Customer Reviews

Open Our Eyes: The Anthology

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

 

 

"A Music Fan" wrote in his/her review:

"....the version of "Only One Winner" on this collection is not the same as the one on Nazz III, so a completist would still have to buy that CD. The Nazz III version had Todd singing, the version on here is, as best as I can tell, the same as the version on "13th and Pine", with Stewkey singing...."

Not true. Stewkey sang the original version on "Nazz III"; the same version found on this Anthology CD. Stewkey does indeed sing lead on the "13th and Pine" version; but it's only a slightly different mix of the same song. Todd sings lead on the version found on the "Todd Sings" CD. [confused yet?? LOL]

I've been a NAZZ fan since their beginning and would tell you that this CD is worth seeking out. Too bad the compilers didn't put the songs in the same order as they appeared on the original 3 LP's.......

"Open Our Eyes", the latest Nazz anthology really doesn't sport anything new, except for a cover of "Train Kept A-Rollin'". It is, however, a very complete catalogue of the work proper that the Nazz did. For sticklers this CD set will rankle, because the song orders for the original albums have been screwed up in favor of a more thematic approach. Generally the anthology is set up where the first CD is the hard-rocking side and the second one is the more cerebral one. As a result, most of the first album and some of the third takes up the first CD, whereas the bulk of the second and third albums comprise the second. This doesn't, however, prevent the best songs from opening the first disc! "Open My Eyes" was/is/and probably will always be one of the best songs that Todd Rundgren ever wrote. "Hello It's Me", the big single, follows, but fast forward a couple of songs and you get to Rundgren's pre-Something/Anything opus, the ethereal, string-driven "If That's The Way You Feel". This, along with "Forget All About It" and "A Beautiful Song" are the real reasons to buy this anthology-if you don't already have the Nazz on CD! For those who don't know, Rundgren would go on to have an immensely successful career as both artist and producer. As in the Nazz, his songs would straddle the fence between the human (the soulful ballads) and the absurd (his sometimes annoying obsession with technology and vaudeville). If you want a ground zero song for this dialectic, listen to the wonderfully whimsical Meridian Leeward. Also included in the anthology package are some good liner notes where Rundgren describes how the band came to be as well as some of the internal dynamics that were happening while the band was active.

If you've got the 3 albums on CD from Rhino, the only thing you're missing is the one bonus track Train kept a-Rollin'. That can be found on the vinyl-only Best of Nazz (also from Rhino). The single album reissues did one thing this collection didn't do: it kept the tracks in their original running order, and that's how these albums sound best.

For anyone (like me) whose Nazz collection consists of scratchy old collectors' vinyl, bootlegs and homemade tapes of someone else's scratchy old collectors' vinyl, this remastered anthology is a must. Although fans of Rundgren's prog rock days would disagree, a lot of his most exciting work was with Philly's finest, The Nazz. Nazz bucked the hippy/trippy trends of the day and wore their Who/Small Faces/Yardbirds/Cream influences on their Carnaby Street sleeves, with crisp arrangements of concise power-pop songs. Although Rundgren was just cutting his songwriting teeth and the material was somewhat uneven, one must also remember that this band's entire recording career lasted less than 2 years. Who knows what would have happened if they had stuck it out. Todd's guitar work is inspired, and Thom Mooney gets my vote for one of rock's all-time underrated drummers. If you like Rundgren's early solo work or either Nuggets box set, this compliation will not disappoint.

What makes this a "5" to me is that it has all of their songs in one package. Yeah, some of the songs are pretty strange and makes it evident why the second lp was not a double album but that was the essence of NAZZ. They were hit and miss. Who knows, without this band we may never have heard of Todd Rundgren. I must also mention that the liner notes are most interesting with many comments about the evolution of the group coming from Todd himself. For every fledgling musician that had a combo back in the late 60s this was a group that you could emulate and copy. You could play these songs at the roller rink and no one would give you any crap about performing "obscure" material. Everyone in the audience liked NAZZ even if they had no clue who they were.

I was introduced to the Nazz via the posthumous releases "13th and Pine" and "From Philadelphia". They are definitely an overlooked talent and a bit obscure. They sound like a Philadelphia version of the early Who. I'm from Philadelphia (this city is famous for music) and I hadn't even heard of them.
This collection is a great and inexpensive way to get all three Nazz albums on CD. However, after listening to the above-mentioned albums, I was a bit disappointed by how they really sounded on their album releases at the time. So it's hard to critique, because the collection itself is good, but the original songs are a bit lacking.
First, the mastering of the songs is excellent, but you can only do so much with what you have.
Most of the songs are overproduced. The dated stereo effects are annoying and distracting. The best song, in terms of overall "sound" and production value is "Train Kept-A-Rollin'". This is what they sound like on "13th and Pine" and most of "From Philadelphia", which contain different mixes of some of the songs on this collection. It's a bit "dirty" production-wise, but it's more satisfying to listen to.
Some of my favorites from this collection were on neither of those albums, but that's probably because the best on those albums aren't as good as on the two I mentioned. But there's still a lot of great material here.
Bottom line: get this collection, especially if you like garage rock or are studying Philadelphia's musical history, but go out and find "13th and Pine" and "From Philadelphia". I got them as digital downloads on emusic, but they may be available through Amazon's MP3 Store. If you're really lucky, get the CDs.

This is a great collection, and an easy way to get most of the commercially available nazz recordings. However, I feel someone should point out the version of "only one winner" on this collection is not the same as the one on Nazz III, so a completist would still have to buy that CD. The Nazz III version had Todd singing, the version on here is, as best as I can tell, the same as the version on "13th and pine", with Stewky singing.

I bought this because I love the first Nazz album & it was cheaper than the remastered "Nazz". This CD did not dissapointment me in that respect. The 1st Nazz was great. The rest of the CD was inconsistent. Some songs had no bass at all. The ones that didn't were tinny & crappy. If you liked the the 2nd & 3rd Nazz albums - don't buy this. I will probably never listen to the 2nd disc because of the ups & downs of bass. There is nothing more annoying than getting up & down to adjust the tone, just to hear one album.

This 2 CD compilation contains all three albums released by late-sixties American band Nazz ( + a few rarities )

I'm not sure what to make of the Nazz music. Maybe I had expected too much - or just something else - I thought they would sound somewhat like the Standells or Count Five.

Their name was taken from a Yardbirds song (The Nazz Are Blue) and there are obvious influences from that band - on some songs!! On other songs they sound like they're trying to do Beach Boys pastiches. Elsewhere again they sound pop-bands like the Associations. I think this is one of the major problems with the band; their direction is vague.

They are obviously fine musicians - the guitar-playing is a pleasure on many tracks - Rundgren really sounds like Jeff Beck on several tracks.

There a some fine songs, too, but the majority of them are really quite ordinary and not very interesting.

Though there a fine vocal-harmonies, I'm not impressed by their lead-singer who doesn't have the charisma of Keith Relf or the power of Roger Daltrey or Steve Marriott.

Among the most memorable songs early "Open My Eyes" deserves a mention - a great catchy pop-psych piece. I generally find their ballads slightly sirupy, but the simple arrangement of the melodic "Gonna Cry Today" works fine - and it's another stand-out.

The up-beat "Hang On, Paul" - is a Beatles inspired song that has what too many of the songs lack - charm. The same goes for the Byrds inspired "Forget All About it" I also quite like the bluesy "Magic Me".

It's mainly their songwriting that keeps them in a league (or two) under their inspirators like the Beatles, the Yardbirds or the Byrds. Maybe this is why - as it says in the notes - that Rundgren rarely plays any of his Nazz songs - apart from the pop-ballad "Hello It's Me"

Before 'The ballad of ...', there was The Nazz. Over the course of 138 minutes, experience how a skinny weird looking kid from Philly came to be one of rock's greatest exponents of ... just about everything. The all singing, all dancing, all powerful Runt starts as just another guitar player, and in less time than it takes to listen to 'The Ikon' becomes who we have known and loved for the last 30 years. Everything you expect from Todd has it's beginnings here, the songs, the playing, the overblown ego-trips. Ah yes, it's great when you're straight!!