Wild Love

Smog

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 27, 1995)
• Original Release Date: March 27, 1995
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Drag City
• ASIN: B0000019QD
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #57,280 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Though it's not widely known, guys like Bill "Smog" Callahan (and Beck, and Lou Barlow, and Daniel Johnston) who've made an art out of sitting in their basements and cranking out song after song fragment on a four-track tape recorder, have an unlikely patron saint, someone who represents everything they'd want to be if they had prolific creativity, the stamina of a perfectionist, and access to big time home studio equipment. His name used to be Prince, and he's the monarch of do-it-yourself recording.

That's what makes "Prince Alone in the Studio," from Smog's new record Wild Love, an indie classic of epic proportions. Typically Smog-like in its dark humor, with psychedelic effects and cello, the majestic dirge sums up the passion that drives helpless low-fi heads to tape themselves relentlessly, its lyrics conveying the loneliness, grueling discipline, and magical satisfaction of artistic creation as well as any song in memory can. If Prince is royalty, Callahan is his court poet.

While "Prince Alone" stands as Wild Love's triumph, the rest of Smog's folksy krautrock stays in step with the concise "Bathroom Floor" and "Sweet Smog Children," which end at the first sign of tiring, and with the sardonic, melodic "Be Hit" and "Goldfish Bowl." Wild Love is Callahan at his bleakest, and the no-longer-low-fi Smog at it's most accessible. It's also Drag City (home to similarly minded bands like Silver Jews, Gastr del Sol, and Red Krayola) at its best. --Roni Sarig

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Cool Band....Pretty Laid Back Singer, September 16, 2003

By	Mr. Movie Man "mOVIE mAN" (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

I was sitting in a small bar, in Kitchener, Ontario Canada one night, when all of a sudden...in rolls SMOG! They had been on a tour and were just heading back to the U.S.A The bar owner didn't really know who they were, but he let them set up their instruments...and they played...and played...and PLAYED, all night long, while I sipped beer, sitting only a few feet away from the lead singer.

The band was currently promoting thier new "Knock,Knock" album but also sang most of WILD LOVE. I liked their sound so much, I bought this album in the bar, and got Bill to sign it!

SMOG is like a strange hint of Pink Floyd...and a familiar touch of Beck. A very similar flow and writing style....BUT still a very unique band. "Bathysphere" is just great!... like a hypnotic breeze, blowing ever so softly. I can listen to it over and over again. The lead singer is a very laid back guy, and I think the music reflects just how laid back he is.

I spoke to him for a few minutes while they were packing their instruments up. He seemed pretty mellow! I'll never forget that night and I'll always dig thier songs. check out Wild Love, for some very good and mellow music!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, December 26, 2002

By	Rabbit Krishna "hippie_smell" (Brooklyn) - See all my reviews

This album is very beautiful and very depressing. It will take you a while to appreciate this album, but once you get what Bill is trying to say on this album you will be blown away. The album is full of synth and string lines with hauntingly dead pan lyrics. I read a Jim O'Rourke interview once where he said that his favorite thing about Bill is his ability to say something deep that he is feeling in the simplest language. I agree.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smog doesn't gray, September 23, 2006

By	Panopticon = Pen Name (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

The music of Smog does not gray or grow stale with time. This is one of my favorite Smog CDs.