Pretty Mess By This One Band

Grandaddy | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 23, 1996)
• Original Release Date: April 23, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Will Records
• ASIN: B0000030KP
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #282,001 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

GRANDADDY A Pretty Mess By this One Band (Rare 1995 US Will Records 7-track CD includes Away Birdies With Special Sounds Taster Peeano Kim You Bore Me To Death Pre-Merced Gentle Spike Resort and Egg Hit Jack Too picture sleeve! WIL041)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The rumblings of genius, April 29, 2004

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pretty Mess By This One Band (Audio CD)

Every great band starts on a foundation of not-great-but-good music. And so is Grandaddy's present sound built on "A Pretty Mess By This One Band," a psychedelic-acoustic collection of songs -- grittier and less polished, but still worth checking out.

The distant float-away "Away Birdies W/Special Sounds" is grounded by the constant guitar-strumming. Following it are some laid-back rockers ("Taster," the buzzing "Pre-Merced") and ethereal ballads (the piano-led "Peeano," the folky "Gentle Spike Resort"), wrapping up with the harmonica-rocker "Egg Hit and Jack Too."

Grandaddy was close, but not yet at their apex with these songs. They're rough and a little uncertain, like the band wasn't quite sure what was going to come next for them musically. But it was on this base that their vibrant indie-rock CDs of the present are set on, and if you listen, you can hear hints in songs like "Gentle Spike Resort" ("We'll get right on that/I'm sure it's just the thermostat...")

Certainly the post-grunge psychedelica shows plenty of range. There are folky acoustic guitars and buzzing electric ones, a gentle piano solo and what sounds like a harmonica. Normal rock, this ain't. But the music rises and falls in true Grandaddy style, and Jason Lytle's singsongy voice is in fine form here.

For fans of Grandaddy, "A Pretty Mess by This One Band" is a fun but not compelling collection of early Grandaddy. It contains little rumblings of genius, but they weren't quite there yet.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The tremblings of forthcoming genius..., March 20, 2003

By 

"sbrooks76" (Newark, De United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pretty Mess By This One Band (Audio CD)

I love Grandaddy, and you should, too. This album is a firm foundation upon which Sophtware Slump and Western Freeway were built. The distinct sound of the band is present in this early release. It forshadows the masterpiece Western Freeway the most, as it calls upon both electronica and traditional acoustic workings to paint an ethereal yet firmly grounded menage of sound. The cool and sometime subdued sound of Grandaddy is what makes them so appealing. Taster is a perfect example of a song being laid back but hard at the same time. It never quite reaches full speed but is powerful throughout with high-pitched vocals to keep us overly interested. I like this album, it makes me quite happy...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kings of the Post Grunge Genre, March 3, 2003

By 

A. Music Fan (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pretty Mess By This One Band (Audio CD)

I picked up this album after being turned on to "Software Slump" which is a 2000 release and was thrilled! This album is simply fantastic. The guitar hooks are basic but very catchy and the band has a quality that I haven't seen before.

Think of Pavement mixed with a trucker driving along I-99 (in Central California for those who do not live in the golden state) and you'll get what im talking about. Its not as sound effects oriented as Pavement and not as disonant as Sonic Youth and simply lies somewhere in between. I think this band has moved into a more record company oriented (or Pink Floyd) type of sound on Software Slump but think this album is a hallmark of Indie music that is an untouched gem.

A must buy if you are a fan of bands like Nirvana, Pavement, and Smashing Pumpkins but are looking for whats next for that type of sound.