The Tubes – The Tubes
When
@FogBlueInSanFran says “If you dislike a tune, skip to the next, because it will be different”, he’s underselling this one. He could have said if you dislike the song, just give a few seconds because the song will be different in a couple of bars.
And now I’ve read one line further into his review, he pretty much said that as well!
That’s in a good way because he’s right, this album is never boring. And he's bang-on about the diverse instruments - is that a sitar in once “Up from the Deep” gets going?
In some ways, all of those changes make this a very difficult album to review. I like the way that it’s short on obvious choruses or middle-8s and bridges – in fact it’s closer to say that most of the album is a whole series of middle-8s strung together with a bit of guitar soloing here and there, and I don’t think there’s a song that outstays its welcome. Except perhaps for “White Punks on Dope”, which despite being the most well- known song from the album, felt a bit too ordinary, with it’s 1970s plinky-plonky piano, after everything that had preceded it.
Whilst saying that I loves all of those changes, it’s one of the songs with the most ordinary structure that I like best: “What Do You Want From Life?” is a catchy little number and the increasingly outlandish offerings from the guy doing the advertising voice at the end are in step with the playfulness of the album as a whole.
I enjoyed “Haloes”, “Mondo Bondage” and latin-style guitar on "Malagueña Salerosa". The voiceover on this track remined me of a Mexican/Spanish version of Swiss Tony from the Fast Show – I don’t know whether Foggy will get that reference, but it made me chuckle. I felt like the album ran out of steam for the last two tracks.
I don’t think that there’s anything that I’d call a classic song on here, but I think that with an album like this, that’s missing the point. It’s cohesive whilst existing in its own little world, and I was happy to just sit back and let all the madness flow through the speakers.
7/10.
