Customer Reviews

Relaxing With the Heads

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of those albums that reminds me of the long gone summers of irresponsibility; a time when Spacemen 3 and Loop LPs were new imported gems and the truly great bands of Seattle had yet to be smeared with the "Grunge" label.
I rarely give five stars, much less write reviews, but I feel this is one selection that deserves mention. Tracks like "Quad," "Spliff Riff," and "Television" are my personal favorites. It's cool to have the 7" versions here as they are scarce as hen's teeth.
I can understand the previous reviewer's disappointment. If you're looking for a band channeling Hawkwind, you probably would be disappointed. But, I can sense that the Heads were inspired by Hawkwind as well as some of the above mentioned references. In fact, I believe one of their 7" singles that appears on this selection was recorded by a Hawkwind member or affiliate. They also tread the path of some contemporary groups like Wooden Shjips, A Place To Bury Strangers, The Black Angels, and Sun Dial, for example.
The Heads tend to be truly lo-fi in their recording approach. Most of their output, with some exceptions, were recorded with portastudios or a mini-disc recorder. Presumably, while jamming live.
So why five stars? I've been rocking this album for the last month or so with few breaks and sought out as much of their output as I could readily get my hands on. The personal nostalgia factor is probably another reason.
Also, "Relaxing With..." is good starting point for anyone interested in this band.

never heard of the heads before but bought this because they are described as psychedelic, sounding like early hawkwind, the pink fairies, and the detroit sound of the stooges and mc5. recorded in '96, they certainly are a good grunge-rock band (i wouldn't compare them with neither the stooges nor mc5 though), but there is not much psychedelia, nor hawkwind influence. if i was forced to compare them to hawkwind, i'd say it was nik turner's version with helios creed. but that is pushing it. the second bonus cd are 7" versions of the songs on the first cd. overall, a good grunge-guitar driven rock cd, though i'm not sure it needed a second disc of roughly the same songs. comes with thick informative booklet.