Playing With Fire

Spacemen 3 | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 17, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Taang Records
• ASIN: B000000EUD
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,204 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #1 in Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > British Alternative
  • #35 in Music > Alternative Rock > British Alternative > General

Track Listings

1. Honey [Demo Version]

2. Come Down Softly to My Soul

3. How Does It Feel?

4. I Believe It

5. Revolution

6. Let Me Down Gently

7. So Hot (Wash Away All of My Tears)

8. Suicide

9. Lord Can You Hear Me?

10. Suicide [Live]

11. Repeater (How Does It Feel) [Live]

12. Che

13. May the Circle Be Unbroken

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Album, August 14, 2002

By 

J. Coleman "Hi-Fi Enthusiast" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Playing With Fire (Audio CD)

This is the second of the Spacemen 3 discs I picked up and I like it even better than the first. The first was The Perfect Prescription, which is unbelievable. Both albums are phenomenal choices for everything from late-night listening to all-out rockin'. The tracks range from dreamy psychedelic wanderings (Honey, How Does It Feel, So Hot) to feedback-laden assaults (Suicide, Revolution). I've seen a lot of comparisons to the Velvet Underground in the reviews and I have to agree. It's got a very British garage-band minimalistic sound mixed in with incredible post-production and downright guitar genius.

I'm a huge fan of Spiritualized and I am totally enjoying digging into the band's roots. I've also been checking out the other post-Spacemen outfits: Reverberation, Spectrum/E.A.R., Sonic Boom, and have liked all of it so far.

This album is definitely worth buying.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars if you already have the 1994 Taang! reissue of "Playing With Fire", then you really don't need this, July 20, 2000

By 

Dave "missing person" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Playing With Fire (Audio CD)

This IS nice reissue, but disappointing. It's 2 CDs--the first CD has the exact same track listing as the excellently-done Taang! reissue of "Playing With Fire", while the second disc brings together some alternate takes/ demos in very lousy sound quality. Although this is a fine addition to the collection of a diehard Spacemen 3 fan, you're really not missing out on anything by not owning disc 2. More than anything, the demos illustrate how crucial the execution factor is to this music, & to put it simply, they don't stand a chance against the originals, and again, the sound quality is really subpar. They were amazing at pulling their tracks off on record, making them one of the all time great bands. There seems to have been a bit of revisionism, with some fans saying their demos often surpassed the original versions (e.g. on "Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To") which goes right over my head--the demos tend to sound punchless opposed to the originals, but then again, if those fans are all a bunch of stoners who don't want to be jolted, maybe it makes more sense.

But back to this release. I don't really have too hard of feelings about this 2 disc set--after all, we ARE talking about Spacemen 3 here. But the single disc Taang! version is a much better value & also has a brief quote from Sonic Boom missing here. This disc also may understandably get people thinking, "Why are they releasing a watered-down version of this still available album instead of reissuing 'Recurring'?"

(Note: Disc 2 contains a demo version of "Anyway That You Want Me", a Troggs remake that was Spiritualized's debut single.)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's very beautiful for your ears, September 25, 2000

By 

J. Rossi (Downers Grove, IL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Playing With Fire (Audio CD)

Playing with Fire steps away from Spacemen 3's distortion- and reverb-soaked early albums and instead takes on a more orchestral feel. With a good mix of covers and originals, loud (on a few) and soft, Spacemen 3 expanded their M.O. on this album and lay groundwork for the current 'explosion' of orchestral-pop records. Soothing and brilliant, Playing with Fire has a nearly timeless quality that you will appreciate now and years from now.