Chips from the Chocolate Fireball [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] [IMPORT]

Dukes Of Stratosphear

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 18, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 1987
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered, Import
• Label: Virgin Int'l
• ASIN: B00005AV1R
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #47,796 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
XTC created the Dukes of Stratosphear almost on a lark, as an excuse to play the kind of music they grew up listening to and playing. The invention of the pseudonym gave them the opportunity to wear on their sleeves the influences they had only hinted at as XTC. The Dukes released two records between 1985 and 1987 and they are both compiled in their entirety on Chips from the Chocolate Fireball. Listening to Chips is like sifting through a '60s psychedelia bin at a good used record store. The only thing missing are the pops and crackles as you drop the needle onto the neglected vinyl. The best of the era is re-created here with reverence and an amazing attention to detail: Syd Barrett's childlike lyrics, the Blue Cheer fuzz-guitar frenzy, dissonant Sgt. Pepper strings and horns, and good old Brian Wilson-style indulgences.

The record opens with "25 O'Clock," which instantly recalls the Electric Prunes' "I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night." From there the references become more obscure: the Count Five's "Psychotic Reaction" is invoked by the bombastic guitar sludge of Sir John Johns (Andy Partridge) and Lord Cornelius Plum (Dave Gregory) on "My Love Explodes," while "Bike Ride to the Moon" is demented enough to have appeared on Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Other high points include the Hollies-inspired "Vanishing Girl" and the Beatles-style piano stomp "You're a Good Man Albert Brown." The record closes with the priceless "Pale and Precious." With its dead-on Wilson brothers harmonies and faux theremin, the song plays like an undiscovered gem from the Beach Boys' Smile sessions. --Paul Ducey

Product Description
Remastered reissue of 1987 compilation for XTC's psychedelic side-project combines their debut EP '25 O'Clock' with their full length 'Psonic Psunspot'. 16 tracks. 2001 release.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely flabbergastingly spectacular, March 13, 2000

By	Rich Bunnell (Milpitas, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chips from the Chocolate Fireball (Audio CD)

Too many people are giving this album only four stars. Stopdoing that. For my money, this is the absolute best album XTC ever made-- forget that they did it as the "Dukes." It even tops "Skylarking" and "Black Sea," two completely epochal XTC recordings. And why? Because it's fun! You have to be in a certain mood to listen to many of XTC's other albums, but this one can hit you any given time of the day anywhere. Sixteen songs, and all of them perfect in every way. The best of the best would be "You're My Drug," "Little Lighthouse," "25 O'Clock," "Bike Ride To The Moon," "The Mole From The Ministry," and "Vanishing Girl." Hell, they're all great. XTC's greatest album and one of my favorite albums of all time, no holds barred thank you very much. It's a shame that it's technically out of print, not that it's extremely hard to find it in stores because people are stupid and do not buy it.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent , December 9, 2005

By	SirGeorgeMartini "ElDorado" (Chihuahua Legs, Wyoming) - See all my reviews

The Dukes of Stratosphear aka XTC have somehow managed to make an almost perfect album of psychedelic music that most groups in the Sixties would have envied. This is much more than a tribute or parody in the mode of Spinal Tap or The Rutles. There is barely any filler and I like it the best of all XTC's releases. While never actually copying or sounding exactly like any particular group note for note, except for a few Syd Barret and Brian Wilson vocals, they recreate the original sound and feeling that made music so great in the Sixties.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can You Dig It?, May 2, 2001

By	David Bradley "David Bradley" (Sterling, VA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Chips from the Chocolate Fireball (Audio CD)

This is where I realized that Andy Partridge was more than just a quirky English recluse: he is the British Brian Wilson.

Two magnificent albums, superbly orchestrated with sped up and slowed down tapes, layers of guitars and vocals, pianos spinning out of control, detuned guitars and and gongs and sonic booms from who knows where, all dripping from some of the wittiest lyrics this side of the Squeeze, and interspersed with an Alice In Wonderland-like story.

Ya just gotta dig it.

It's all genius, but if I had to pick highlights I'd go with "The Mole From The Ministry" and "Brainiac's Daughter," which echo, without parodying, the very best of English Pop-Psychedelia, circa Sgt. Pepper/Magical Mystery Tour/early Pink Floyd.

"Brainiac's daughter talks like a Daily Planet reporter..."

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