Customer Reviews

Those Who Know History Are Doomed to Repeat It

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

 

 

A couple of notes here... first, this album has the *sickest* guitar solo in my entire record collection. And i collect sick guitar! It's Henry Kaiser's second solo in "Ode to Billy Joe", an exercise in howling feedback harmonics and radical whammy vibrato that screams all the emotions the dark lyrics just whisper.

Second, a friend and i used to use this album for a hippie test... his roommate was a popular hippie, and most his friends were lame, but occasionally some were cool. Of course, all of them listened to the Grateful Dead endlessly. So, when we met one who seemed okay, we'd play "Dark Star". If s/he loved Kaiser's version, s/he was cool. If s/he hated it... well, someone was listening to the Deadhead culture, not the music itself, and couldn't deal with anyone breaking the surface form (and therefore didn't understand the deep structure of the music).

All my adult life I have been cursed with ears that listen without a prefabricated expectation,and I often feel a stranger to popular opinion.Forgive me, but I don't understand why anyone would give this CD a devastatingly bad review because he/she had,for whatever reason, mistakenly thought it would be different-I guess one could also fault it for having no Coltrane solos, being a lousy polka CD,and one of the oddest paul mcartney albums ever!
That being said,I personally cannot imagine how it could be any better!Kaiser's solo's are imaginitive,emotionally charged and brilliantly executed,the production is crisp and punchy,and the song choices were obviously made with love,care and not a little good humor.There are long,DEAD-esque space jams,perky belew-like exclamations,and just overall great,explosive moments.If you like the set list,and the samples above interest you-buy it!You won't be disappointed.If you're looking for somone else's cd-this isn't it.All in all,this one will be in my car cd player as a staple thru 2006.Well worth the money,even at these prices.Thanks,Henry!

Each of the covers chosen for this all cover album are so perfect that in a way, this feels like a greatest hits album. Henry Kaiser in his various incarnations has never made "easy listening" music and to be honest, is somewhat of an acquired taste. On this album, however, he manages to balance a more accessible sound- thanks to an inspired choice of covers- with his eclectic electric sense of composition (sorry but really, he is eclectic and electric.)
The album kicks off with "Mason's Children", which at the time of its original release, was the first officially released version of this long lost Grateful Dead song. Not a great song, but enjoyable and for historical purposes, an inspired first song offering. Then the next three songs just nail it. Three songs you may not know by name, but when you hear them, you know them, and Henry and his band perform them perfectly. "The Ode to Billie Joe" is the climax of the trio- and possibly the highlight of the album- and features some excellent guitar work.
The second half of the album is a series of Captain Beefheart tracks sandwiching an epic in length but not quite so in execution "Dark Star-> The Other One". The Beefheart tracks work, as expected, especially the "Alice in Blunderland-> Mirror Man-> Alice in Blunderland" pairing. But the attempt at lengthy improvisation just does not work, proving that "free falling through space" musically really only works when you know what you are doing.
A really strong album. It doesn't change the world, but it's well worth the listen.

Those Who Know... is comprised of covers ranging from captain beefheart to the grateful dead and others. compared to some of kaiser's earlier work, this is a lot more accessible. Henry Kaiser has some amazing guests on here, including guitarists Bruce Anderson and Glenn Phillips, who contributes one of his most impressive solos on "dark star/the other one". Even with all of the guests, everything is held together well. A must-have.

My favorite Henry Kaiser work. Of course, you never know what to expect from Mr. Kaiser's large body of available material, one minute playing ethnic instruments alongside David Lindley, one minute deep in some avant work, and so on. Here he unites Bobbie Gentry, Andy Griffith ("Fishing Hole" is the theme song from Andy's TV show), and the Grateful Dead into a work that is non-thematic to say the least. Each song gets its own fair treatment within basically its own original motif, albeit flavored uniquely by Henry. Nice warm female vocals are a great touch.

I bought this CD because KAISER is always mentioned in conjunction with GLENN PHILLIPS. Having fallen in love with the eccentric brilliance that is PHILLIPS, I expected something in the same vain. WRONG, VERY BLOODY WRONG!!!!! The other reviews are obviously written by KAISER fans. I love the guitar and most forms of musik, but this is in no way a pleasure to listen to. If KAISER is a great ( or even good ) guitarist, he certainly doesn't let me know with this CD. Some of the playing may be meritorious, but the song interpretations are horrid. The songs chosen are mostly horrid. The sound is horrid. Most of the playing sounds deliberatly different for differences sake. At no stage does it sound like the interpretation of a virtuoso guitarist. The covers range from cheese ( ODE TO BILLY JOE / MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE / ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW THEME ) to bizarre ( and almost unlistenable ) BEEFHEART interpretations.

Breaking up these terrible covers with horrid, over distorted and totaly nonsensical solos does not make this musik interesting. It certainly doesn't do it for me and raises protests from anyone I have subjected to this CD.
I am not sure what form of musik you need to like to like this, maybe the soothing sounds of a jackhammer at 5 o'clock next to your bed. Playing some tracks on this CD at 5 o'clock would have an identical effect.