Customer Reviews

Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
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Camper Van Beethoven is still one of my favorite bands. This is one of their more polished releases but still fuses strange bedfellows like middle eastern scales, violin, and trippy rock. "Eye of Fatima" was probably their closest thing to a hit. Meaning: it got radio and MTV play. (Not counting their "Pictures of Matchstick Men" cover). Some favorites are "She Divines Water", "Never Go Back" and "Life is Grand". If i had to reccommend one album by this stellar band it would be Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart.

I hadn't listened to this one in a few years, found an old tape and popped it in, and was amazed at how fantastic it still is! This one just doesn't age. Gotta finally break down and get the cd, since my vinyl version is nearly worn out. Great album. She Divines Water is still one of my all time favorite songs, as are a few others here. Once you start listening, you will want to listen to it again and again.

If you are looking to explore some Camper Van Beethoven music for the first time, this is the one album you should buy. And if you are a die hard CVB fan it is certainly one of your favorites.

Dark humor, sarcasm, reggae and zydeco inspired electric rock n' roll was never more electic and witty than in Camper Van's hey day.

Our Beloved Revolutionary is a sure-fire classic and is always mentioned as a favorite of CVB's following and fans.

This album and much of Camper Van's music is timeless, simply unique and enjoyable and it'll make you laugh and still take their musicianship and song writing ability seriously.

AND I WILL SAY THIS AT THE RISK OF FALLING FROM FAVOUR! This is music for today, tomorrow, and next year... it has not aged, and I am pleased to say that it was the first CD I ever owned. I had a substantial vinyl collection and even some cassettes, but this was the first CD in my now vast CD collection. It is also one of my most prized CDs. I think anyone who owns it should treat it kindly, like a best friend or lover, because this music is so entertaining, fun... it sticks in the brain, it soothes the soul because of its wacky creativity, its off-the-wall imagery, and its groundbreaking sound! You won't tire of this album... so make it your lifelong companion! Listen to it often! This is sheer and unsurpassed brilliance from CVB... and certainly by David Lowery's later band, Cracker. Immediately upon pushing PLAY it is a fateful moment. "Eye of Fatima" is such a remarkable song that it is unforgettable and the lyrics will swirl in your head for years to come (no one can erase the image of the "18-year-old angel, and she's all dressed in black..." or "cowboys on acid"). CVB's music is so inventive... and invokes so many musical styles that it is hard to put your finger on them. And you won't want to keep them under your finger... they are much too good for that! You must let them be free to play... and mesmerise you!

The best songs here are, of course, the anthem, "Eye of Fatima", athen "She Divines Water", "One of these Days", "Turquoise Jewelry", "Tania", and "Life is Grand". However, this stunning album is to be treated royally and played whenever possible in its entirety! Unfortunately we no longer have CVB ("O Death... can't you spare me over til another year?"), but we at least have this superb and timeless album to remind us of what once was...

but still worth buying. David Lowery is an unheralded pop genius; his studio prowess and ability to write one great pop tune after another makes him sort of a smirking Brian Wilson. Billiant orchestration, tape loops and constant mood changes hihglight the record. Theres something of a conspiracy theme occuring here-"Eye of Fatima" is apparently about MK ULTRA experiments, and "Tania" is of course, about Patty Hearst. Reason to buy: the ethereal, swirling, psychedelic "She Divines Water". A few too many instrumentals, but some of them hit the mark...good to see that Lowery finally got his due as a star with Cracker.

On their major label debut, Camper Van Beethoven brings their eclectic musical world to a wider audience. Sort of. The album stiffed, but not because it doesn't contain great songs. "Eye of Fatima" is a lyrical riot (the line "cowboys on acid" will stick in your mind for days). "She Divines Water" and "Change Your Mind" are throwbacks to CVB's earlier days. The band never sounded better, playing tighter songs while remaining true to their ska/folk/reggae/punk roots. No, this album sold poorly because the world was (and, 10 years later, still is) just not ready for Camper Van Beethoven. Theirs is the music from a parallel universe.

This album shows how "alternative" bands from the Eighties were really great pop bands ignored by the hair-metal-adoring scourge of the time. Only a band like Led Zeppelin could place this many different styled songs with different textures on one album and make it work. ("Waka" sounds like an instrumental update of "When the Levee Breaks", "Devil Song" is like a breakneck visit to the Middle East ala Page, and "She Divines Water" is esoteric and accessible all at once.) Throughout, Jonathan Seagal's violin helps spice already flowery arrangements. The mix is loud and busy, but in a good way. The whole album is upbeat, which makes the ponderous and gloomy, yet still good, follow-up (Key Lime Pie) all the more puzzling. The group broke up after that one...

This Pre-Grunge Ecclectorockers' Finest!

Let me just say this once. OBRS was the best album of the 1980's. If you haven't heard it, I pity you. I really do, and you should wish you were never born onto this earth. From start to end, this thing is seething with maddening brilliance, spawning a brand of music I can only call gypsy-rock. The lyrics are about men with mono-brows, about strung-out cowboys...it doesn't matter what Lowry's singing, it'll be gnarly. GNARLY! Look, stop wasting my time and get the stupid thing.

I came across an audio tape of this album and remembered my father (who was much more open-minded and knowledgeable about music than I was) talking about this group enthusiastically, so I bought it. I was hooked immediately and will probably buy other recordings by Camper.

That about sums up the dumbfounded reaction that greeted Camper back in the day and still to this day (Tho, once I did read they were the "hot band" in Rolling Stone's 1988 "Hot Issue"...that may have cursed them). Camper quite simply perfected the art of describing a band's sound by combining 2 or more dissimilar bands and capping the metaphor with a lame expression like, "they sound like the minutemen hanginging out with Syd Barett-era Floyd, and yelling out their car window at kids in Metallica t-shirts" You just COULDN'T describe them. Not in a genre-friendly way certainly. That's why I love 'em today after being long-gone, That's why you should check this out and see for yourself if Camper piques your curiosity. PS, they also were known for covering Ringo Starr and Status Quo. Expect the unexpected.