Remote Control

The Tubes | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 20, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: American Beat
• ASIN: B000PSJD1E
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #186,939 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tube-avision!, December 30, 2007

By 

Stephen Vivona (Tucson, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Remote Control (Audio CD)

This my favorite Tubes album. Of course, having seen the tour I am biased. WHile I would like to see this album re-mastered, it still sounds great. What a perfect concept album for a band called "The Tubes" since television has often been called 'the tube.' Others have reviewed the individual songs quite well so I will simply state that it really does come together because of the strengths of the individual members, the songwriting amd Todd Rundgren's production. Oh, and having seen the tour, I can guarantee that contrary to several reviewers, every song carries out the television theme. It was a masterpiece of staging and performance. When Fee commited suicide ("telecide") by throwing himself at a TV just as the explosion in the music occurs, their ingenuity was apparent. When looking at my photos from the night, I still marvel at the distorted face of Mr Waybill as he "wears" the TV on his head. Truly a great performance...the music on the CD holds up. It is a great album and helps clue us all in to the lunacy of our TV-based culture. Grab your "Remote Control" and "Turn Me On"...TV is not king...the TUBES are!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The TUBES Finest Hour ..., July 13, 2002

By 

Donald A. Bauer (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Remote Control (Audio CD)

Here are some of the The Tubes best written and performed songs: "Turn Me On," "I Want It All Now," "No Way Out," "Love's A Mystery (I Don't Understand)," and "Telecide." This recording is so uniformly strong from beginning to end that A&M Records included EVERY SONG in order (the entire record, in other words) when they issued the 2-CD Tubes compilation "Goin' Down The Tubes" in Europe several years ago. If you liked the way producer Todd Rundgren commandeered XTC's sometimes-elusive talents on their classic "SKYLARKING," chances are you will enjoy TR's meticulous production and song sequencing here on "REMOTE CONTROL."

Lead singer Fee Waybill never sounded better. Words like "synergy" and "brilliant" are often so overused as to become meaningless, particularly when used in the context of pop music. That aside, "REMOTE CONTROL" as performed by The Tubes and produced by Rundgren is a very special musical statement, one that truly displays synergystic properties. This long-overdue collaberation brought together a very talented band of musicians with a legendary rock producer who was able to effectively harness the band's abundant talents while downplaying their renouned lack of discipline in the studio. What ultimately emerges is a cohesive, thematic album built somewhat loosely around the general theme of television and its impact on society. A secondary theme about the elusive search for love is also tied in effectively throughout. In short, it ALL works.

Much as he did with XTC, The Psychedelic Furs, Meatloaf, Bad Religion and others, Rundgren gives The Tubes and their overall vocal sound and arrangements a significant upgrade. One of Rundgren's strengths as producer has always been an ability to chip in his own significant talents as songwriter, arranger, and vocalist in order to compensate for a particular band/client's most glaring shortcomings. Here he contributed a measure of all three, with an emphasis on songwriting help. He is co-credited as songwriter on 2 of the 11 songs here, and his disciplined influence is abundantly evident throughout. But make no mistake, this is The Tubes - at their very best.

Hopefully, someday soon "REMOTE CONTROL" will be the beneficiary of the kind of remastering treatment embellished upon other classic pop records in recent years. The sound here is good but unspectacular. Regardless, "REMOTE CONTROL" remains a classic pop/rock record.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Top-Ten Albums of All Time, July 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Remote Control (Audio CD)

Unlike the Tubes' uneven earlier and later works, this album, produced by Todd Rundgren, contains song after song of incredible, energetic pop-progressive-rock. Of the songs on this album, "Prime Time" received the most radio air play, but its mellow, bland, mainstream-pop sound is atypical of the other songs on this album, which sizzle with energy, funky rhythms, melody, harmony, and catchy chord changes that are so sadly missing in today's music. The lyrics often convey classic Tubes tongue-in-cheek humor as they ridicule American consumerism and TV. By far the best Tubes album, and one of the best rock & roll albums ever made.