Quicksilver Messenger Service

Quicksilver Messenger Service | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 9, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000002UTX
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #37,181 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Prior to this album's release, Quicksilver contributed two fine songs to the soundtrack of the film Revolution. Vocalist Dino Valente's subsequent drug bust and incarceration didn't prevent them from playing live, but it did delay the completion of their first album. Quicksilver's debut was consequently more mature than those of their late-1960s San Francisco Sound brethren--Big Brother, the Grateful Dead, and Jefferson Airplane. Quicksilver's first outing offers long instrumental passages and a communal attitude toward vocals and solos. Overall, however, QMS, while enjoyable and historically important, pales next to the band's innovative second release, Happy Trails. --James Swift

Product Description

Limited Edition Japanese "Mini Vinyl" CD, faithfully reproduced using original LP artwork including the inner sleeve. Features most recently mastered audio including bonus tracks where applicable. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This IS the "San Francisco Sound", June 17, 2002

By 

Douglas A. Greenberg (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Quicksilver Messenger Service (Audio CD)

When people think of "the San Francisco sound" that emerged on the west coast during the psychedelia-drenched late sixties, the bands that first come to mind are The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, and rightly so. There were other terrific groups that played the Fillmore, Winterland, and the Avalon and Carousel Ballrooms back in those halcyon days (daze?) however, and one of the very best was the Quicksilver Messenger Service. Whereas the Dead and the Airplane's first studio recordings were clearly subpar, Quicksilver took its time and its initial album, released in the spring of 1968, showed that patience pays. Despite the typically mediocre Capitol Records sound quality, this album was and remains a classic of progressive rock music.

The album includes six compositions that the band played regularly during its glory years (roughly 1966-1969), and the performances, while lacking some of the exuberance of live renditions, are inspired and technically excellent. The musical virtuosity of each band member is exhibited (though missing is Greg Elmore's drum solo in "Gold and Silver"), and particularly satisfying is the interplay between the group's two fine guitarists, John Cipollina and Gary Duncan.

The highlight of this album (for me, anyway) has always been the group's uplifting masterpiece, "The Fool." I confess that I needed a few repeated hearings back of this anthem back in the live performance days to truly appreciate its laid-back virtuosity, but it truly is a composition that stands the test of time. No, David Freiberg was not a superstar vocalist, but he got the job done and his rendition of the summer-of-love vocals in this lengthy track certainly add to its charm.

So why four stars instead of five? My one gripe is that a work of this enduring quality deserves to be remastered to improve the sound quality. It should be mentioned that Jefferson Airplane's marvelous "After Bathing At Baxter's" has been remastered several times (they finally got it right), and I should think that Quicksilver's work deserves the same loving attention. How about it, Capitol?

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Overlooked Gem, July 30, 2000

By 

Compton Roberts (Hamilton, Ontario, CANADA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Quicksilver Messenger Service (Audio CD)

The eponymous first album by Quicksilver Messenger Service promises a lot more than the band was able to live up to, not counting their second album, the half live/half studio acid masterpiece "Happy Trails". With a revolving personnel to rival The Byrds, perhaps consistency was beyond their grasp. Still, this is a magnificent debut, garnering terrific reviews in DownBeat magazine, the jazz-lover's bible! This album is a bit thin on songwriting, but that is not what this band was about. This was a jamming band, and arguably the only compelling one in San Francisco. Listen to the contemporaneous releases by their rivals, The Grateful Dead. The albums "The Grateful Dead" (1967) and "Live/Dead" (1969) can really test your patience. Quicksilver had not only the chops, particularly in the sinewy, slinky guitar styling of the late John Cipollina and underrated second guitarist (and main writer) Gary Duncan, but it knew how to keep an audience interested live. Apparently, the Dead didn't like to follow Quicksilver when it was in its prime. Songs like folk singer Hamilton Camp's "Pride of Man" is a standout, as is Duncan's lovely "Light Your Windows". The real meat of the album, especially for musicians are the two long instrumentals, "Gold and Silver" (kind of a "Take 5" for the acid crowd) and the giutar extravaganza "The Fool", which actually keeps you listening throughout its 12 minutes! Actually, if "Happy Trails" is indeed their classic contribution to rock history, this first album "Quicksilver Messenger Service" feels less dated and takes as many chances. Don't miss it.

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Period Piece That's Stood Up To Time, May 17, 2003

By 

Kevin L. Nenstiel "omnivore" (Kearney, Nebraska) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Quicksilver Messenger Service (Audio CD)

This album was released in the spring of 1968, a year that produced a great deal of music that's now very hard to listen to. Even the Grateful Dead didn't hit their stride until the "Live/Dead" album of 1969. The Doors were in a slump, the Beatles were at each other's throats, and even the Rolling Stones wouldn't break their British Invasion mold and come into their own until the next year, with "Let It Bleed."

There's a gleeful sloppiness to this album. At this time, many garage bands were producing material of their own (remember the Strangeloves' "I Want Candy"?), but there's something different about Quicksilver Messenger Service. Though this sounds like a garage album, it's a garage album by a band of extraordinary talent and discipline.

From the opening notes of "Pride of Man," a grossly overlooked anti-war anthem that more peace advocates today should utilize, we're bowled over by the skill and quality of the band. In particular, the guitar majesty of the late John Cippollina leaves any number of current lesser imitators in the dust. The songwriting leaves something to be desired on most tracks, but Quicksilver Messenger Service was never a songwriters' band. They have the chops to cover shaky lyrics, and it's difficult to weary of listening to them.

In a day when studio tricks have washed out the human qualities of most rock bands, this album sounds like there's real human beings, playing in concert, right here. The very elements that make it dated make it desirable from a music lover's point of view. Not everyone will like it--ir represents values that have now gone out of date--but for those who appreciate solid playing and honest artistry in their rock, this is an album to be treasured.