Customer Reviews

Out of Limits

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
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This was recorded decades before my time, but I discovered it after collecting all of the original LPs by The Ventures and still wanting more. The quality of songwritting and musicianship on this album is top notch, and because of the greater number of musicians the part writing and arrangements are much more diverse. Some of the arrangements have enough depth to be compared to classical music, or 'space-age' jazz, but always fun, surfy, and atmospheric. I find myself wondering if the modern french group 'Air' were influenced by this album. For classic rock-instrumental fans, or fans of 50's sci-fi films, I cannot recommend this album strongly enough; I, myself love it.

- Just as an additional note, at this time Amazon's lowest pice for this is $39.99, which is completely unreasonable for any record. The album is available from iTunes for download for $9.90. Don't let collectors' prices deter you from this wonderful album!

The Marketts weren't a real group, they were a bunch of L.A. session musicians assembled by producer Joe Saraceno. He created the "group" to capitalize on the surf music craze. Their biggest success was the #3 hit "Out of Limits", which is one of the all-time great surf records. This album was released in response to that success. It is a decent surf album, although none of the other tunes here are nearly as good as "Out of Limits". The CD adds 3 bonus tracks, which were all non-hit single released after "Out of Limits".

The title track of this album had a brief fling on the Top 20's charts in 1964. The "Marketts" weren't really a group, but rather a fluid collection of Los Angeles session musicians, working under the direction of producer Joe Saraceno. This album is far and away their most successful work and this CD reissue is a welcome replacement for the vinyl copy I long ago wore out by playing.

The music is instrumental rock, mostly stuff in a Twilight Zone theme-meets-surf vein. The CD adds three bonus tracks, other singles of theirs from about the same, although the group's other (minor) hits, "Surfer's Stomp" and "Batman Theme, " are not included.

This was and is lightweight, fun music, nothing serious about this stuff at all. Typical Top 40 stuff--tracks of 2-2:30 in length, lots of guitars with plently of 'surfy' reverb. What's different here is the number of musicians--lots more than the 4-5 that are typical and not all the tracks are really surf numbers at all, tho' they get that kind of treatment. Oh, and the quality of the musicianship is very high.

Obscure it may be but it's a fun bit of music. Get it and return to the early 60's time when instrumental rock was strong and Top40 AM radio was King!

The Marketts were a group of Hollywood-based studio musicians that had a constantly changing roster. Their biggest hit, and the title of this 1964 WARNER BROS. album, OUT OF LIMITS (W/WS 1537) peaked at #3 on Billboard's pop chart. The album was their best-seller, rising to #37 on Billboard's 200 album chart. Original stereo pressings are on that company's burnished gold label, with the slate gray label used for mono discs.

"Out of Limits" was originally called "Outer Limits" as an homage to the sci-fi TV series. Despite their otherworlly titles, an eerie and extensively used glissando-pitched organ, and WB's claims that these were "Space Age" tunes, this set is best described as surf music, but played by an odd combination of instruments, including English horn, echo-dripping castanets, triangle and the standard guitar-bass-drums configuration.

Their hit song figures heavily here: at least three other tracks are derivative of "Out of Limits." Audio quality, especially on the stereo LPs, is just superb. In that era, Warner's had arguably the best sound on vinyl.

SIDE ONE

[2:06] Out of Limits

[2:11] Love 1985

[1:58] Collision Course

[2:12] Hyper-Space

[2:06] Other Limits

[2:09] Bell Star

SIDE TWO

[2:23] Twilight City

[2:05] Borealis

[2:19] Bella Delena

[1:58] Limits Beyond

[2:03] Saturn

[2:18] Re-Entry

TOTAL TIME: 25:48

I bought the vinyl LP of this album when it was first released in 1964 and played it until the grooves wore out. Yes, the Marketts were created to capitalize on the Ventures-style "surf music" but what they did with their smash hit "Out of Limits" was take surf music out into space, like the contemporary hit 'Telstar' by the Tornados. If you like this style of music you'll find the Marketts spacey versions were unique and some of the best done.

What I didn't realize until years later was that this was a very early 'concept album' done before the concept of concept albums became the fashion. If you're unsure about what a concept album is, that's because nobody really does them much anymore. But think of 'Tommy' by The Who for a really obvious example. Anyway, this concept album opens with an unmistakable blast off in their chart hit 'Out of Limits"). Then each successive song tends to drift further out from 'standard' surf music, until the final song 'Re-Entry' which brings you back to earth again. OK... maybe I'm stretching the concept thing a bit, but that's the kind of effect playing this album had on me way back then. It was a real trip. Your mileage may vary, but it's definitely worth a test flight.

It's a shame the CD is currently out of print, but the vinyl can still be had (strangely enough) and you can always download it in MP3 -- which is better than going without, after all -- and the digitization available here seems to be fairly good quality.

The Marketts were formed in 1961 by Michael Z. Gordon in Los Angeles, California. Originally spelled, "Mar-kets", Gordon penned and co-produced their first release, "Surfer's Stomp" (under the pseudonym Michael Daughtry), which became an instant national hit for Gordon and his group. Their first song was released on Union Records, but they were immediately signed by Al Bennet, president of Liberty Records, and came through with another national surfing hit, "Balboa Blue".

The group then attracted the attention of Warner Brothers Records which signed them to a long-term contract with co-producer, Joe Saraceno. Gordon then composed their first release on WB Records, "Outer Limits", (later changed to "Out Of Limits"), which soared to the top of the charts and earned the group their first BMI Award for instrumental of the year. The record was so successful that the song has been used in television and films including, "Pulp Fiction" (1994), Saturday Night Live, (1975), "The Name Of The Game Is Kill" (1968), "Slayground" (1983, "The Outsiders" (1983, Mafioso: The Father, The Son (2004) and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

I bought the vinyl LP of this album when it was first released in 1964 and played it until the grooves wore out. Yes, the Marketts were created to capitalize on the Ventures-style "surf music" but what they did was surfing in space, like the contemporary hit 'Telstar' by the Tornados. If you like this style of music there's no question that the Marketts did a spacey version that was unique. The samples of each song on this Amazon page listing do a better job than usual of covering the wide range of the songs, so check them out.

It's a shame the CD is currently out of print, but the vinyl can still be had (strangely enough) and you can always download it in MP3 (which is better than going without, after all :)

What I didn't realize until decades later was that this was a 'concept album' done before the concept of concept albums became the rage. If you don't know what a concept album is, that's because nobody really does them much anymore. But think of 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' for a really obvious example. Anyway, this concept album opens with a blast off into outer space with their chart hit 'Out of Limits" (their answer to Telstar' and a sly reference to the new 1963 sci-fi TV series). After the blast off, each successive song is a different journey, tending to get further and further out from standard surf music, until the final song 'Re-Entry' which brings us back to earth again. OK, maybe I'm stretching that concept thing a bit, but that's the kind of effect playing the album had on me way back then. Your mileage may vary, but if you like this kind of thing, it's definitely worth a test flight.

THE MARKETTS TURNED THE VERY FAMOUS 60'S TV THEME SONG OF "THE OUTER LIMITS" INTO A POPULAR DANCE HIT! THE MARKETTS HAD A DISTINCTIVE SOUND THAT DISTINGUISHED THEM FROM OTHER CALIFORNIA SO-CALLED "GARAGE BANDS".THIS C.D. IS JUST ONE OF THE ALBUMS THAT WERE POPULAR BY THEM IN THOSE DAYS.THEY CREATED THE FAMOUS "SURFER'S STOMP" DANCE CRAZE.ANOTHER GREAT SONG ,NOT IN THIS C.D., IS "BALBOA BLUE" A BIG #1 HIT FOR THIS BAND, HERE IN CALIFORNIA.THIS C.D. IS FOR THE COMPLETE COLLECTOR. IF NOT, GO FOR THEIR GREATEST HITS!BUY IT!!RETURN TO THE DAYS OF SUN AND SURF IN CALIFORNIA.NO DRUGS JUST PURE MUSIC HIGH!