BimboBob
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Almost had me in tears. Lovely write up mate.
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The Album Review Club - Week #144 - (page 1893) - XO - Elliot Smith
- Thread starter RobMCFC
- Start date
Black&White&BlueMoon Town
Well-Known Member
I've got one of my sons that can overlap genres with me and enjoys listening to music with me at a concert or three, so I know how special music memories are with family when there's a real connection.Almost had me in tears. Lovely write up mate.
I have a buddy from my childhood that loves that same kind of music and still listens to much more than me (early metal). I forwarded along to him the Groundhogs Split and asked if he knew of them (he did not) and if he liked (he most certainly did), so I can promise there will be some repeat plays after this week, even if it is from an Arsenal fan (it's always something, right?).
Your initial story inspired me, awesome job, mate!
Mancitydoogle
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SPLIT
As I mentioned before my Bro had an album by The Groundhogs ,interestingly he also had albums by most of the other artists linked on Spotify ,Blodwyn Pig, The Edgar Broughton Band and the one I remember the most Juicy Lucy , so this was a genre very much hip at the time.
I liked the 4 tracks that made up split unfortunately after that it started to downhill for me. on Cherry red his voice goes into a Robert Plant screech.
It was an interesting choice as it was quite nostalgic for me too, as I never wanted to listen to any of my elder siblings stuff at the time.
I don’t mind it now as a genre but I think there’s only half a decent album here.
5 plus 1 for the great write up
6/10
As I mentioned before my Bro had an album by The Groundhogs ,interestingly he also had albums by most of the other artists linked on Spotify ,Blodwyn Pig, The Edgar Broughton Band and the one I remember the most Juicy Lucy , so this was a genre very much hip at the time.
I liked the 4 tracks that made up split unfortunately after that it started to downhill for me. on Cherry red his voice goes into a Robert Plant screech.
It was an interesting choice as it was quite nostalgic for me too, as I never wanted to listen to any of my elder siblings stuff at the time.
I don’t mind it now as a genre but I think there’s only half a decent album here.
5 plus 1 for the great write up
6/10
journolud
Well-Known Member
Similar reactions to a lot of people on here really although there was a slight and inexplicable whiff of nostalgia when I first heard it. I can confidently say I'd never heard of the Groundhogs and am pretty certain that I hadn't heard this album before but it does have a kind of generic late 60s/ early 70s sound that put me in mind of certain groups and albums that I am at least familiar with but annoyingly are on the edge of my consciousness rather than at the forefront. I think that speaks of where this particular type of music sits on my hierarchy.
Similar to @BimboBob I have some musical memories tied in with memories of my dad who was also a bit of a hippy. I was estranged from him for several childhood years and once we were back in touch I was thrust into a slightly weird world of drugs, parties and rock and roll although I remember that Pink Floyd, Tangerine Dream and King Crimson would have been more typical sounds than your Led Zeppelins and Black sabbaths.
I enjoyed the four parts of Split but as others have said it went a bit downhill from there. I had a sense of a bunch of young men playing with a sense of fun and freedom but using that to experiment with what the instruments could do and this did lead to a lack of cohesion as they drifted off into what sounded like they were playing to amuse themselves rather than attract an audience.
An interesting pick but not one I'm going to return to. Worth a 6 though
Similar to @BimboBob I have some musical memories tied in with memories of my dad who was also a bit of a hippy. I was estranged from him for several childhood years and once we were back in touch I was thrust into a slightly weird world of drugs, parties and rock and roll although I remember that Pink Floyd, Tangerine Dream and King Crimson would have been more typical sounds than your Led Zeppelins and Black sabbaths.
I enjoyed the four parts of Split but as others have said it went a bit downhill from there. I had a sense of a bunch of young men playing with a sense of fun and freedom but using that to experiment with what the instruments could do and this did lead to a lack of cohesion as they drifted off into what sounded like they were playing to amuse themselves rather than attract an audience.
An interesting pick but not one I'm going to return to. Worth a 6 though
GornikDaze
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I’m writing this without my specs, so apologies for the typos!!
Like everyone else, I really enjoyed the write up. I think I’m more in the minority to say I really enjoyed listening as well.
Can’t remember who mentioned the guitar sound but their comments were spot on. It has quite an experimental feel which I guess was similar to many bands of this era.
I get a more trippy Cream vibe which isn’t a bad thing.
Split 1-4 I really liked part 4 being most enjoyable. Cherry Red starts the second side off really well for me. The worst track on the whole album was A Year In The Life. The homage to John Lee Hopker was a nice finale. I will definitely check out some of their other stuff on the back of this listen.
No point for the write up - sorry @BimboBob - just a solid 9/10 for me
Like everyone else, I really enjoyed the write up. I think I’m more in the minority to say I really enjoyed listening as well.
Can’t remember who mentioned the guitar sound but their comments were spot on. It has quite an experimental feel which I guess was similar to many bands of this era.
I get a more trippy Cream vibe which isn’t a bad thing.
Split 1-4 I really liked part 4 being most enjoyable. Cherry Red starts the second side off really well for me. The worst track on the whole album was A Year In The Life. The homage to John Lee Hopker was a nice finale. I will definitely check out some of their other stuff on the back of this listen.
No point for the write up - sorry @BimboBob - just a solid 9/10 for me
threespires
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Like pretty much everyone else I thought @BimboBob 's write up was one of the best, most evocative and enjoyable we've had on this thread. There was a faint whiff of bohemia about it that made want to be able to hang around his house in the 70's.
The album started on a sticky wicket with me because despite the fact I like really blues music and have hundreds and hundreds of blues albums of various types, I've always had a bit of a blind spot for British blues rock. As someone who thinks Cream come in the 'it's alright' category I recognise I'm the problem here but as a sub-genre for some reason it's just never really twiddled my dials. The stuff I like that occasionally gets lumped into this bracket, like Mayall or Korner, in reality tends to stick very much to the blues end of the formula.
Alas, this album did little to change my perspective. I thought Pt1 started strongly but by the slightly annoying ending to Pt4 I was very much in a 'please stop dicking about' place. Nothing wrong with the musicianship, it just didn't seem to be focused or taking the songs anywhere I was interested in going. I try to be assiduous about a minimum of three listens and not skipping tracks and sometimes that approach reveals stuff I begin to appreciate in later listens, but other times it means stuff ends up knitting itself into a bit of a general fog that becomes background music. Unfortunately with this album I experienced more of the latter than the former. By the time we got to the final track which in theory should have been right in my wheelhouse it all felt a bit flat to me. Given the date of this album I can imagine stuff that at times I thought sounded a bit derivative or cliched, was probably them doing things that other artists have subsequently taken from and also that some of the 'dicking about' was experimenting with what was relatively new equipment so for that and the fact they know how to play their instruments I'm giving it 6/10.
The album started on a sticky wicket with me because despite the fact I like really blues music and have hundreds and hundreds of blues albums of various types, I've always had a bit of a blind spot for British blues rock. As someone who thinks Cream come in the 'it's alright' category I recognise I'm the problem here but as a sub-genre for some reason it's just never really twiddled my dials. The stuff I like that occasionally gets lumped into this bracket, like Mayall or Korner, in reality tends to stick very much to the blues end of the formula.
Alas, this album did little to change my perspective. I thought Pt1 started strongly but by the slightly annoying ending to Pt4 I was very much in a 'please stop dicking about' place. Nothing wrong with the musicianship, it just didn't seem to be focused or taking the songs anywhere I was interested in going. I try to be assiduous about a minimum of three listens and not skipping tracks and sometimes that approach reveals stuff I begin to appreciate in later listens, but other times it means stuff ends up knitting itself into a bit of a general fog that becomes background music. Unfortunately with this album I experienced more of the latter than the former. By the time we got to the final track which in theory should have been right in my wheelhouse it all felt a bit flat to me. Given the date of this album I can imagine stuff that at times I thought sounded a bit derivative or cliched, was probably them doing things that other artists have subsequently taken from and also that some of the 'dicking about' was experimenting with what was relatively new equipment so for that and the fact they know how to play their instruments I'm giving it 6/10.
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It is nice to see a few people liking it, for what is a personal album to someone. Just going through the last few pages, they are compared to sounding like at least 11 different bands. So I don't feel I was that harsh with my generic /immitation remarks.
But I do also get how if you really liked that type, than an album that suddenly appears that you have missed out on could be really welcome. Or if like bimbo, you listened to it at the time, it would just be part of the scene, and it is only 'unoroginal' to someone listening to it almost 50 years later when a lot has been built up over time.
But I do also get how if you really liked that type, than an album that suddenly appears that you have missed out on could be really welcome. Or if like bimbo, you listened to it at the time, it would just be part of the scene, and it is only 'unoroginal' to someone listening to it almost 50 years later when a lot has been built up over time.
BimboBob
Well-Known Member
Can I score my own choice?
Sentimentality doesn't get in the way of scoring...it gets an 8!
Sentimentality doesn't get in the way of scoring...it gets an 8!
Black&White&BlueMoon Town
Well-Known Member
What I found more impressive (and a bit surprising) though is the bands that came after that I could almost swear took material from the Groundhogs. Yes, they were in the Zep and Cream shadow, but the bands that came later certainly sounded like or were inspired by some of the noodling and rambling I heard, as experimental or as indulgent as we're calling it.It is nice to see a few people liking it, for what is a personal album to someone. Just going through the last few pages, they are compared to sounding like at least 11 different bands. So I don't feel I was that harsh with my generic /immitation remarks.
Yes, I cannot compare it to what I listen to now, but for that genre and time period, it worked for me.But I do also get how if you really liked that type, than an album that suddenly appears that you have missed out on could be really welcome. Or if like bimbo, you listened to it at the time, it would just be part of the scene, and it is only 'unoroginal' to someone listening to it almost 50 years later when a lot has been built up over time.
Which in fairness I gave them credit for.What I found more impressive (and a bit surprising) though is the bands that came after that I could almost swear took material from the Groundhogs. Yes, they were in the Zep and Cream shadow, but the bands that came later certainly sounded like or were inspired by some of the noodling and rambling I heard, as experimental or as indulgent as we're calling it.
My issue as I said wasn't really in the lack of uniqueness (even if some of the other stuff it sounds like did indeed come after), it was in the execution, the others simply (for me) did it better. And if I was going to choose to listen to something like that, I'd go with the more popular. Certainly a worthwhile discovery and addition to the library of band knowledge though.