Customer Reviews

Out Come the Freaks

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4 star:		(1)
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This CD re-release of their 1981 album has been substantially enhanced by the addition of many previously unreleased tracks. It opens with their masterpiece Wheel Me Out, an eerie and evocative piece with addictive beats and strange interpolations by vocalist Liz Weiss.

The hit title track is a funky rap, Where Did You Heart Go? a mellow soulful ballad with great sax and Tell Me That I'm Dreaming a complex piece with many samples and unusual vocal arrangements.

Oh Mr Friction has a jerky rhythm, meandering saxophones and rap-style vocals, whilst Carry Me Back To Old Morocco has an innovative instrumental mix and fun lyrics, reminiscent of their James Brown song. It's An Attack with its delicious sax patterns is closer to a rock song but with a jazzy edge, whilst The Sky's Ablaze is a spoken poem with minimal instrumentation.

The additional tracks provide a wider perspective on the virtuosity of this unique band whose music remains hard to categorize. My favorites are Christmas Time In Motor City and the dub version of the title track.

The list of vocalists and instrumentalists on this innovative album is quite phenomenal. Was (Not Was) certainly contributed to making the early 1980s a very interesting period in popular music.

Just about as long as I have been a music fan the name of Was (Not Was) has been ringing in my head.Heavy exposure to the late 80's hit "Walk The Dinasaur" (which I like) and some of Don Was productions for other artists were my only real exposure to this band.When I realized it was time to end that cycle I decided to start from the beginning.Which I will tell anyone is a very good choice from the sound of things.
'Was (Not Was',orginally released in 1981 is wihout a doubt one of the most most inventive,subersive and original albums of the decade.The Was brothers are never afraid to take chances and borrow from funk,early hip-hop,pop,hard rock,avante gard jazz and spoken word poetry freely and without hesitation.Was (Not Was) was not (and isn't) comparable to anyone but if they were I would say THIS particular album sounds like Material and the Talking Heads in collaboration with Jack Kerouac or something.
"Out Come The Freaks" and the closing "Go...Now!" are the closest things to.....I guess conventional funk on this album,both heavily influenced by George Clinton in alot of ways.
It's pretty much free game from there with the catchy,bouncy
"Carry Me Back To Morrocco" and "It's An Attack" being in a class of their own.On "The Sky's Ablaze" the beat poetry influence comes into play with it's odd and stark spoken lyric.
What comes off here from the beginning is that Was (Not Was) is a musical outfit whose influence is nearly impossible to pin down and is often more in spirit.Most modern rock bands with a little funk claim them as a major influence somewhere but Was (Not Was) have a musical knack that's as hard to imitate as it is to cite as an influence.There albums like this are best heard and enjoyed for their own sake,not for whom it influenced.

I have this album on vinyl and when I found the cd I couldn't wait to get it...I played it straight away...Fantastic - the best purchase I've made for a long time!