The Real Underground

Tommy Keene | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 2, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Alias Records
• ASIN: B000001HUZ
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,091 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #57 in Music > Indie Music > Pop > Pop Rock
  • #59 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Jangle Pop
  • #98 in Music > Rock > Power Pop

Track Listings

1. Places That Are Gone

2. Nothing Happened Yesterday

3. Babyface

4. Back To Zero Now

5. When The Truth Is Found

6. Hey! Little Child

7. Something Got A Hold Of Me

8. The Real Underground

9. Misunderstood

10. That You Do

11. Mr. Roland

12. Back Again

13. Safe In The Light

14. People With Fast Cars Drive Fast

15. Love Is The Only Thing That Matters

16. Dull Afternoon

17. Tattoo

18. Don't Sleep In The Daytime

19. Hey Man

20. Andrea

See all 23 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A well-done and welcome retrospective., January 25, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Real Underground (Audio CD)

A well-done and welcome retrospective of a talented guitarist/singer/songwriter, The Real Underground boasts 23 tracks, all of which are currently out of print in their original packaging or previously unreleased. This is a great collection, but does not include anything from the two fine albums Keene made for Geffen, or the excellent tracks that company released on the Run Now EP. Regardless, fans will delight in having the outstanding Dolphin EP Places That Are Gone in its entirety, as well as singles and previously unreleased demos from 1982-92. Some of the fun in those unreleased tracks comes from great covers, such as the Who's "Tattoo" and the Flamin' Groovies' "Shake Some Action." - Jack Leaver, AllMusic.com

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 4 1/2 Stars: Excellent Collection, But Not A "Best Of", May 29, 2006

By 

D.C. Hanoy (Athens, Georgia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Real Underground (Audio CD)

Like so many other talented American power pop energizers, Tommy Keene has neither lost faith in the magic of brash/sensitive tuneful music or enjoyed any appreciable commercial success from it. A versatile guitarist, gifted songwriter and appealing singer, the Bethesda, Maryland native graduated from Washington DC's new wave Razz. He went solo at the start of the '80s and has been releasing sterling records on and off ever since. An underappreciated member of the Southeastern fraternity that numbers Matthew Sweet, Chris Stamey, Peter Holsapple, Don Dixon, Tim Lee, and Mitch Easter, Keene spent some '90s time on the road in Velvet Crush, but returned to his own career in mid-decade.

The Real Underground looks like a Keene best-of but isn't. The album draws from only two previous records, and is predominantly made up of otherwise unreleased tunes. In addition to all six songs from Places That Are Gone and the two studio numbers on Back Again (Try...), this 23-song collection includes top-quality leftovers of various vintages, including outtakes from the five-song Sleeping on a Roller Coaster. (The informative and enthusiastic liner notes don't precisely detail the material's sources, but given Keene's modest and steady approach over the years, it hardly matters.) Highlights include "Places That Are Gone," "The Real Underground," "Mr. Roland," "Dull Afternoon," "Hey Man," the Who's "Tattoo" (sung over solo guitar) and a precise full band re-creation of the Flamin Groovies' "Shake Some Action." - Ira Robbins/Jim Green, Trouser Press

0 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Pop Album, August 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Real Underground (Audio CD)

Just get it. Enough said