More Nuggets, Vol. 2 { Various Artists }

Nuggets (Series) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B00000348V
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #60,186 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. (We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet

2. Mr. Farmer

3. Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White

4. Liar, Liar

5. Diddy Wah Diddy

6. Are You Gonna Be There (At the Love-In)

7. Talk Talk

8. Live

9. Western Union

10. The Little Black Egg

11. Sunshine Girl

12. You're a Very Lovely Woman

13. Desiree

14. I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight

15. A Public Execution

16. Try It

17. Sweet Young Thing

18. Gonna Have a Good Time

Editorial Reviews

This CD is an out of print collectible! It is the original 1987 Rhino release. Catalog RNCD 75777.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some vital, some trifles, August 12, 2000

By 

Steve B (all over the place) - See all my reviews

This review is from: More Nuggets, Vol. 2 { Various Artists } (Audio CD)

I'd actually rate this collection three-and-a-half stars. If you remember these tunes from their original release, up the rank a star; if you have no particular curiosity for a late '60s time capsule, drop it to two-and-a-half. This sliding scale may seem like a cheat, but many of these songs do feel like museum pieces: They're worthy of preservation, but they're so much a product of their time, they feel dated -- at times, even quaint. You've got lyrics about long hair, love-ins, turning on and dropping out; you've got your Dylan soundalike, your proto-Monkees, your "Eleanor Rigby" wannabes. With the historical and musical influences already ingrained in our consciousness, their less-familiar imitators lose some excitement, some immediacy. Therefore, listeners today who bring nostalgia or enthusiasm to "More Nuggets" will get far more from it than casual listeners will.

For my money, the more aggressive selections (e.g., "Diddy Wah Diddy" and both Chocolate Watch Band tunes) have aged best, along with the sneering, insinuating ones (the faux-Dylan "Public Execution," the fantastic "Try It," the buzzing "Mr. Farmer.") "More Nuggets" lets you hear the roots of garage rock and what '70s "corporate rock" relegated to "indie" status; you can also pick up countercultural sentiment already being co-opted and packaged to sell. Yet for all the catchy touches and the occasional still-persuasive emotion, lots of the songs here don't build to much of anything -- they basically repeat the chorus and verse a few times before fading away. Maybe this is the price of having a representative batch of authentic psychedelia; they can't all be brilliant.

Purists will be happy that the mono originals haven't mutated into stereo. The fact-packed liner notes, set amongst vintage (!) ads pushing goods and services to music-making young 'uns, are up to Rhino's proud standards.

One more thing: Shuffle play is essential to this album. The middle third is chock full of sensitive men testing the high end of their vocal cords; listen straight through, and it's like being assaulted by troubadours. Mix the order and you'll do fine.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a mixed bag, June 30, 2006

By 

Michael J Edelman (Huntington Woods, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: More Nuggets, Vol. 2 { Various Artists } (Audio CD)

Now this is a rather curious collection; there are perhaps three actual hits on this album, and a lot of also-rans that never did manage to chart. The opening cut, "We Ain't Got Nothin' Yet" was the Blues Magoos' one big hit, although their "Pipe Dream" and "Tobacco Road" weren't bad. Then there's "Liar, Liar" and "Western Union", both hits, although more pop than rock, as well as the bubblegum-ish Boyce and Heart cut. The rest fall into the general classification of non-hits by major groups- tunes like "Try It", but the Standells, whose "Dirty Water" was their one national hit; "Desiree", by the Left Banke, whose "Walk Away Renee" and "Pretty Ballerina" were geniuine hits. And then there's Captain Beefheart's "Diddy Wah Diddy", a staple of college underground radio but hardly heard elsewhere.

Given that there are only four, or five tunes really worth listening to on this CD I'd give it a pass and look for other collections with a better selection, or the complete "best of" collections of the best groups represented here- The Seeds, Left Banke, and the Blues Magoos. (You diehard Standells fans who lived in Boston in the 60s might want to do this as well.)