Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nice Collective - Start Here., August 7, 2005
With all the acclaim surrounding Dig!, BJM needed this retrospective to seduce the new fans every day that did not know where to start. I own all of the records and yet, I still find throwing this one collective in gives me an indication of what Anton has been especially proud of over the years. Afterall, no real radio play, no real videos (thank god) and no good reason to why it took so long to boost up his fan base. What is not included on TPW is any track from Strung Out In Heaven - a great album, but on TVT. The liner notes are fun and informative regarding each track. Hell, there are even pictures of the Warhols as they still are part of the history. Musically, you get it all: the influences, the instruments, and the line-up changes...the songs are not in order, but the greatest thing to me is you would never know what was released ten years ago or today - NOT because the music is all the same, but because most of it is timeless.
|
|
|
73 of 92 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A fan's balanced review: please read before you vote!, July 20, 2005
I first heard the BJM in songs that appeared on their early 90s album "Methodrone," and many of "Tepid's" best moments hearken back to this hazy/shoegazing/fuzzy/obsessive phase. "Feel So Good" (not a cover) is a later example of this Spaceman 3-type aura that the BJM capture well. Hearing these heftier, ascending, revolving tracks within the larger BJM shuffle (no chronological order here, which is refreshing; the anthology is well-sequenced), much of their later work sounds rather scrawny. Now, this skeletal tone, reminding me of 1971 Stones, works well, but feels like it's from a different band. Given the replacement of lineups that rivals Mark E. Smith's domination over The Fall, this may be true. But this lack of consistency makes for a rather undernourished faux-psychedelic/pale-bluesy/vaguely country-ish shamble that backs most of the 38 tunes here. Disc Two does sound better than Disc One, by the way.
I have all of the BJM's albums, but ranked next to, say, the first three Dandy Warhols' attempts to cover the same musical terrain and capture its woozy buzz, the less prolific if slicker Portlanders trump the diffused and wearier Angelenos, sorry to say. Newcombe too frequently lacks the ability to project a forceful, consistent persona as the frontman. He is capable of impressive imitation: not only Stones but (disc 2, track 5) the Beatles and elsewhere a Sunset Strip-a-go-go groove. His Byrds "homage" falls flat, however. The line between flattery and parrotting seems blurred here. Are drugs to blame? Newcombe's evident gifts seem too tawdrily or lazily wrapped up on many of Disc One's songs, tossed off rather than polished. Such spontaneity is prized in some genres, but on disc, under scrutiny, the songs often appear too wobbly. Live, naturally, they may gain backbone; the "live cuts" here are only three "live in studio for the radio" versions that I wish were replaced by concert tapes: none of these on "Tepid," alas. The closing song, "Sue," is a exception to many of the studio cuts: it takes time to build up and kick in, while too many other songs here end far too soon, limply.
The production often shortchanges the backing instrumentation(sometimes non-existent--true, many times lacking enough bass), undercuts the rhythm section, and although the trebly, tinny feel of many of the tunes (with those from "Methodrone" a perceptible exception) fits with the actual limitations of the late 60s/early 70s transistor era, in our digital age, on CD, the overall impact sags. Even scrawnier than even Mick Jagger or any other junkie thin white dude. Newcombe needs to punch out; instead he too often skips away from the lyric confrontation.
As a BJM fan a dozen years before "Dig" appeared, admittedly (as other reviewers have noted even if they get lower "yes" votes!), Newcombe played off of his erratic myth over his career. Yes, this does gain an audience. Like at a car crash. But, I listen to music more than gawk at its messenger, and if you detach the singer's physical image from the songs he records here, for BJM to become the voice for his muse, he needs to focus less on glam and needles. Yes, I buy each BJM album, predicting I will uncover a few worthwhile songs, but I still insist that he is capable of much more effort. I'd much rather see him keep producing thoughtful work expanding the visions of the Summer of Love into which he was born--rather than aping a cult-figure, trapped into a Lizard King/Kurt Cobain-downward spiral.
|
|
|
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
For anyone who enjoys good music..., August 2, 2005
I admit that until the release of the film Dig, I had no idea who these guys were. Anyhow, I was intrigued when I watched the documentary and heard their music. I soon after purchased this album, along with a copy of Dig. A week later I saw that BJM was coming to Salt Lake. The show was amazing! They played all of my favorites (Servo, Nevertheless, and When Jokers Attack). I also got to meet Anton, and was surprised at his down to earth nature, quite a contrast to the egotistical character that he appeared to be in Dig. Anyhow, the music is so real...the kind of songs that produce feeling rather than just entertain or amuse. This particular album is the way to go if you want an introduction to BJM. There are a lot of songs here, something for everyone.
Really, this is something I would recommend to any true music lover...
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
Interact With Your Music: Discover, listen to, and buy new music, all from the pages of SPIN's digital edition, free to Amazon customers.
~ Dandy Warhols
~ Brian Jonestown Massacre
DVD ~ Anton Newcombe
~ Brian Jonestown Massacre
~ Dandy Warhols
See all 16 tracks on this disc
by The Brian Jonestown Massacre 
