Customer Reviews

Neverneverland

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

 

 

Why is it that most have never heard of the Pink Fairies or let alone this record? It could be that the thing is never released domestically---including the original Vinyl release---At any rate it is a must have for anyone remotely interested in 60's psychedelic--garage--proto punk--or all of the above....Standout tracks are "DO It" recognized by most old school punks as true punk ancestor--"Uncle Harrys Last Freakout" exactly what it says--kind of Englands answer to "Sister Ray"....Just get this CD and fast while it's momentarily in print....then get the 3rd Record "Kings of Oblivion" and if your still craving the Fairies pink up the second record "What a Buncha of Sweeties" and incidently they've all just been reissued and remastered with a couple bonus tracks.......amen

These guys used to hang out with Hawkwind about a million years ago, doing free gigs and 'stuff'. They don't sound all that much like their pals, though; compared to the first Hawkwind album, most of the Pinks' debut is a lot more polished and (dare one say) accomplished. Yeah, there is some noodling about ('Uncle Harry's Last Freakout' would have been a lot better had the band not tried so hard to make it sound so. . .well, like a Freak Out) but that's okay. The songwriting is great elsewhere, especially on the first five tracks (Side One of the original LP), and the hazy production gives the whole project a sort of ether-like effect. 'Do It', named after Jerry Ruben's Anarchist manifesto, leads the album with an appropriately anarchic statement of intent. 'Heavenly Man' is a stunner, a metallic ballad (nowadays they cunningly call this sort of thing a Power Ballad, folks) with a decidedly smoky aura, and the title track is an amusing and catchy little invitational calypso: 'Come, we'll take you by the hand, we'll fly to Never Never Land, we plan to never never land', get it? It goes on little too long after the punchline, but that's what happens when you hang around Hawkwind. Also included for Your Listening Pleasure on this reissue: the original B-side single-version of 'Do It' along with its A-side 'The Snake' ('He's comin' here, he's comin' there, he's comin' almost everywhere'- - talk about stamina), and an early take on 'Uncle Harry' which proves that the Freak-Out was pretty well-rehearsed after all. Oh yeah, and a pretty decent extended disco remix of 'War Girl'. Just kidding, it isn't really disco.

Yeah, this is very, very good! The first Fairie's album, reissued with great bonus tracks, is a mind-melting mix of drug-fuelled psychedelic atmospheres and scorching, feedback-driven acid guitar garage rock, with a remarkable nod to what would be later called 'punk rock'. Great lyrics, raging vocals, a fierce rhythm section and veritable SMOKING classics, like "Uncle Harry's Last Freakout", "Do It", "The Snake" & "Teenage Rebel".

Originally released in early 1971,this was the stunning debut record by the Pink Fairies.Nice job on the reissue,comes with a 16-page full color informative CD booklet;packed with rarely seen artwork and memorabilia(like many Hawkwind CD reissues have).Includes two of the Fairie's best known cuts,the single "Do It" and the somewhat infamous ten-minute "Uncle Harry's Last Freakout".But it certainly doesn't stop there,other worthy tracks include "Teenage Rebel",the R&B-like "War Girl" and the title track "Never Never Land".Noticed the sound of this CD reissue appears to be quite polished,more so than one might expect.Makes for a great listening piece on a late weekend night.Plus,Polydor tags on four(4)bonus tunes that are alternate edits to some of the tunes I just mentioned.Basically,just great guitar-driven psych/garage rock&roll,that to me is a life long keeper.Recommended.

Sorry, all, but this doesn't deserve the accolades it gets. If you're really into the hippy-dippy 60's, the psychedlic movement (whoa, man... far out...), this is probably good stuff. But it's 60's psych-lite, at least from what I could hear. Nothing out of the ordinary. There was much better psych out by this time.