Orange

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 26, 1994)
• Original Release Date: October 20, 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Matador Records
• ASIN: B0000036T3
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #80,588 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Bellbottoms

2. Ditch

3. Dang

4. Very Rare

5. Sweat

6. Cowboy

7. Orange

8. Brenda

9. Dissect

10. Blues X Man

11. Full Grown

12. Flavor

13. Greyhound

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The strange paradox that makes the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion so hard to figure--and them all the better for it--is that despite a brazen desire to flaunt their complete lack of authenticity with an absurdly over-the-top howlin' bluesman schtick, their music really does kick tons more ass than just about anything else being passed off as contemporary blues these days. Orange augments the usual mess of raw blues and primal rock with Philly soul strings, theremin, and Beck's guest rapping. The added flavors don't make these songs better, but then, the band's raw material--bashed out on two guitars and drums--rocks quite well on its own, thank you. --Roni Sarig

Product Description

'Orange', the Blues Explosion open with a nod to a plush, Stax feel for the blues with the aid of a full string section. Other unusual touches include the use of scratching and a guest appearance by media sensation and blues aficionado Beck. Despite these

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Whoaaa baby!, December 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Orange (Audio CD)

1994 was a year in which showmanship was, for the most part, a dirty word. Garage bands across the word stood on stage, pathetically pensive in their tattered op-shop gear, muttering every few minutes that "We're not trying to impress you! We're just being us!" Jon Spencer - whose previous mendicant band, the dubiously named Pussy Galore, were buried in the garage floor concrete to their waists - signalled a welcome end to this morbid pouting. I, like most listeners, only bought this album upon the word-of-mouth guarantee that, in the midst of Reznors and Loves, here was something that was reminiscent of the trashy R&B acts of the late 50s and early 60s, not to mention King Elvis, a time when - whatever their musical merits - bands were out to give people a good time. Or, as one indie friend put it, "this Spencer dude is DA MAN!" In Orange, Spencer waggled his microphone, guitar, theremin and his frighteningly skinny butt to the entire world. "Full grown woman likes to f***!" he screams mid-way through the album ('Full grown'). Not a line that would endear him to student politicians but people like that lose their sense of fun at the age of five. Spencer's not for them. Indeed, this boy would like nothing better than his listeners to bonk along to his crashing guitar-driven numbers. At first 'Orange' may appear to merely be blues riffs played fast, abrasively and without the annoying rhythmic strictures that a bass guitar would provide; indeed, 'Sweat' and 'Ditch' fit this definition. But Spencer, especially in brilliant numbers like 'Bellbottom', 'Orange' and 'Blues Xplosion Man' go beyond mere retrospective indulgence, plundering cliches from previous blues artists to create create something different, a sexual swaggering trash rock, the type of musical bricolage that was to soon appear on Beck's 'Odelay' (The boy wonder actually makes a neat cameo appearance on 'Flavor'). Enhanced by Spencer's manic vocal style (think of Elvis on something heavier than prescription pills), 'Orange' is neither a dull tidying up of well-trodden ground nor the masturbatory product of an anaemic twat in velvet pants. The album represented a landmark in indie rock, a welcome break from grunge-by-numbers, a genuine explosion of the past, and, most importantly, it was the only garage rock album of 1994 that sounded as good as it looked. Five bright bellbottoms for this one, baby.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ladies and Gentlemen - Blues Explosion!, March 29, 2003

By 

Omer Belsky (Haifa, Israel) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Orange (Audio CD)

It is difficult to convey to the Rock fan the experience that is the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, or to describe the joys and frustrations of this or any other of their albums. I half jokingly describe a concert of theirs as 'Hard rock and blues jamming, with Jon Spencer occasionally screaming "Russell Simmons" "Judah Bauer" "Blues Explosion" and "Bab-e"'.

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is weird beast - it readily admits that it is not real authentic blues (Listen to the hilarious "Talkin' about the Blues" in ACME), but, for all that, it is closer to Blues than to Rock music. the influence of Muddy Waters, especially, is particularly obvious (In 'Mannish Boy' for instance, Muddy actually screams 'Full Grown!', some twenty years before Jon Spencer does it on this album).

A related problem is the lack of proper songs on this and other JSBX records. Despite his uncanny talent for the art of songwriting, Spencer almost never indulges his audience with a melodic song with proper verses and choruses. When he does, however, he is inevitably brilliant, as in 'Brenda' on this CD, or 'She Said' on PLASTIC FANG - some of the catchiest and cleverest pieces of Rock songwriting I've ever heard.

So, the JSBX is not Rock, not really Blues, doesn't write songs and screams 'Babe' a lot - but what is it? The truth is, I don't know. I somehow doubt anyone knows. It's a bizarre mix of stuff that is nonetheless addictingly compelling.

`Orange' is one of the best places to start. It has the brilliant `Brenda' that will steal your heart and the hilarious punk of `Bell-bottom'. The title track is shouted with disdain, and `full grown' is funny and sexy and really, really strange. Throughout, the amazing riffs of Judah Bower (who has an amazing ability to produce sheer noise out of his little electric guitar) and the mad-as-hell drumming of Russell Simmons is perfect background for Spencer's over the top delivery.

Rock music is supposed to be straightforward and, well, rockin'. JSBX are doing just that. You can afford to miss them, but at your own peril.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Out of Control Funk and Soul, February 19, 2003

By 

C. Wroble "Pope Urban" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Orange (Audio CD)

Are you looking for a band that plays textbook rock and roll and sings about average boy girl relationships?
THEN GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE.
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion made Orange with a funky, Philly-string soul, blues-rock type of sound in mind, and they didn't quite hit it right on but they got so close that this album sounds better than you could ever imagine. Their trademark Elvis-voiced funk-blues sound with two guitarists (no bass) and a drumset is the best it ever was on Orange.

Start with "Bellbottoms." The intro track features a soul string 2-minute interlude before it bursts into a rollicking punk anthem with a blues tint to it.
Then we get "Ditch", a song based on such a bluesy-funky riff that you won't be able to get it out of your head.
"Dang" is an all out punk anthem that screams and shouts like no other. On the first listen, it scares you, but if you listen to it carefully, you'll hear the true 2-minute thrash orchestra that it is.

"Very Rare" is an addictive instrumental with a good vibe to it.
"Sweat" is the song that will get the closest to being a single on this album...it features a rocky chorus and the trademark self-advertising by none other than Jon himself.
"Cowboy" is Jon's attempt to sing a love song with the voice he doesn't have.
"Orange", the title song, is the band's journey into prog rock with orchestral strings and funky guitars. It works, as Jon sings about Star Trek as the band chug-a-lugs into an orgy of strings.
"Brenda" is the token blues piece; it features a rock-blues riff that leads to a pounding chorus.
"Dissect" is a pure taste of the Explosion's live shows. As Jon sings nonsensical lyrics, his band plays the same riff with different styles for Jon to try to sing to. It's the album's classic track.
"Blues X Man" is Jon's wannabe soul-singer tune...he rumbles through verses to get through his strung-out chorus with backup singers and the whole bit.

"Full Grown" is a hilarious piece of sensual pie-Jon sings about sex over a percussion section and one California surfer guitar riff.
"Flavor" is another standout-a six minute trip into the Blues Explosion that really only works with one riff. The highlight of the album is when Beck, the original white man, comes in to help Jon out with a dubbed old-school rap. Don't miss it.
Finally, "Greyhound" is another instrumental that repeats the same riff until you love it.

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion will never be commericial-they are too good. And this is their best work. 5 stars for Orange.