Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Fudge rocked!, January 28, 2005
I've been a fan of the Fudge for decades now. They were an amazing psychedelic cover band and this album is a good overview of four of their early LPs.
My biggest disappointment, however, is that it contains the 45 single edit of "You Keep Me Hanging On", which edits the 1st half of the 2nd verse to the 2nd half of the 3rd verse, screwing up the lyrics terribly. Why this edit was ever made in the first place is a mystery to me, and why it has been perpetuated onto this collection is a mystery as well: the full-length track could have easily fit onto this CD.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
good overview but incomplete, October 26, 2004
this compilation is, overall, a pretty decent introduction to vanilla fudge, a 60's long island/n.y.c. band that specialized in long (and admittedly sometimes pompous and ponderous) covers of hits of the era. vanilla fudge are sometimes described as one of the founders of heavy metal, and they were a major influence on early deep purple, but although they do play loud at times it is probably more accurate to think of them as somewhat ' progressive'. they also sometimes sound a little bit like fellow long islanders the rascals , albeit with the addition of volume. the fudge, especially the rythym section of tim bogert and carmine appice, were certainly fine players. this collection includes their rendition of the supremes' ' you keep me hangin' on". the fudge slow the number down and present a fine psychedelicized, slightly creepy version of the number that was deservedly a big hit in 1967-68. take me for a little while was another top 40 hit i don't care for their take of donovan's season of the witch, but i like their attempt at some velvet morning, a weird nancy sinatra/ lee hazlewood song. i also enjoy the original track where is my mind?, but wish that the band's 1970 cover of the theme from the film the thomas crown affair , windmills of your mind, and their fantastic original the sky cried/ when i was a boy, which is probably their best original composition were also included in this set.overall, the fudge were a hit or miss affair, but they definitely had their moments. this compilation is ultimately a decent though flawed overview of their original career, which lasted for 5 albums. though vanilla fudge are perhaps, with the exception of their big hit single, not remembered today, all of their albums did hit the top 40. like iron butterfly and others, in some ways vanilla fudge are underrated and often scorned by critics after their breakup, and few realize just how big those bands were in their day. i've heard that the fudge have reformed recently.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
DA-DADA-DA-DA-DADA-DA-DA-DADA-DA-DA-DA-DAAHHH!!!, April 6, 2007
I remember seeing the Fudge on Ed Sullivan performing YKMHO and SHOTGUN and it blew my mind (to a teenaged guy, loud and heavy was reason enough alone). However, these guys were far better than Blue Cheer or Iron Butterfly - more in the range of early Deep Purple (who - inspired by the fudge, began to also perform "slowed down" versions of other people's songs - "Help" comes to mind). I read in the great book "Strange Brew" that when the Fudge played London, everyone, including the Beatles, Beck and Clapton were in the audience. In fact, Bogart and Appice went on to form the great power trio BBA with the Beckster himself!! Sure, Vanilla Fudge was over the top. But, can you honestly say that Sgt. Pepper wasn't? If you like your music heavy, the Fudge are great. Overdriven B3 organ, fuzzed out 335 and a monster drum kit. Tim Bogert, with his vintage precision was one of the best heavy bass players of his generation, right up there with Felix Papallardi and Jack Bruce. This collection includes pretty well everything you would want from them. Unfortunately their original albums were a bit pretentious (one disc attempting to cover the history of western music - from Beethoven to Glenn Miller and on). You can also forget the rumors that this band was somehow a creation of mafia bosses. Who cares? Shotgun really rocks and You Keep Me Hangin' On is, to my ears, as creative and cool as the original. Vanilla Fudge were obviously influenced by Long Island bands like the Rascals and particularly the Vagrants (who also did a R&B cover - Respect). I would have loved to have seen the Fudge during their prime in NYC!! Check out this CD. Musically these guys are at the top of their game. ONE MAJOR PROBLEM, however. Most of these cuts are edited versions. I prefer the longer, complete performances. But for that, you must purchase the original alboms on CD. However, for a collection, you will NEVER find a heavier dose of in your face psychedelic hard rock music. VOLUME ON TEN, PHASERS ON STUN, PREPARE FOR WARP SPEED SCOTTY!!
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by Vanilla Fudge 
