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0 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Justifiable obscure Apr 17, 2008 There's a reason Pretty Things aren't household names -- their music is sub-par. Most of the early stuff sticks to the basic three-chord blues rock pattern; it's nothing special. Their attempt at a ballad, "Raining In My Heart" is a rip-off of the classic R&B tune "Honest I Do," which the Rolling Stones recorded on their "England's Newest Hit Makers The Rolling Stones" LP. And it isn't until halfway into this CD that I actually heard a song that wasn't based on three chords. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But the Beatles, The Stones, The Kinks, The Who, The Yardbirds and other British Invasion bands raised the musical bar too high for us to settle for this.
And for all the trash talk in the liner notes about how the Stones are now "respectable" and that the Pretty Things have always been "filthier and less reedeming than the Stones could ever be," this band has about as much an edge as the average '90s boy band. Their supposedly "raw" early songs are rather tame; their attempts at psychedelia are laughable; other songs, like "Walking Through My Dreams," evoke The Beatles -- a derivative, colorless version of The Beatles, but The Beatles nonetheless. It's like they have no identity of their own, going from an early-Stones/Animals/Them howl directly to a late-Beatles freak-out.
The last couple of songs, however, break away that sound, though no more successfully: "Grass" is a dull trip into soft-rock Steely Dan/Doobie Brothers territory (minus the grit); "Dream/Joey" is a little catchier, but seems to borrow Steven Tyler's voice and Ray Manzarek's keyboards, though I don't think they're consciously trying to imitate either Aerosmith or The Doors. The song, however, at almost seven minutes, goes on and on and on and...
On the last track, they return to their imitative ways with the very Who-ish "Singapore Silk Torpedo." All-in-all, I think a better title for this CD would be "DON'T Come See Me."
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Raw and unspoiled British R & B Feb 15, 2008 This CD is a good compilation of raw and unspoilt British R&B from the Sixties. If you like the early Rolling Stones or Kinks you will like this one. This is no music tailored for charts but pure early R & B,¨
This group is still going on tour with 3 original band members and the are still going strong after 45 years of making music sticking to their music which was way ahead of its time in the Sixties.
The first part of the CD is undoubtedly better than the second one which is more psychelic music.
Get this one and hear what Sixties Pop/R&B was all about
12 of 12 found the following review helpful:
Essential British Invasion rock Apr 28, 2005 This amazing collection covers all phases of the Pretty Things' overlooked (in the US) career: from raw R&B to garage to psych to hard rock, it's all here. If you love the Stones, Kinks, Them, and Small Faces and want to explore raw British rock even further, then this collection is essential! Get it now!
13 of 16 found the following review helpful:
The Pretty Things - A Rock 'n' Roll Jewel Jul 24, 2004 This band is an important part of rock 'n roll history. Do yourself a favour and go out and buy this (if you don't have PT CD's from sixties already). Then, check out PT masterpiece 'Parachute' - one of the best records ever made (Rolling Stone album of the year 1970).
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
uglier and more wicked than mick and stones Jun 20, 2004 pretty things to me, was always badder than mick and the stones. mick is pretty compared to phil may and company. their music started to sound a bit like the stones , at the beginning; but why not? they were both plagiarizing from bo diddley, chuck berry and all the great black rnb premiers. however, as soon as you reach "come see me" (the title track , track 11) you have to concede the "wicked-est" bass in rock history has to be from this tune. even the mighty "donald" duck dunn's bass would sound "quacky" (lol) compared to this bad-arse mother of all bass sound. venture further and pretty things abruptedly sounds pretty on track 15, making you think someone switched albums... barclay james harvest??? colin blunstone with argent??? but no, this is still pretty thing, and really ... sounding quite pretty... um, pretty impressive. more than ever before, this is really pretty things living up to their monicker. can a band so wicked and ugly , span the other extreme of the spectrum to sound pretty. well, ""the sun", "death of a socialite",etc... prove that this group is more than just a bunch of "ugly faces" making "ugly noise". hang on tight,mate ... as track 17 "defecting grey" takes you on a magic carpet ride with a little traffic-ky "paper sun" , then the byrds "8 miles high" and you hear everything from the move, who,etc... and awaaaaayyyyy youuuuu goooooo... this album keeps getting better as you float along with the sonic-evolution of the pretty things. surprise, surprise, ... and even more surprise; it's really quite nice. excellent anthology of a group that should have been credited for their talent alongside who, stones and move. as always, those who (excuse the pun) came first, never got the credit. this time, pretty things should be something worth listening... 37 years after. it's amazing, when you come to think of it, the members of the garage bands of today were not even fetuses when the tunes on this album first saw light.
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