.

The epic, side-long "Yoo Doo Right" was alleged to have been edited from a 12-hour(!) jam session that could rival the Grateful Dead's of the time. It is a mammoth stew of everything that made this inaguaral edition of Can so great, with every member getting a chance to shine before it's finished knocking you out of your seat. "Yoo Doo Right" is worth the price of admission on it's own in the same way that "Mother Sky" was on Soundtracks, but like that album, we can only count our blessings that the surrounding tracks are so great.

This latest remaster, a hybrid this time, improves tremendously over the original vinyl album but not very much over the last remastered edition of this CD. There is a color booklet with some historic pictures and liner notes. My only slight gripe is that some bonus tracks from the Mooney era would have been nice, such as "Connection" and "The Empress & The Ukraine King." But this is a classic 5-star record in it's own right, as was virtually everything this band recorded up to and including Landed.

Can's debut is just stunning, right out the gate with "father cannot yell" what a record! This was back with original vocalist Malcom Mooney, who just lets it all go on this record in the tradition of the truly possessed, he becomes at times hysterical in the energy he channels on this record, you fear that this much passion and terror and love and intensity coming from one person would kill them. And it nearly did. But the band can do no wrong here, this is when Karoli was still in his Syd Barrett meets Sterling Morrisson guitar phase, and it became a legitimate style in and of itself, but one he more or less discards after "mother sky" a little ways down the road. But back to monster movie, with that strange alteration of Jack Kirby's idea of god as a devourer, Galactus, on the cover. And this record will devour, oh listen to "Mary". One of the greatest rock songs of all time, one of the greatest guitar lines of all time (both the rhythm and the lead) and listen to Malcom get hysterical as he calls her name ("Marymarymarymarymarymary- marymarymarymarymary -MARYMARYMARYMARYMARY MARYMARYMARYMARYMARY") whoa. Incredible stuff. and there's more. Everything is great, the classic "Yoo doo right" it's all here, you need this record if you are interested in Rock music, experimental music, or experimental rock music, of which Can were indeed the kings.

The word "evolution" makes no sense in Can's music: they made several excellent albums, but their masterpiece is the first one, "Monster Movie". Guided by the crazy vocals of Malcolm Mooney, a black american artist, the band never was so inspirate as here. This record is psychedelic, progressive, funky, punk rocker, rock'n'roll, everything blended with intelligence, criativity and madness.

This is an amazing album. "Father Cannot Yell" is a great noisy, impovisational, energetic song; "Mary, Mary So Contrary" is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard; "Outside My Door" is another incredible song; and "Yoo Doo Right" is a sparse, repetitive, yet ultimately mesmerizing 20-minute closer. This album should be a classic and considered the best Can album. I never thought a four song album could do so much--I recommend it highly.

Just simply amazing. The sounds made by these guys is still cutting edge. I heard many things about Can, I decided to start with their first album and it had great reviews as well. PLus the cover looks cool, something like Voltron. Anyway, it's only 4 songs but they made an impression on me. Jaki Liebezeit's exquisite style of drumming, part drum machine/part African style drumming just blew me away. Mix that with the heavy bass line from Czukay, Karoli's loud distorted guitar and Mooney's wild singing and you have the stuff of legend. It's a shame that Mooney didn't record another album with them during their music changing era (68-74) because I like him best. Damo Suzuki is great too but I guess we all have a preference. My song on this would be Mary, Mary So Contrary. The insane babbling and repeating of 'Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary' by Malcom Mooney just gets me everytime. There's nothing quite like this band, perhaps Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, Flaming Lips and Radiohead's later works but still, Can are a band completely on a group of their own. My only gripe would be that weren't more songs on this album. Ground breaking brilliant stuff.

On its own merits, Monster Movie is an above average late 60s psychedelic rock opus. The chiming keyboards open the world's introduction to the mighty Can, before the throbbing bass takes over & we hear of fathers that haven't been born yet & other odd things. The more times you hear it the more far out for its time it seems. The 2nd song based on nursery rhymes is disappointing & I've never much liked it but the sound builds up nicely enough similar to what would be perfected on Ege Bamyasi's Sing Swan Song. Outside My Door is however perfect, from harmonica-drenched intro to furiously chanted ending. Of course the side long Yoo Doo Rite is the main focus, as seemingly mundane boy-girl relationship lyrics get repeated enough to become profundity as it seems Malcolm really does mean it all, as the song changes into many unknown genres. It really works best all the way up on headphones [& well, yes, possibly drugs]. Whilst Can would go MUCH further out on their next [double] album w/ a new singer, Monster Movie reaches levels most other bands will never dream of. Compare & contrast w/ Beefheart's Strictly Personal.

Of course, Can is the best rock group ever, so the four star review for Monster Movie is only relative to their other masterworks. This is a very good debut, with the group still finding its signature sound and putting out some interesting music in the process. None of the tracks are weak, but the two that stand out are those that bookend the album, Father Cannot Yell and Yoo Doo Right. Both build lengthy songs out of simple tunes and riffs, but do it with intelligence so it doesn't seem boring or redundant. Malcom Mooney is an interesting fellow - his voice is off-key and cracked but he sings/rants with an infectuous energy and intensity, and ultimately adds to the listening experience. Damo Suzuki's better, but it would have been interesting to see how Mooney would have developed as Can's vocalist. The rest of the band is brilliant throughout, in particular Jaki Liebezeit, the best drummer the rock world has ever known. Recommended for anyone interested in the experimental side of things, and of course a must for Can fans.

If you're buying this reissue, chances are you already know what you're getting. So, I'm just speaking here to the quality of the remaster, which is superb. On the previous edition, some of the tunes evinced some tape distortion, etc. All of that has been cleaned up, and the end result is a much more pleasurable listening experience (god, it sounds like I'm writing for Gramaphone or something).

"Yoo Doo Right" and "Father Cannot Yell" are still what make this album worth owning, of course. As an album, musical merit and all that, I'd say that this is really more of a four star record. It's very good, but clearly not up to the remarkable standars of "Tago Mago" or "Ege Bamyasi." More than worth owning for those two tunes, though.

Speaking of those other records, I'm seriously bummed that they've been pushed back to November 30th. I want an explanation, and it better be a good one!

It's a shame that Can has gone straight to the toilet in the late 70s/early 80s, especially when one looks back and considers their tremendous lineup of earlier works. Monster Movie is Can's best record, and arguably one of THE best rock records in the late 60s, period. Nothing came close to it, even in the so-called golden age of rock of 60s and 70s. Early Cans were so bloody good, they left even all the superstars like Zepplin, Floyd, and Hendrix in dust. Monster Movie managed to be gripping, hypnotic, and evocative at the same time. Melody flows and drips, like melted molasses, down an angular rhythmic foundation. It's impossible to overlook Can's fingerprints all over the roadmap of modern rock for many decades to come.