Young Lions/Pretty Pink Rose

Adrian Belew | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 14, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Wounded Bird Records
• ASIN: B001DJ7QCM
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #180,916 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Young Lions

2. Pretty Pink Rose

3. Heartbeat

4. Looking for a U.F.O.

5. I Am What I Am

6. Not Alone Anymore

7. Men in Helicopters

8. Small World

9. Phone Call from the Moon

10. Gunman [Version]

11. Pretty Pink Rose [LP Version][Version]

12. Neptune Pool

13. Shoe Salesman [Version]

14. Oh Daddy [LP Version][Version]

Editorial Reviews

Adrian Belew is best known as one of the guitarist from King Crimson. He has also issued numerous critically acclaimed solo albums. We've taken one of those, Young Lions, and combined it with a rare EP issued from the same era, Pretty Pink Rose, to create a sort of two-fer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Adrian Belew Goes Native, October 10, 2009

By 

Timothy P. Young (Rawlins, WY, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Young Lions/Pretty Pink Rose (Audio CD)

Well, not really. He goes environmentalist with this collection, originally released in 1990. Throughout the album, the lyrical concerns, such as they are, involve allegories to the natural world ("Young Lions"), dark commentary on helicopter hunters ("Men In Helicopters"), and fantasies about being helped out of our mess ("Looking for a UFO").

The album, with all instruments played by Belew, is at once a piece of splendid pop, with the David Bowie duet "Pretty Pink Rose" (possibly the catchiest thing ever recorded by Belew), a poppier version of King Crimson's "Heartbeat," and a cover of the Traveling Wilburys' "Not Alone Anymore," which in many ways surpasses the original (a hard thing to do, considering the talent involved there). However, he also indulges his experimental side, most notably in "I Am What I Am," which consists of a spacey sermon by the Prophet Omega ("Friends seen and unseen...") backed by a trademark Belew instrumental. He also turns the microphone over to Bowie completely for the original album's closer, "Gunman."

In its original form, Young Lions is at once awesome and frustrating. He makes nods to pop, then goes off and indulges his experimental side. It's very, very good, but it makes for a disjointed listening experience.

Wounded Bird's bare-bones reissue adds the Pretty Pink Rose EP that came out around the same time to promote the album (back in the day they were called 'CD Singles'). We get a replay of "Pretty Pink Rose" (no changes), an interesting instrumental, a so-so folk-pop tune, and "Oh Daddy," Belew's cult hit from 1988 (incidentally, the first thing I ever heard from him). It's not a bad addition, but I'd rather have the two unreleased songs as bonus tracks. Wounded Bird doesn't do that, though. They put the music out in its original form or not at all. I'm actually grateful to them for keeping some pretty hard to find stuff in print. Graham Parker and Kris Kristofferson are just two of the many artists Wounded Bird's reissued. True, it's bare bones, no lyrics or essays or anything like that, but the music's the important thing, right? If the music is what drives you, Wounded Bird comes through in spades.

Young Lions is a good album that deserves to be in print. It's also very much worth your time, although a bit challenging or frustrating at times. Kudos to Wounded Bird for issuing it, and kudos to Belew for following his muse when most of us would have been satisfied with another Mr. Music Head.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This a great album., December 5, 2008

By 

HOWARD L. JONES "sam" (denver) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Young Lions/Pretty Pink Rose (Audio CD)

This is one album that I would want if I was stranded on a desert island. It has the flavor of Roxy Music, David Bowie, Adrian, and the best music I have heard. This is a must for those who think the 70's were the best years for music. This disc cost a lot of money to buy for a long time. I paid a great deal more for it after I lost all my CDs in a house fire, but it was one of the first I replaced. I wish I could have replaced it at this price 3 years ago.

4.0 out of 5 stars Easier to appreciate Belew's guitar as a solo artist, April 21, 2011

By 

Louis Coniglio (Georgia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Young Lions/Pretty Pink Rose (Audio CD)

I discovered Mr. Belew's work by accident, as I worked my way through purchasing King Crimson albums. I like their sound, but really found I enjoyed their later stuff more, when Belew came on board. I purchased the album Salad Days because it featured some of his KC stuff as well as his own songs, and came away not only impressed, but with perhaps my favorite album in my 400+ collection. This is my second Belew album, not following any particular release date order, and it is very good as well. Most songs display a lot of his energy, with animal sounds blaring from his guitar. I enjoyed most everything here, but the David Bowie duet is a little funky. I like the guitar shredding from the song, but it sounds a tad dated. I suppose it is a representative song for the era, but it's not my favorite. I guess I'm just not much of a David Bowie fan. I think I'd prefer an all-Belew vocal version. All in all, an enjoyable album that has pop sensibilities, good song writing with a bit of an ecologicial message. Anyone that enjoys strong guitar playing, or music that's a bit out of the mainstream will enjoy it.