A must have for fans of the psychedelic era
While it is true that some of the band's later recordings are rather weak efforts, this album is undisputedly one of the best albums of the psychedelic era. It's perplexing why this album and this band are not better known. It's definitely worth buying if you're a fan of the music of the psychedelic era.
A classic
The 13th Floor Elevators were pioneers of the psych-rock genre, as evident in their 1966 debut. They were not exemplary musicians or even great songwriters but the Elevators managed to capture the atmosphere of the counter-culture and convey it more efficiently than any other band of the era.
Unfortunately, the reissue is plagued by poor production and a less than commendable choice of live tracks (including one of the worst covers of Gloria I have ever heard)
Still, a must for psych listeners!
I was pleased to discover that an updated version of this album had been released, but I feel that the update is marginal. The music will always warrant four stars under any set of circumstances, but it bothers me that someone of a higher integrity hasn't taken responsibility for the Elevators' catalogue yet. On this release, the word 'psychedelic' is misspelled as 'psychadelic' on both the back cover and spine, and we get yet another set of sketchy liner notes of dubious authority by another unknown scribe, although this guy manages to mix in some accurate facts. This seems to be par for the course for anything Elevators-wise. The myth created after the group disbanded that they were this supremely enlightened mushroom tribe who came out of the Texas tumbleweed is getting pretty tired. They WERE creating a unique sound and they WERE pioneers in the psychedelic genre, but let's leave it at that.I simply refuse to purchase the new 'Absolutely the Best Of...' compilation based solely on the cover art. And when is Tommy Hall going to get credit for being the conscience of this band, rather than Roky Erickson? Roky wrote the chords, not the lyrics, and he didn't even play lead. The fact that he makes a good hood ornament for the group's myth of dementia does not interest me. And he certainly was not an innocent victim.
About the music in this release: The re-mastering is only slight to my ears. Of the four bonus 'live' tracks, 'Everybody Needs Somebody To Love' and 'You Really Got Me' are both from the same Avalon Ballroom performance that's been bootlegged like 256 times before. 'Gloria' is from another source that I'm not aware of, and 'You're Gonna Miss Me' isn't even live, but rather the original version of the song recorded by Roky's previous group, the Spades, in 1965.
Elevators on Import
If you've made it this far, then you probably already know to buy an Import (such as this one) of this record, since Collectables has issued a version with awful sound. This one sounds as good as it's going to get for this LP (whose masters were apparently lost many years ago)... It's a tremendous rock and roll record, one that had a vast influence in the most creative era of the music's history. (No small feat, considering the other records released at that time ... Blonde on Blonde, Aftermath, Revolver, Highway 61). This one, recorded early in that process, turned all those heads. Not to be missed if you are hip or want to be. It's a great record.
The first consistently great psychedelic album . . .
What a shock to see this available with, for the first time, pretty good sound - the primitiveness of the recording has its limitations, but this is easily the best version of the album I've yet heard. The packaging faithfully restores the original, with no annoying label logos AND there are four live bonus tracks.
For those who've never heard this before, it's a must have if you like garage rock - one of the first really freaked out garage records that's listenable and enjoyable all the way through. And there haven't been that many since!It clearly shaped their sound, conception and lyrical concerns. Another way to look at it is that these guys actually influenced the Rolling Stones, not the other way around.
The over all sound is vaguely similar to a more chaotic and sinister version of the Seeds. The electric jug adds a bizarre element to many songs; it sounds like a weird bubbling synth in a way, and it's undeniably trippy.
A big hand goes out to Fuel 2000, who released this and a career overview CD of the band. I am PRAYING that further releases from the International Artists catalog are forthcoming with the same sort of care put into them that this one has. Please join me in my prayers.
Amen.
