Customer Reviews

Teaser

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I wish someone could explain to me why this recording is not available domesticly in the US and the inferior Private Eyes is available domesticly. This album is probably Bolin at his best. It give you a forcefull view of the power of this mans guitar. His songwriting is extremely good (not for pop fans though). He shows all his skills over a wide range of musical stylings. This album is one of my top ten for 1975. I'm just sorry that I discovered this guy just before his death in 1976 and never got to see him live.

All the songs here are powerfull. The performaces are excellent and Tommy sings incredible, especialy on the softer songs. He was one underated vocalist, showing some good emotional colorings in his vocalization.

This album is a must have for any serious rock and roll guitar fan, any fan of '70s rock and roll, and it should be required listening for any rock fan who is interested in the progress of rock music over the years. It is indeed a milestone.

Teaser and Tommy Bolin defy categorisation.
Teaser was released on Nemperor which was a subsidiary of Columbia and usually housed jazz and experimental pieces.
The fact Tommy's album appeared through this label gives an indication of the scope and chameleon like playing of this American Guitar icon.
Tommy had by the time of this solo effort had played and explored more styles and been involved in more astonishing grounbreaking albums such as Billy Cobham's Spectrum,Alphonse Mouzon's Mind Transplant,Deep Purple's wrongly maligned Come Taste The Band along with Energy,Zephyr,and many other great pieces that showcased his guitar playing brilliance and lyrical intelligence along with a voice that really spoke to the listener,that many Artists could hope to ever achieve.
Teaser could no doubt have been better,but Tommy was onboard the Purple juggernaut at the time of it's release and dedicated as much time as he could to the album.
The highlights are many and the fact that Tommy was 24-25 at the time of this release is astonishing in retrospect.
Of course it is obvious i am a Bolin fan but i would strongly advise anyone to grab this album and start a discovery of if not the finest truly an American and world wide guitar genius who unfortunately passed on too soon but left behind a brilliant and truly impressive catalogue both in scope and quality to delve into.
Ian.

In the very early 80's, I was just becoming "musically aware", and Deep Purple became one of my favorite bands. At the time, most of the mark 3 (& 4) albums were out of print, so as I learned of their existence I went from store to store, searching every bargain bin I could find to get those albums. I had heard Tommy's name, and that he had played on the "final" Purple album (the mark 2 reunion hadn't happened yet), so when I stumbled on a cassette copy of Teaser, I snapped it up & ran home. I didn't know what to expect, but after hearing the opening notes of The Grind, I was stunned. I have still never heard anyone else who could match Tommy's playing. That was almost 20 years ago now, and I have listened to this album thousands of times, but it only seems to get better as time goes on. He was a unique talent, and this is more than an album, it's an addiction. BUY this record!! If you are a musician, or just love music & great guitar playing, this will change your whole musical outlook. The late 90's "Tommy Revival" has created a welcome boom in the availability of Tommy recordings, and this is a great place to start if you're new. Buy this one, and I guarantee you that you'll be back for the rest!!!

Tommy Lives!!

Versatility, passion and a fine sense of melody made Bolin's short career remarkable. "Teaser" is his 1975 solo release and holds up remarkably well 28 years later.
A few reviewers have written in with frothing awe of Bolin; moist-eyed statements about how he could "play it all", but this may be giving him more credit than he's due. He certainly did play WITH them all (Zephyr, the James Gang, Deep Purple, Billy Cobham and Alfonse Mouzon, etc.) but this doesn't necessarily mean that he could "play IT all". Even when faced with musicians of Jan Hammer and Joe Farrell's calibre on "Spectrum", Bolin often preferred to play the speedy pentatonic runs that had served him so well in his formative years than stretch out the way that say John Mclaughlin did.
"Savannah Woman" is a case in point. It's pseudo-latin groove is very neat, but the song seems to be more of an experiment than something that's organically FELT. Tommy's solo on the end opts for quasi-Wes Montgomery octaves and diatonic simplicity rather than exploring the more modal territory that he's implied up until that point (any damn guitarist knows that all you need to do to hint at jazz is a few minor 7th chords!). Maybe he couldn't "play it all" after all.
Don't misunderstand me. This album is terrific - full of good ideas and well-crafted songs(the funky dual guitars on "Homeward Strut", the effortless reggae-rock of "People, People", the twilight beauty of "Lotus", the 15/8 groove of "Marching Powder") I just think people err when they use the word "genius" lightly. I see no point in overpraising Bolin: he had a good sense of melody, he was a good songwriter, he was an adept slide player and he phrased notes well. Period.

I bought this album when it was first released and played it for a lot of people. I recently purchased a sealed copy of TEASER from LpNow. I recorded it to CD immediately and have the vinyl album in a protective sleeve and cover never to be played again. Tommy Bolin has PRAIRIE PRINCE from THE TUBES and PHIL COLLINS on drums. GLENN HUGHES from TRAPEZE/DEEP PURPLE does a vocal turn on DREAMER. PEOPLE PEOPLE, WILD DOGS, TEASER, and LOTUS are excellent songs with masterful guitar and vocals. Buy this on vinyl for the best sound.

I really enjoy this record. Tommy's solo in "Savannah Woman" gets me every time and the title track is simply awesome (why did Motley Crue have to go and butcher it?). There really is a lot of variety here, unified by Bolin's distinctive guitar-playing and smooth vocals. But the ballads can drag a bit, particularly "Dreamer".

This album was briefly available on cd domestically on the original Nemperor label (I bought that version back in 1987), so if you look hard you might be able to find it used somewhere and avoid the pricey import.

This is still one of my favorite albums, more than 30 years after it was released. Sandwiched in between his stints in the James Gang and Deep Purple, this album showcases Tommy's incredible and diverse talents as a guitarist, songwriter, and singer. He also has an all-star line-up including Jan Hammer, Phil Collins (percussion only on one song), and members of Toto.
I was lucky enough to find this CD in a bargain bin back in the 80's when many CDs were released to cash in on the conversion from vinyl, and then discontinued. I can't believe it is only available as an import now, or that people are selling it for $89!. I guess I can cash in if I'm ever hurting for money.
Anyway, my favorite songs on this album are Dreamer, Lotus, and Wild Dogs, as well as Homeword Strut. I never tire of this album, mainly because every song is so different and the music varies from funky jazz fusion to straight ahead rock to haunting ballads. If it ever gets released again at a decent price, be sure to pick it up

Firstly, ever since this album was issued in 1975 it has had very loyal and fanatical support - so what I have to say below will not be very popular!

Although having good/great songwriting and singing, this album is sometimes let down by sloppy playing, pitiful mixing and poor quality control during the final stages of its production...

Dare I suggest that history is rewritten and it is given to someone trustworthy like Ken Scott to oversee a remix which would give it a well needed final polish to reveal all of its true beauty (instead of the chaotic and erratic fader riding during mixdown which buries so much of the detail and introduces some harsh distortion which leaps out at you...). It sounds to my ears like the volume in the studio control room was so loud that they were trying to bounce sound off of planets, got excited and lost contact with any possibility of objective listening analysis on Earth...!!!

I know I sound like a technical spoilsport anorak (or perhaps a mad professor) but I personally always prefer to go for the 'take' and 'feel' rather than 'iron any soul' out of the performance by aiming for total accuracy and perfection. I feel this album goes beyond that in places.

That said, there is nothing to replace it with... It is a very warm and likeable collection of songs and perhaps because the VU meters were frequently off the scale etc it may be even more endearing (especially considering the sad circumstances surrounding Tommy Bolin).

I expect you can guess that I have a love/hate relationship with this album!

After watching Tommy perform in Colorado for many years I was blown away by this Album when it came out. His power on stage was amazing. I'll never forget the look on Albert Kings face when he came out of the back ground of amplifiers with shocking blues riffs when backing him up at a concert in Bouder Co. in 1970. Truely one of the best ever.

Unfortunately, this is not a remastered CD. So, the transition from vynyl to CD lost a lot.

Anyway, this set of nine songs is a shinning example of why Bolin is so admired, even having a brief career made short due to substance abuse.

The songs have feeling, energy, sense of balance and dynamics, virtuosity, everything!