Weird Tales

Golden Smog

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 13, 1998)
• Original Release Date: October 13, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rykodisc
• ASIN: B00000DCWE
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #17,691 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Featuring members of the Jayhawks, Soul Asylum, Run Westy Run, and Wilco, Golden Smog has in the past felt like a typical side gig: for die-hard fans only. Not anymore. Weird Tales is inspired top to bottom, whether on the four-song streak of ragged rock that fronts the disc or the singular moments that follow, like the strangely soul-funky "Keys," Jeff Tweedy's Woody Guthrie-ized "Please Tell My Brother," or Kraig Johnson's "Making Waves," a crushing story of suicide behind the bathroom door. Including new Smogger Jody Stephens (ex-Big Star drummer), Weird Tales is an emotion-rich trip of Midwestern rock tones, loaded with both individual spirit and collective vision. If they keep this up, we might have to start calling them a real band. --Neal Weiss

New Musical Express
Like the work of the slightly more majestic Matthew Sweet, 'Weird Tales' is a continuation of the pop key-line that links The Byrds, Teenage Fanclub and Eels.... Golden Smog's plaintive ballads and pop-ist frenzies offer a return to backwoods basics.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A little-known gem, December 20, 2004

By	Daniel Gunter (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Like one of the other reviewers here, I bought this CD on a whim back in 2001, attracted to it because of its interesting cover. I gave it a listen and liked it quite a bit, but was not entirely sure about it. I kept listening to it--and it improved on each listen. With Gary Louris, Jeff Tweedy, and others, Golden Smog combined several considerable talents who proved, in some respects, to be superior to either the Jayhawks or Wilco. On this CD (which is some respects different from the other Golden Smog CDs), the influence of the Byrds, the Beatles, and Dylan can be heard--but there are some heavier rocking songs, including the powerful "White Shell Road" with its intense guitar work (and strange, brilliant lyrics).

I don't want to shortchange any of the songs on this great CD, but I think that three in particular deserve mention. In the order of their appearance, the first is "Until You Came Along," which was long my favorite on the CD. This is an anthemic song about love found at long last, and it calls out to be played loud loud LOUD. The second (in order of appearance) is "Fear of Falling," which features extraordinarily fine lyrics. It opens with the lovely, plaintive lines "I am not a shadow; I am flesh and blood. / Meet me in the middle if you think you could, / If you think you could." This is a song of great tenderness. Finally, "Jennifer Save Me" joins sad, gentle lyrics and a lovely melody to interesting sonic textures.

But I can't really shortchange the other songs on this CD. I've been listening to it as I write this review, and I wonder how I can avoid writing about the great guitar in "If I Only Had a Car" or the anguish of "Making Waves" or the sad vision of a relationship falling apart in "Reflections on Me." These are all great songs.

Here's a testament to how fine this CD is: I'm 47, typically a fan of the blues (Hound Dog Taylor, Elmore James, J. B. Hutto, Lil' Ed Williams, and the like). I love this CD. So does my 20-year-old daughter, who's a fan of Nirvana, Modest Mouse, Sleater-Kinney, and the like. If we both like the CD, it has to be doing something right!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Golden Collaboration, April 9, 2003

By	Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Rock and Roll "supergroups" rarely live up to the sum of their parts. Usually the egos involved sabotage the seemless musicianship needed to make good music (for proof, I direct you to most of Emmerson, Lake and Palmer's dreary output). Not so with Golden Smog's superb "Weird Tales." The two heavy hitters among the the Smog's lineup are Wilco's Jeff Tweedy and The Jayhawks' Gary Louris, and it is to them that many of the best moments on the album can be attributed.

Tweedy's contributions include the very Wilco-like "Lost Love" and "I Can't Keep From Talking," as well as the traditional folk number "Please Tell My Brother," that is one of the best things he's ever written. For his part, Louris answers with the very Jayhawks-esque "Until You Came Along" and "Jane" as well as the surprisingly rocking closing track "Jennifer Save Me," that is the CD's best song. Other highlights include onetime Jayhawk Kraig Johnson's "Looking Forward to Seeing You" and the Johnson/Louris collaboration "If I Only Had a Car."

Overall, an excellent collaboration that greatly exceeds its side project expectations.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars To call my own, November 9, 2004

By	Howlinw (California, USA) - See all my reviews

I've been a fan of this kind of music since I picked up a copy of Uncle Tupelo's "Anodyne" at Amoeba Records in Berkeley some years back. Since then, I've amassed a collection including music by Wilco, Tupelo, Son Volt, Old 97s, Jayhawks, My Morning Jacket, Alejandro Escovedo, and more. I have to say that this disc gets nearly the most play out of all of them.

I can't define exactly what qualities make this disc so appealing to me. Something in the harmonies, the fact that the musicians are obviously enjoying themselves, the similarity in sound to some of the better 80s "college rock" (like REM and the Replacements) as well as Big Star and Teenage Fanclub's later work, and also the time the disc came into my life, right when I needed it. It's kind of an anchor in my huge music collection, and I am always seeking more discs that will have this kind of an impact on me.

IMHO, "to call my own" is one of the best songs I have ever heard. If I were ever to write an equivalent to Nick Hornby's "Songbook," this track would be chapter one.

If you made it this far, and are still reading this review, you really owe it to yourself to take that next step and just buy it. It's that good.