NOTICE : All prices, availability, and specifications are subject to verification by Amazon.com.
Privacy
Policy
Copyright © 2008 Dominant Systems Corporation
info@jazzdigger.com
Last Modified : 12-2-2008
|
The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
|
JazzDigger Home > E - Jazz Artists > Elevators > Item 7
 |
The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
|
|
|
by 13th Floor Elevators
Sales Rank: 77476
Price:$16.13
|
|
Album Details
|
1. You're Gonna Miss Me
|
|
2. Roller Coaster
|
|
3. Splash 1
|
|
4. Reverberation Doubt
|
|
5. Don't Fall Down
|
|
6. Fire Engine
|
|
7. Thru the Rhythm
|
|
8. You Don't Know How Young You Are
|
|
9. Kingdom of Heaven
|
|
10. Monkey Island
|
|
11. Tried to Hide
|
|
|
For the first time in 40 years, here it is in dangerously powerful MONO, exactly as it was intended: the stupefying debut album by Texas' heroic psychedelic point-men, the 13th Floor Elevators, on Sundazed's uncannily accurate high-definition vinyl! The unearthly banshee howl of Roky Erickson, the blistering guitar of Stacy Sutherland and the demented electric jug of Tommy Hall haven't sounded this scary since their glory days in the third eye of the lysergic hurricane!
|
|
Listener Reviews & Comments
As someone who fancies himself a psych collector, I must admit that in all of my records, tapes and CDs, the hardest and most mystifying stumbling block has got to be The 13th Floor Elevator's debut. I don't expect to get too many "helpful votes" from readers for saying this, but "Psychedelic Sounds" has got to be the most overrated psych LP of all time. Before I go on, I will list what I consider to be its good points: the fabulous cover, the inspiring group-written liner notes (which say more about the excitement of those earliest acid days than anything Leary ever attempted), the expansion of those liner notes in the lyrics to songs like "Roller Coaster" and "Kingdom Of Heaven", and the fact that all of this came out in the summer of '66, making "Psychedelic Sounds" a strong contender for the first pysch-oriented LP ever released ("Fifth Dimension", "Revolver", "Freak Out!" and "Roger The Engineer", all released in July and August, are the others). However, when I first heard about this album being a psych classic I thought it would be...well...*psychedelic*, and in more than the lyrical sense. Instead, what I heard was a collection of poorly played garage-rock numbers which all sounded exactly alike (the only difference being that a few were extended beyond the 3-minute mark), coupled with extremely poor sound quality. The only musical "psych" innovation was the amplified jug, which sounded fantastic at first (not knowing what it was, I wondered what brilliant studio innovation the group had pioneered!) but wore out its welcome when used over the entirety of the record without any other musical point of interest cropping up. Now, don't get me wrong, here--my definition of psychedelia is very fluid. It doesn't just have to be sitars, phasing effects, burbly synths or twenty minute jazz-ragas (although all of that is nice). A lot of the early "Nuggets" garage rock of '66 had a pioneering quality, not only in musical and lyrical terms, but in "feel". But as admirable as the group's intent was, it just seems like the packaging of the album, combined with its reputation, led me to expect something a bit more musically mind-blowing than what I got. What is there is OK--especially the lyrics and the jug sound--but it gets awfully repetitive after the first three tracks. What is even more frustrating is that I have the rest of the group's output, plus bootlegs, and it is *all* superior to "Psychedelic Sounds"--for example, the sophomore effort "Easter Everywhere" sounds much more in tune with what I was expecting, with musical diversity and more intense "feel". There's even a bootleg of a show from Austin in '66 where the band engages in several incredible jazz-raga jams which are completely absent from the studio record. I suppose "Psychedelic Sounds" has the reputation it does because it came so very early in the psych movement (boots obviously don't count). While it is true that the overall cover design, liner notes and lyrics hold great historic value, one has to look elsewhere in the group's catalogue for the real musical meat.
|
|
Back To Top
|
The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
by 13th Floor Elevators
Price:$16.13
|
|
|
