Customer Reviews

Nazz

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

 

 

I have seen people put this album down but I have to say that this is great album. Not only that this is Todd Rundgren's first group it also shows how much talent he had at 18. Yes, they are wearing their influences on their collective sleeves but for a debut it's not a surprise. This album has everthing in it. The slick pop of "Open My Eyes" to the ballad "Hello It's Me" (which by the way is playing on WDAS regularly in a new soul version) and the Association like "Crowded" to rockers like "Wildwood Blues" & "She's Going Down" it's almost a crime that Nazz weren't more popular than they were. This new re-issue is an improvement in sound than the Rhino re-issues from the last century and the bonus cuts are a nice addition especially the humorous radio spots done by the band. So if you're looking to upgrade from your worn out vinyl pick this up

This album was criminally overlooked in the late 60s. The Nazz was much greater than the sum of its parts, and shows Todd Rundgren's prowess even back then when he was just really getting started. The Philly-area band also featured the great Robert "Stewkey" Antoni on vocals, Carson Van Osten on bass and the rambunctious drumming of Thom Mooney. Sure, it had its "garage band" moments, but that was its charm and its fire.
"Open My Eyes" grabs you from the start with its "I Can't Explain" intro and takes off from there. To be fair to Todd Rundgren, I'll take the solo version of "Hello, It's Me" from four years later over this one, but even this version showcases their ability to construct gorgeous harmonies. Some other high points: "Wildwood Blues", "Back of Your Mind" with their intense guitars, the alternate versions of "The Lemming Song" (one of them from Todd's prior band Woody's Truck Stop) and a live rendition of "The Nazz are Blue", the Yardbirds classic...fascinating stuff for Rundgren fans everywhere. These guys knew exactlly what they were doing, and it showed. Perfect? No. But did it suck? Not at all, when you realize what it led to. A lot of bands would kill to have as good a first album as this. If you're just getting familiar with Todd, you need to check out where he started (until somsone comes out with a decent compilation of Woody's Truck Stop's material). If you already have the Nazz albumss, this is an awesome upgrade. I discovered some tracks here I didn't even know existed, and I've been a major Nazz fan since they were around!

Nazz was a Philadelphia based band made up of Todd Rundgren, Robert "Stewkey" Antoni, Carson Van Osten and Thom Mooney with their first album released in April 1968 on SGC Records. It was produced by Bill Traut with Open My Eyes and Hello It's Me produced by the band. The record opens with Open My Eyes, a song clearly inspired by The Who and The Small Faces but still having enough of it's own personality to make it worthy in it's own right. Back Of Your Mind is a hard rocker while See What You Can Be sounds more Peter Asher than The Who. Next up, the original version of Hello It's Me which Todd would rework in a couple of years for Something / Anything. This version is much more somber than the latter, more well known version but still works well. The first half of the album ends with the British blues inspired Wildwood Blues and is the first song on the record not to be entirely written by Todd.

The second half starts off with the ballad If That's The Way You Feel and picks back up with When I Get My Plane. Lemming Song dates back to Todd's pre Nazz band Woody's Truck Stop and the song reminds me of an early Jefferson Airplane song with the song itself being quite nice. Crowded is a great tune and is written by Stewkey and Thom Mooney. The original album ends with Todd's upbeat She's Goin' Down. This cd version is packed with bonus songs of demos, single mixes, and even a live version of The Yardbirds The Nazz Are Blue which is the song that inspired the group's name. As far as the album itself, it's very good with only a couple of songs being what I would call "throw aways" although the album does have a bit of a dated feel.

I've always loved Nazz and was so excited to get the first album on CD.
It has stood up amazingly well.

Hey all of you "Todd Rundgren" fans...Although Todd, did start in a few other bands, in the Philidelphia area, the "NAZZ" was really the best "start"...As Todd stated "We were the Beatles, for those who didn't have them"!!!--This album also features a super
rendition, of "Hello It's Me", not sung by Todd, but played before it was a huge hit for him, in the 70's.
It's a dynamic arrangement, that I'm sure you will all love, if you are a fan of Todd..The rest of the songs are also fun, mixture of this and that, showing Todd's new writing capabilities, as well as his outstanding guitar work....!! Enjoy!

The mastering of this CD is just awful.I'll never buy anything from this record company again.

I'm from Philadelphia, and I do like The Nazz, but this album is lacking, and that's direction. In some ways it sounds like The Who, other instances it sounds like The Association. There's no middle ground here, and to be honest I can't tell which I like better. With the sounds of Association there are songs like "Hello It's Me" this version is slow moving....in fact it's too slow more like a dirge than a pop song. I know it can make me cry at the drop of a hat. Then in the Who vein there's "Lemming Song" that's too depressing. I like the guitar driven sounds like what's on "Open My Eyes", "Magic Me" and "She's Going Down". Mind you there are some good nuggets that sound like the Association such as: "Crowded", "See What We Can Become". I just feel that it's not an organized album, and that's a real shame because it does have potential. I used to have this album, so I didn't just sample the songs. As I said I like the Nazz, but to me they should be considered a singles band, and release mostly singles.

Maybe you've heard that the Nazz are among such amazing "early-alternative" groiups such as the Velvet Underground or Modern Lovers. Maybe you like Todd Rundgren and what to explore his origins. Maybe you heard "Open My Eyes" on Nuggets or elsewhere and wanted to get the whole album by the band that recorded that amazing song. Well, on all three accounts, this CD is a HUGE disapointment. Remaster, bonus tracks, and liner notes are all there, but the fact is there's no way to add anything to a crappy album to make it not-crappy. Every song ('cept "Eyes") is rediculously boring, pretty cliche`, done amateurishly, and the songs are just poorly-written, mostly goofy throwaways. Rundgren wrote them, but they're bad. It's over-produced. And, above all, it resembles the worst (in my groovy opinion) of the late-'60s/early-'70s bands like Jefferson, Crosby Stills etc., even ELO! And that wouldn't be so infuriating but the first sentance of the liner notes compare the band to the VU, Stooges, Big Star, and Modern Lovers - a selection from my favorite bands. This is, of course, how I was duped into buying this nasty little piece of overpriced plastic. Don't be fooled! The Nazz are nothing like these essential, alternative bands. Unlike the aformentioned bands, who broke new boundaries to play a music they loved and to slowly destroy the messed up system r'n'r had become, the Nazz were just kids trying to make pop music of the time; and it sucks.