Customer Reviews

In Search of

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This record can just be described in one word. Perfect. It has everything that a ultimate stoner record should have; fuzzed-out guitars and bass, excelent drumming, lyrics about cars and the space and at last the hooks. It is almost unbelievable that a band can be so melodical and yet so extremely heavy. The spirit of Black Sabbath is easily found in here in the catchy riffs but there is no rip-offs to see at all. The sound is too heavy and there is a sort of fuzzed garage-feeling in here that is not to be found in any sabbath-record. Singer Scott Hill's voice is also one of the things that i love with this record. It feels like it's almost used as an instrument because of the contrast with the light touch in the background compared to the huge fuzzed-out distortion wall. Clean vocals in the background is nowadays almost a must in a stoner band and that is only one proof of how much Fu Manchu affected the modern stoner.
To sum up i just wanted to say that this is one of my favourite albums of all time and one of very few CD's in a collection of nearly 500 records that don't include a single weak song. Persons concentrated on the lysics will maybe find them disappointing when they only about driving fast and to get lost in space. but for me it's just another thing that sets the feelings when you are listening to them. the lysics are not supposed to be about changing the world, only to walk around careless in california and think careless thoughts. So...here is my personal rating, song by song.

1. Regal Begal - 9/10

Great opening track, sets the mood with a catchy and classic riff. short song but very good.

2. Missing Link - 9/10

Another ultra-heavy but yet catchy riff. It is also packed with great guitar solos. One of the most memorable song on the record.

3. Alphalt Risin' - 10/10

Faster than the two first songs and the second best on the entire record. Excelent solos and a riff that almost makes me dance.

4. Neptune's Convoy - 9/10

Slow and spaced-out song with a calm bass-line in the verses that leads to a slow but very heavy chorus. in the end of the song, they speed up the tempo to one of the cathiest pieces of stoner of all time.

5. Redline - 8/10

Fast and short song with a great riff. maybe feels like a sort of filler but a very good one though.

6. Cyclone Launch - 9/10

The name fits the song perfectly. I can imagine that be blown away by a cyclone should hve the same effect as the extremely heavy intro riff. overall a great song with nice solos.

7. Strato-Streak - 10/10

The best song on the records. It has everything that a rock tune should have; the solos, great and heavy riffs, psychadelic passages and lysics about the space(hehe). Completely mindblowing.

8. Solid Hex - 9/10

Also a very good and one of the faster songs, amongst the best on the record. very simple but it is short so it doesn't gets boring.

9. The Falcon Has Landed - 9/10

The heaviest and overall the slowest song on the album, almost sludgy. A real mind-crusher!

10 - Seahag - 7/10

If I have to pick a song that is my least-favourite, it should by this one. not that it isn't good...it is simply not as good as the other songs on here.

11. The Bargain - 8/10

A really cool tune. there is no distortion on here, just spaced out rythms and solos. The reason why I put a eight on it is the fact that it doesn't really seems to fit in here.

12. Supershooter - 9/10

A song in the same style as The Falcon Has Landed with a slow and sludgy riff. This song is a bit faster though.

An essential stoner record in the class of Monster Magnet's "Spine of God", Orange Goblin's "The Big Black", Atomic Bitchwax' self titles album and Acid King's "Busse Woods"!!!

i bought it for the track strato-streak and you should too. this has to be the best album released since the demise of sabbath.

Ok, thanks, Rock n'roll can still be thrilling on XXI century.
Here's Fu Manchu.
This album could be called In search of Tony Iommi or stuff like that. But that's great, putting 70's hard rock into something fresh, raw and garage fuzz.
another great aspect is: You can put girls and cars on the cover of an album and do not seem like rubbish poser crap like Motley crue, Bon Jovi and so on.
It's a great option for those like me who can't stand nü metal bands or bubblegum hampty dampty punk bands, no to mention, those rappers that consider themselves genuine disciples of Al Capone or 2 Pac.
There's no much to think or say about it. The first riffs from Regal Begal makes you wanna bang your head. Fu Manchu made a landmark to stoner rock, and In Search of made them cult, and is quit sure they will never be like Queens of The Stone Age, that had developed a more accurated and "clean", sound. But, once again this ain't no negative aspect. Fu Manchu get all the credits for this ultra dynamic sound as you can check in: regal Begal, Asphalt Risin' The Falcon has Landed (those echoes reminds me of Celtic Frost!!!)
In fact, a good option for those about to rock down the highway.

Fu Manchu have really changed their style from album to album, and this one shows them exploring sludge metal, in the vein of White Zombie or Black Sabbath. They have some really cool edgy riffs in songs like Asphalt Risin' or Regal Begal, or they can slow down a ton in songs like Neptune's Convoy or The Falcon Has Landed. There are also still the same grooves from before, in songs like Redline, Cyclone Launch, and solid Hex. Every instrument is really produced coolly, especially the guitars and the bass, with extra fuzz, a great element. My fav songs here are Regal Begal, Redline, Supershooter, and Asphalt Risin'. Fu Manchu are amazing live, too, and really rock hard. If you're into this, check out Blue Oyster Cult, or Nebula.

If you like popular stuff like Limp Bizkit or Metallica, you might not "get" Fu Manchu. They bring raw, crunching guitar riffs with very orinal vocals. Eddie Glass is one of the top guitarists out there- period, and this was his last Fu Manchu album before leaving for the less than stellar (no pun intended) Nebula. Lead vocalist Scott Hill won't dazzle anyone with his voice, but he fits the music perfectly. Most songs (on all Fu albums) involve some combination of cars, UFO's (no I'm not kidding) and drugs, although he never forces this issue.

"In Search of..." falls somewhere in the middle of the Fu Manchu collection. While some songs like Asphalt Risin' and especially Seahag are near stoner rock perfection, others are real duds. Check out "Daredevil" and "King of the Road" for their 5 star efforts. If you get into Fu Manchu's music, though, you will probably have to get them all!

What gives IN SEARCH OF... the edge over Fu Manchu's more recent THE ACTION IS GO is twofold: ACTION doesn't have the Page-ish guitar of Eddie Glass (now of Nebula) or the energetic drumming of Ruben Romano (also presently in Nebula). Also, ACTION's production is a little too modern: what makes IN SEARCH OF... fantastic is its blurred, garage-rock edge. No, no, no... this isn't a tinny-sounding record, just massive guitars and basses threatening to demolish your woofers if you were to gently bump the volume northward. Whoever wrote that this was a great driving record speaks the truth. If you play this album full-blast in your car while waiting for a green light, cracks will form in the asphalt beneath your tires as you idle.

At last check, Fu Manchu were still a mesmerizing band, (singer Scott Hill and bassist Brad Davis since joined by guitarist Bob Balch and drummer Brant Bjork - formerly of Kyuss) but they've dropped a lot of the fuzzbomb fury for a straight-ahead boogie fever. If THE ACTION IS GO was the best '70s album of 1997, then IN SEARCH OF... is the greatest rock album of 1969 to ever be recorded this decade.

ALSO HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Kyuss's "Sky Valley" and Mudhoney's "Mudhoney."

In Search of...takes you through a grinder where you come out hamburger. 70's crunch rock for those that can't get enough and this one won't let you down. If you have ever said to yourself "I wish someone would do a super heavy type 70's album and not stray to far" then you're in luck and Fu Manchu has granted your wish. They would have to improve human hearing to get any heavier than this. Whole heartedly recommended for any 70's rock fan and not recommended for anybody else.

One of THE greatest heavy rock albums of the past twenty years. The best elements of late 60's-early 70's heavy rocked are beefed up , with none of the glossy, cheezwhiz of 80's metal in site. I have turned a lot of people on to this that don't normally like heavy music. Far out, man.

...burning rubber
hook filled, heavy, and i mean the cowbell in cyclone launch rules..
if you havent checked out fu manchu yet..*SMACK UPSIDE YOUR HEAD*
what are you waiting for!?....but anyway....this is the best place to start..not their best..but a great starter.

I first heard about this album back in 1996 while perusing a RIP magazine in my two-room cabin on the edge of a Kenyan rain forest. I believe the article was entitled `Umpteen Classic Riffs' and featured a detailed interview with Scott Hill and the other members of Fu Manchu discussing their new album, In Search Of. Based on what I learned from reading the article, these guys obviously played some mean guitar and I made a mental note to get my hands on this album in the future (i.e. once I returned home to the U.S.A.).

I didn't end up getting back to the States for nearly another year and a half, but I did eventually come to possess this classic slice of the Chu. Nobody, and I mean nobody, working the music scene today delivers monster riffs like Fu Manchu. Put it in your stereo and you'll be transported to the beaches of Southern California, cruising the strip in your custom van, surfboards tied to the roof. Hang with the Chu and you'll suddenly become effortlessly cool. The guys in the neighborhood will be wishing they had your van, the girls will be wanting to spend time with you in the back of it. It's just that easy.

I mean, is there anyone out there who can resist the cool bass break in the leadoff cut (the Three's Company-referencing "Regal Beagle") or the headbanging guitars in "Asphalt Risin" and "Seahag"? The guitar leads on this album are absolutely smokin', some of the best I've ever heard. As with most Fu Manchu albums, however, not every song on In Search Of is a winner. Still, most songs are stunning enough to make this one of the best stoner-rock albums of all time. I spent a year and a half living in a cabin with no electricity waiting to get my hands on this one and you'd better believe it was worth the wait. If stoner rock and/or Gigantopithecus-sized riffs are things that make you happy, In Search Of just has to be in your collection.