Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
fuzz & feedback forever!, January 28, 2003
When people say that this is one of the noisiest, heaviest, most ear splitting, skull smashing rock albums ever recorded, for the love of all that is holy, LISTEN TO THEM! If you play this too loud you're almost guaranteed ear damage. And make sure you have some good speakers before you crank this monster. I can't even imagine what people thought about this in 1968. By this time folks thought that Hendrix, Cream and The Yardbirds were too much. Lets describe the music for a minute... Chaotic, aggressive, sludgy, heavy, noisy, and years ahead of it's time. The music is very blues based, but the grooves are aggressive and the guitars are transformed by fuzztone and overdrive into monster dinosaur riff makers. One can see that Blue Cheer is another major influence on the current doom/stoner metal scenes. Pretty amazing considering this band predated Black Sabbath by 2 years. Though not nearly as dark as Sabbath, this album is arguably heavier and noisier than "Black Sabbath" and "Paranoid". No doubt this is a hard rock/early metal masterpiece, but it's far from perfect. I rated this album on a basis of how much I enjoy it rather than it's technical merrits. The riffs are almost a-tonal, the guitars are louder and bigger than anything; bass, drums or vocals. The note-blurring distortion makes the riffs almost impossible to not sound sloppy. The guitar solos seem off key at times and the jams sound very random... but that's what makes this record so awesome. It wouldn't be half as good if these guys were proficient, classically trained musicians. This is raw, heavy rock& roll in its purest and most stripped down form. Fuzzed out fury that will rip your face off and leave you in a crumpled heap, twitching and begging for mercy. So if you're into unrestrained, distorted, feedback drenched proto-metal, look no further. If you're looking for something with pristine production, sweet melodies and clean technical proficiency, you might pass on this.
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Heavy Metal Rock From A Highly Underated Group!, March 17, 2002
Blue Cheer released this debut in 1968 when groups and artists like Cream, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Iron Butterfly, Steppenwolf and The Doors were putting out psychedelic rock. Blue Cheer were three guys who played loud psychedelic rock and I can still see those stacks of Marshall amps piled a mile high. These guys had one major hit "Summertime Blues" which has been covered by other artists. Their version stands alone by itself as my favorite. The other songs on this album such as "Out Of Focus" and "Parchment Farm" are pure psychedelic kick a.. rock. This groups follow up album "Outsideinside" was also much of the same. Too bad these guys didn't get the credit they deserved and were lost in the shuffle of all the psychedelic groups popping up in the late 60's. If you're into 60's psychedelic rock don't pass this gem up. Highly recommended!
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Start of Heavy Metal, April 24, 2002
In the sixties, I had a tendency to pick up albums based on the photo of the band, not what I thought I knew about their music. I pretty much hated pop music so looked for the underground bands. The longer the hair, the uglier they were, the weirdest dressed, that was my incentive. Blue Cheer had very long hair, there was only three of them, and I heard Summertime Blues on the radio. Bringing that album home, I eagerly put it on my mono record player and was shocked. If there was a way to blow the tiny little speaker out of that record player and hit me in the face, this album was the one to do it.Picture three little guys walking out on stage in front of a wall of Marshall amplifiers (they were not actually little, it just seemed that way in front of those Marshalls). What was then mind numbing volume pounded into your whole body as they played through six songs that were crude, nasty, and so different from the peace and love [stuff] of the time it made your head spin. That impression is what hit me in the head as it came out of that little record player. Blue Cheer were groundbreakers for the time. To me they are the first-ever heavy metal band. When you put them up against other trios of the time like Hendrix and Cream, there was no comparison. Their loud and nasty sound corrupted my musical tastes forever and at fifty years old, I still listen to heavy metal. As a guitar player, Leigh Stephens became my hero (over Hendrix and others) and I tried to play every song note for note and came close but am not good enough to play them exactly. I still play Rock Me Baby, Summertime Blues, and Doctor Please regularly. Blue Cheer slapped blues in the face and created a new sound that has progressed into many new forms. Outside/Inside was similar but too refined in comparison. Soon afterwards, Leigh Stephens left the band. Subsequent albums by them completely changed their direction but this first disk is a classic. For any fan of heavy music, it is a required listen.
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by Blue Cheer 
