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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. Squares |
| 2. Al Sharp |
| 3. Human Being |
| 4. Gone |
| 5. Dragon |
| 6. Broke |
| 7. Quiet |
| 8. Alleged |
| 9. Life |
| 10. Eclipse |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Hot Shots II is like a step back in time to when the wilful eclecticism of Super Furry Animals and creepy child-like melodies of Talk Talk held sway, a time when everything psychedelic seemed to come infused with Gregorian melancholia. The Beta Band's second album proper, Hot Shots II shows exactly why bedsit boys like Radiohead love 'em. It has soul, imagination and a most welcome inclination to gently experiment in found sound, while retaining a completeness lacking from their self-titled 1999 release. "Gone" swirls and eddies with wistful abandon, "All Sharp" utilises a tingly toy piano, while "Alleged" could be mistaken in a dim light for an acoustic track from Beck, a damn fine one at that. Then these four recalcitrant Scots boys throw in some raw temperate beats on "Broke" and some delirious three-part Beatles-esque harmonies on the closing, confusing "Eclipse", two tracks that straddle the middle ground between Kraftwerk and Jools Holland's "Later With..." and show with disconcerting ease that they're still lakes ahead of the opposition. --Everett True
Product Description
BETA BAND Hot Shots Part II (2001 10-track CD album from the lo-fi experimentalists including the withdrawn track Squares and the single Broke)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
A friend of mine gave me his copy of "the beta band" ('99) and said:"You wanna hear some really weird stuff?" I listened and concluded that this was far beyond hawkwind and just as strange and disturbed as beefheart. Only,.. I heard a lot more, and although it's not a great album, I somehow knew that something important was happening here. I bought "Hotshots" not because I expected such a brilliant record, but I just had to know what their next step would be.
The same week I went to a Roxy Music concert in Ahoy, Rotterdam. The next day, still feeling good about the roxymusic-gig, I suddenly realised that hotshots2 had the same quality as the first roxymusic album. The structure of the songs (songs changing halfway, or songs consisting of 2 or 3 songs put together) was not led by the universal "rules" for pop/rock-songs, but was led by a kind of emotion that every song had within itself. Being a musician myself I felt liberated when I heard this record. It's not easy for a musician to forget all the rules about how a pop-or-rocksong should be made, it's part of your basic (musical) knowledge. Betaband managed to leave everything behind, except their talent of inventing beautiful, very their-own, songs and compositions. And they also make the album sound like the perfect selection of songs for what this album stands for.
I don't want to sound like an idiot, but I think that the next release from the betaband could just be astonishing.
Excuse me for any language/style errors, I'm from Holland, so....
When will the betaband be performing in Holland?
The same week I went to a Roxy Music concert in Ahoy, Rotterdam. The next day, still feeling good about the roxymusic-gig, I suddenly realised that hotshots2 had the same quality as the first roxymusic album. The structure of the songs (songs changing halfway, or songs consisting of 2 or 3 songs put together) was not led by the universal "rules" for pop/rock-songs, but was led by a kind of emotion that every song had within itself. Being a musician myself I felt liberated when I heard this record. It's not easy for a musician to forget all the rules about how a pop-or-rocksong should be made, it's part of your basic (musical) knowledge. Betaband managed to leave everything behind, except their talent of inventing beautiful, very their-own, songs and compositions. And they also make the album sound like the perfect selection of songs for what this album stands for.
I don't want to sound like an idiot, but I think that the next release from the betaband could just be astonishing.
Excuse me for any language/style errors, I'm from Holland, so....
When will the betaband be performing in Holland?
With love...
Marcel
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The 3 ep's contained some of the best music to come out of anywhere in absolutely ages. I had high hopes for their first album and whereas a few of the tracks blew me away, i thought it was overlong and unfocussed. Hot Shots II (a great title!) however shows a triumphant return to form, with some great, catchy tunes and their trademark subtlety and complexity ever present throughout. The highlights for me are Al Sharp, Gone (with a haunting quality reminiscent of Radiohead circa OK computer) and Broke. Where the hell do these guys get their ideas from?
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Ah, the Beta Band. They'll never be a normal, proper band really will they? It's sometimes hard to love them, and just when they push you away with lousy albums ("The Beta Band") and grumpy interviews they come running back with open arms with superb singles like "To You Alone" and the occasional fantastic gig.
So, Hot Shots II finally arrived and they didn't slate it in the press. Unfortunately I did. Where was the Beta sound? Where was the beautifully strummed acoustic guitars and off-the-wall rhythms that were all over their magnificent "The 3 Eps"? Instead all I heard were a collection of rather dour, badly produced songs and an album I soon palmed off to a friend in disappointment.
Thankfully, something made me want to retrieve it back after a month or so. I think it was that I had "Squares" playing in my head constantly, and just when that had disappeared it was replaced with "Broke" - and then I realised, this was one of "those" albums - it was one that didn't necessarily ask you to fall in love with it straight away because you had to work at it.
Of course now I can't get enough of it, all except "Eclipsed" - which is still rubbish, but I'm glad once again that the Beta Band are still knocking around.
I might fall out of love with them again one day, but I know it won't be for long.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Faultless album
Really this is a faultless album. Love it! This is a desert island album with not a duff track on it :)
Published 16 days ago by onehappybunny
A bit of a dissapointment
maybe I missed the boat on this. Maybe you had to be there. I had this recommended to me as the Blur of Scotland (which is plainly not right as the whole album is mediocre rather... Read more
Published on 28 Aug 2009 by Oddboy
Wow
If Ok Computer didn't exist, this would be my favourite album. However, if one is of the opinion that Ok Computer is more than a mere album.... Read more
Published on 29 July 2005 by Elliot Davies
'And if you left it all to me, they 'd all go in the sea..'
How to describe Hot Shots II?
'Squares' starts almost pop - but with this cool trip hop tempo which immediately puts you in the mood. Read more
'Squares' starts almost pop - but with this cool trip hop tempo which immediately puts you in the mood. Read more
Published on 3 July 2005 by Sandrine
"The music we make is not particularly good"
The Beta Band had failed to deliver on the promise of The Three EPs on their eponymous 'proper' debut, but they perfected a winning formula on this, the follow-up. Read more
Published on 8 May 2005 by knowledeayton
Top Shot
I bought this album in the local record shop's closing down sale purely on the strength of a snippet of "Dry The Rain" in High Fidelity (the film) I couldn't find a copy of the... Read more
Published on 8 Mar 2004 by "janegoth"
very hot
After their groundbreaking "3 E.P's" I felt "The Beta Band" was a bit disappointing but then came "Hot Shots II" the album of the millenium so far. Read more
Published on 20 Sep 2002 by "dunx18"
Wow.
This is the best album of 2001, I don't care what anyone says. It's an intricate, complex album - kind of like a clearer version of THE THREE EPs [but then, with the Beta Band,... Read more
Published on 17 Feb 2002 by idioteque2650@hotmail.com
The darker side of the moon men.
The Beta Band's second album charts new darker and complex territory for the group. It is a bit of a contrast to their superb '3 EP's' release which seemed to define airy, trippy... Read more
Published on 24 Oct 2001
Probably the best album of 2001
With their two excellent previous albums The Beta Band-wizards already convinced me that they are indeed one of the most talented English bands of this era. Read more
Published on 24 Aug 2001 by pumpkin.ronny@skynet.be
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