Customer Reviews

Radios Appear W/ Bonus Disc

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
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Originally released in '77 this album by Australian legends still sounds fresh and vital in '96 . Original Aussie DIY guys that continue to influence...Birdman in their prime could and did blow all those "punk" bands off of the stage. Meticulously remastered and mixed from the original masters the album sounds better than ever.Imagine an amalgamation of The MC 5, The Stooges, The Doors, Blue Oyster Cult and various sixties garage bands. That was Radio Birdman. This reissue contains the original overseas version of their album appended with songs that appeared only on the original Aussie album.Hear them crush the Stooges "TV Eye". The wonderful "What Gives" influenced by The Sonic Rendezvous Band. The hillarious Hawaii 5-0 sendup "Aloha Steve & Danno." The moody "Man With Golden Helmet" suggests classic BOC. "Hit Them Again" is a wah workout cowritten with ex-Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton. The crazy Detroit surf of "Hand of Law" and the barely controlled frenzy of "Descent Into The Maelstrom" satisfy. If you dig this be sure to check out gutarist Deniz Tek's solo stuff & singer Rob Younger's New Christs for more searing rock & roll. Dodge Main with Detroit legends Wayne Kramer and Scott Morgan. Also see New Race (The Band). The song of the same name was rerecorded by teen rockers Silverchair with the help of Deniz Tek.

Great reissue of this truly outstanding record. From the Hawaii 5-0 tribute "Aloha Steve and Danno" (featuring possibly one of the coolest rock guitar leads ever) to the ripping cover of the 13th Floor Elevators' "You're Gonna Miss Me", this album is one of the greatest rock records of all time, and the CD sounds great. BUY THIS...IT ROCKS!!!!!!!

When I was a kid, my older brother had this album on vinyl. He still has it and won't sell it. I had never heard of the Stooges or MC5, but these guys beat the hell out of Kiss. This was the most amazing album I had ever heard. To this day, I never meet anyone who knows who they are. And when I play it for anyone, they look at me like I'm crazy.
So many people on the net now claim to know Radio Birdman as some great punk godfathers. I knew nothing of punk at the time I first heard Radio Birdman. I later got into The Sex Pistols and then Suicidal Tendencies blew me away a few years later. But Radios Appear just rocked. It never held back any punches.
For a few years in the 90s I searched for this album at those Record & Tape Expos that roll through your town every year. Very rarely I would find someone who had heard of the album, but didn't have it. Luckily it was remastered and released on CD and everyone now has a chance to listen as two guitars weave and scream through these songs, each finding its own path while complimenting the other.
As a side note...kudos to Silverchair for covering New Race.

If you like The Stooges and The MC5 pay the money and buy this collection of power pop from Sydney. You won't be disappointed I promise you!

I can't for the life of me understand how ANYONE could find this album anything less than incredible. Okay, they resequenced it, so you will need to either program your player to play it in the proper order for a better listening experience, or else burn a back-up copy with these songs in their original order: What Gives?,Non-Stop Girls,Do the Pop, Man With Golden Helmet, Descent Into the Maelstrom, New race, Aloha Steve and Danno, Anglo Girl Desire, Murder City Nights,You're Gonna Miss Me, Hand Of Law, and Hit Them Again; with the remaining as however you choose.
The re-sequencing was a poor idea, it took away from the New Race album also (the First and The Last).
The re-mastering is superb; the sound is INCREDIBLE; I cannot imagine it sounding any better.
This is a better deal than getting "the Essential" CD.
An article on them in Mojo shortly after this came out, pointed out how that disc left off two completely essential tracks, Monday Morning Gunk, and their cover of You're Gonna Miss me, the quintessential version.

Radio Birdman, influenced by the 'detroit sound' (lead guitarist SUPREME Deniz Tek is originally from Ann Arbor; that's Sonic Smith's guitar he's holding right bthere on the cover.) Influenced by the sounds of the Stooges and the MC5 (as mentioned in 'Do the Pop"), as well as surf music, Dylan (the major influence on the lyrics of man With Golden Helmet), The Doors (the major sound influence on that sole song!), Blue Oyster Cult (not too much); primarily, this is as 'high-energy' sounding as rock gets, practically!
What Gives? is fantastic, a pleading love song with poetic lyrics, with the vocal phrasing absolutely brilliant; on lines like:

I'd do anything that I could
I'd go running out in the frozen woods
For You

Rob Younger knew Exactly when to sound vulnerable and pleading (first line) and forceful (the next line[s])
Denis Tek was such a fantastic guitarist in his heyday, that one can only imagine how the Stones wouldve been if he had tried out to replace Mick Taylor; thank goodness he didn't, for then we wouldn't have this album that stands head and shoulders above anything the Rolling Stones ever DID!

New Race is possibly the most exciting song on here, with its "yeah-Hup!" chant; often mistaken as a fascist statement due to its title, and the Blue Oyster Cult-influenced symbol armbands they wore,in fact it is simply a song against circular time, with a chant taken from an R. Crumb cartoon.

Aloha Steve and Danno is utterly brilliant, with its intro of waves taken from a vinyl copy of Quadrophenia, driving melody, lyrical tribute to Hawaii Five-0's Steve McGarrett, and a guitar break with its theme song! Only minor gripe: that the superior '88 re-mix, availbale seemingly only on the 7" in the Under the Ashes box set, not used, or availble on disc anywhere!

You're Gonna Miss me, the Thirteenth Floor Elevators classic, certainly one of the greatest songs from the 60's, and one of, if not THE best kiss-off song EVER written,is given the ultimate versuion here, surpassing both the Spades' original and The Thirteenth Floor Elevators', which is nothing short of a phenomenal accomplishment.

Monday Morning gunk is a FanTASTIC song with an intro that's Gimme Shelter played backwards, followed by a driving second intro straight out of the Beach Boys "Do It Again", and then tumbles into an exciting straightforward rocker, excellent.

And lastly, Descent Into the Maelstrom. Okay, maybe THIS is the most exciting the album gets; it simply takes a while for one to realize it, it's not as instantly accessible as say, What Gives?,New Race, Aloha...or Do the Pop, Murder City Nights...
From the opening drum sound (which is simply MONSTROUS!), and the screams by the once-supreme voice of Rob Younger in his prime, this tale, based on an Edgar Allen Poe story (this band was extremely literate, to put it MILDLY) of nearly drowning, with the most impressive leads on the entire album, a real 'tour-de-force' for Deniz Tek (unbelievable), with serious use of the most fantastic dynamics, and the tension-and-release incredible; when Rob sings "alive", you really FEEL IT!!!
Unbelievable.

I cannot recommend this album, in any version avaible, enough. I chose to review this one, because it's the one I have! but surely the most recent has the same tracks, will provide the same thrill. (although the second bonus disc, with the 'Burn My Eye' E.P. --and a short radio ad-- may be missing).

This is better than anything The Saints did, and I love their first two albums.

This is more exciting than any AC/DC, and I love them too! (There is room for everything in your life! to listen to).

Recommended for anybody who's a fan or real rock and roll, such as...hard to really compare these guys to anyone, despite who influenced them.
The Stooges, MC5, you name it, they Really don't sound like anyone else.
High-energy with INCREDIBLE guitars, primarily Deniz Tek, but Chris 'Klondike' Masuak shouldn't be overlooked. And Rob Younger was an incredible singer.
Thier second album, Living Eyes, is fine but nowhere near as great as this; their live E.P., whose best tracks are on the Essential Collection (get that after this if this thrills you; it should, I hope!); their two reunion CDs, Riualism is a fine live-in-the-radio-station effort, and their latest one, Zeno Beach is a must to be avoided, it's AWFUL.
The New Race CD "The First and The Last" is also essential rock and roll, one of the best live albums ever in the genre. They comprised most of Radio Birdman, but with Ron Asheton of The Stooges on second guitar, and Dennis "Machine Gun" Thompson of the MC5 on drums. The Visitors (Deniz's Birdman after their breakup,with a different singer essentially) are worth checking out also. And The New Christs' Another Sin is an incredible song.
But here's where to start.

A must for ALL fans of high-energy rock and roll, and incredible guitarists.

Some strangely can't seem to grasp the greatness this band contained; but for those who do get it, you will be HOOKED on this album like few others.

One of the greatest albums of all-time.

After loving this band for 10yrs in 1996 I finally got to see them live.Only 20 yrs after there home the Oxford Funhouse, where they rocked the sidewalk outside once a week with there energy.
The Playroom was packed from wall to wall.The Birdman rocked ths place silly sounding better than they did 20yrs before hand.No body who went to that gig will ever forget.
Birdman becomes engrained in you the hypnotic guitar riffs and the lyrics witch you get to choose what they mean.People may critisize them, its a pity they don't understand.The surfin sound from Oz, legends.

I am a die-hard "Birdman" fan, and this is the best this album's ever sounded! Redeye Records did an awesome remastering job with this one. This one's out of print now, but if you see a copy of it buy it immediately. The 2002 Citadel Records copy sounds horrible in comparison.

Satisfying album for a fan of the late-seventies punk sound. Lots of great guitar leads. The band sounds like surfers at times; at others like the Buzzcocks. Recommended.

After years of hearing how great and aggressive this particular "classic" punk rock album was, I plunked down 20 bucks and bought the thing. All I can say is while the band's heart is in the right place (nice lads trying to approximate an Aussie Iggy and the Stooges/Doors hybrid), their music doesn't quite cut the mustard. The playing is speedy enough, but it lacks the pure, nasty crunch of classic Ig. In fact, it's a little too cleanly played (like college kids trying to ape Robert Johnson on expensive guitars). "Radios Appear" isn't bad, but there's not anything here that hasn't been done better elsewhere (i.e. Pink Fairies). For true Aussie raunch and roll, check out Rose Tattoo's "Assault and Battery" or the Saints' "(I'm) Stranded" and bypass this sincere, but toothless effort.