Customer Reviews

Yer Album

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I truly think that this is one of the best albums out there. It has that same feeling as Dark Side of the Moon, Electric Ladyland, and Who's Next have... there is just so much going on and it never stops. This album is just crammed with great music. It has some truly rocking pieces that portray future Walsh stuff to come (Funk 48, Bluebird, I Don't Have the Time), some great use of the organ (Take a Look Around, Fred), some orchestration (Wrapcity in English), acoustic (Collage), and some just plain messing around (Intro, Stone Rap). Then, to top it all off, there are 2 fantastic blues jams, Lost Woman and Stop. That's every song on this album, each one worth listening to either for pleasure or just plain laughs.

Every song is well-produced and great sounding, well-written, and well-arranged within the album. There is not a flaw here. This is Rides Again and then some, this is my album, make it Yer' album too. (huh huh sorry had to do something stupid like that).

This is a fun album to listen to and it sounds as though it was fun for the James Gang to make as well. Because they were having fun with it, Yer Album has a spirited, stoned-out, care free and sometimes dis-jointed feel to it. Yer Album seems spontaneous with a garage band quality. Yet the James Gang are far more talented and polished than any garage band and it shows in their music. There is no doubt that this CD rocks and is made to be played loud. Enjoy!

This may be the one James Gang album to benefit greatly from remastering. The most sonically dense of the three Joe Walsh studio albums, I found more clarity in the guitars than I have ever heard before, especially on Bluebird. Rides Again and Thirds are also worth the investment, but this album remains my favorite, and radio hasn't played it to death.

This 12 minute 7 second song may just well hush
the critics of who the best guitar player in the world
is, and that be "Joe Walsh."
Too bad "James Gang" never got the wide recognition
other bands got during that and this period.
Drummer "Tim Fox's" integration with Walsh's guitar
is simply "magic" and has not been replaced since,
though they have tried!
Get this CD and never let it out of your sight!!!

I won't go into a lot of detail with a review...suffice it to say Yer Album along with the band's second release "Rides Again" remain to this day two of the finest and yet most overlooked releases in rock'n'roll. Having said that I would like to point out to the serious audiophiles reading this one of the cleverest, and funniest, gimmicks I've ever heard on a record. I have an original vinyl copy of "Yer Album" in my possession. For those who have one as well and still in possession of a turntable you might want to give this a try. Be forewarned it only works if your turntable does NOT have an automatic shut off in which the arm catches the last groove and then removes itself from the record. If your needle will catch the final groove and then go entirely to he end of the record and stay there until physically removed...you're in for a treat. At the completion of side one..you'll hear a voice...presumably Joe Walsh's...repeatedly say "Turn Me Over...Turn Me Over" again and again. At the end of side two, the album's completion, you'll hear that same voice say repeatedly "Play Me Again...Play Me Again". Give it a try if you can. Obviously this is a feature that can't be discovered on CD or tape.

As a native of Columbus OH, I had the privledge of seeing the James Gang BEFORE this album was released--it was my first concert, in the old World Theater on High St. near OSU. Jow Walsh has been my favorite rock musician ever since.
I won't talk about the individual songs--other reviewers have done a great job of that. But I wanted to point out a few things about this record that others have not mentioned, or may not be aware of.
First, just one reviewer pointed out that the vinyl version has, in the very inner groove, the phrase "turn me over" on side 1 and "play me again" on side 2. This shows Joe's clever nature coming through early. If the turntable goes to the last groove, these phrases are repeated until the needle is lifted.
Or could that have been Bill Szymczyk, the record's producer? That's the guy Joe has the exchange with on "Stone Rap". Wanna buy a duck? Of course, Bill went on to produce for many big time artists, including the Eagles and The Who. Was it also Bill's idea to have a backward guitar riff in the opening of "Bluebird"? Or was that Joe? How about the words that serve as preamble to Funk #48 (which in my opinion is better than #49)?
Some reviewers commented on the bass work. The bass player on Yer Album was Tom Kriss, who was replaced (quit the band? I don't know) before Rides Again. I think Kriss is as good as Entwistle (who, by the way, had Joe play guitar on at least one of his solo albums). Kriss and bandmates understood (as did The Who) that a bass guitar is a GUITAR and can play a second lead line. Indeed, that's the way Jimmy Fox played the drums.
Finally, it is interesting to note that the pictures of the band members on the cover were taken in Kent, OH, next to the bridge over the Cuyahoga River (yes, the one of "catches on fire" fame). Joe was a student at Kent State for a while, and although I don't think he was taking classes at the time, he was present on campus when the National Guard opened fire and killed 4 and wounded several others. (See the inside liner of "So What" for a photo).
Thanks for reading this!

I have always loved "Yer' Album" and this is one of those timeless albums with such a strong sound that surprisingly many have never heard. Many times when I have played this, people are so amazed and wonder why they don't recognise the tunes. I for one love the longer jams and this collection does not disappoint!

This brings me back to a far younger, more self-indulgent era in my own life. It was a time when a drum solo was pretty much a novelty. One thinks, of course, of Iron Butterfly, and Michael Shrieve in Santana. But despite all the time having gone by, I never lost taste for "Yer Album."

Yes, there is a drum solo, in "Lost Woman," and that leads me to my most superlative comment of the album: Jim Fox is perhaps the best drummer I've ever heard! Listen to the album. The drums play themselves. I've seen too many rock shows in which a mediocre drummer gets a set the size of Japan, thinking that the array of drums will make up for the lack of quality. I don't know the size of Fox's set as I never saw James Gang on stage. But the drum work on every song on the album is impeccable. He doesn't just "keep the beat," he adds to the music. And a rare drummer does that.

Oh, that song also has something I never heard before, a bass solo. That's worth hearing too!

Buffalo Springfield's "Blackbird" is done very well, a bit more "electric" perhaps than the original, but not over challenging the original's essence.

"Fred" is still intriguing; fabulous bass work, and, like in everything else, drums that stand out due to their quality.

There is, for those of you not familiar with the album, some orchestral work. It seems incongruous, but I think it adds to the quality of the album.

Then there's "Stop," a song the guitar work of which I could never master. Someone appropriately called it a "minor classic." It's long, but with the instrumental work in particular, it won't bore you.

I don't mean to down play the vocals. They're mostly Joe Walsh, of course, and he has a great rock voice, shrill, penetrating. But nothing in the vocals stand out to me like the fabulous instrumental work.

Even if you weren't yet born when this album was produced (I remember it from mid to late 1970!), I recommend you listen to it. Again, the drum work is worth listening to, the bass work is excellent--pounding, and carrying like a bass should be--and Walsh's guitar work too is great. This is a real classic (which I'm listening to for the millionth time as I type this!)

The debut album of the James Gang was a very solid effort. Most fans are familiar with the cuts Funk #48 and Take a Look Around which have been included on compilations, but there are some virtually unheard of gems on this release. Collage is perhaps one of the most beautiful compositions Joe Walsh has ever penned (and is perhaps his version of the classical piece "The Four Seasons". The strings on this piece are definetly ahead of it's time. The gang's take on the Buffalo Springfield classic "Bluebird" also manages to pay homage without being redundant. Granted, there is some mindless noodling on this cut but it still manages to captivate. Lost Woman is also a great cut. The other hidden gem is Fred. I've heard this song hundreds of times and I still haven't figured what it is about but the melody is unforgetable. And the closer Stop is also a minor classic. Unlike most of Joe Walsh's solo recordings which have a couple of great songs surrounded by throwaways, every song on this CD more than holds it's own. The digital remastering is also quite remarkable. This recording made in the late 60's has aged well. I strongly recommend this recording for Joe Walsh fans and fans of classic rock as well.

you need this disc if for no other reason than to hear "stop" digitally re-mastered!! this is fantastic music - being played by three (or four) very good musicians in tune with each other - so the jams are tight and awe-striking - really - buy this and when you get it - blast it!! turn it way the ... up loud and drive the neighbors nuts!!! this album is what rock 'n' roll is all about - this recording defines rock 'n' roll - hard edged, relentless and yet soulful and heartfelt - if you love rock 'n' roll, then this album is appropriately titled - it's "yer album" - and if you don't own it, well then, yer missin' the point - - i suggest you "add to shopping cart & proceed to checkout" - now !! you will *not* be disappointed
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