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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
As much as any other television moment of the 70s, everyone of a certain age remembers the moment they saw Ron Mael- as John Lennon put it "Hitler on the telly" - playing keyboards on Top of The Pops to a song both terrifying and glamourous called "This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us" sung by a man with an unnaturally high voice (Ron's younger brother Russell). The song was a summation of Sparks - off-the-wall, slightly sinister but very compelling - and an excellent representation of its parent album Kimono My House. Recorded by a relocated Sparks (the Maels and new recruits), the album showcases a step up in power and commerciality, but retains the band's established weirdness, the sum total of which makes this their best album. The energetic glam power-pop gems belie a lyrical black humour - "Amateur Hour's tale of adolescent sex ("It's a lot like playing the violin/ You cannot start off and be a Yehudi Menuhin"), while "Here In Heaven" portrays Romeo's monologue in a parallel tale wherein Juliet didn't follow him into the afterlife. Now equipped with attendant B-sides (including the floor-shaking "Barbecutie"), this is an essential introduction to one of rock's best-kept secrets. --Thom Allott
Amazon.co.uk Review
Sparks have been mixing pure pop with outrageous musical experimentalism and high intelligence for almost 30 years, and Kimono My House is still their best album. If just for "This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us", one of the most startling and singular singles ever released, like a wilder and more perverse Roxy Music, or a surrealist Gilbert & Sullivan ("The thunder of stampeding rhinos/ Elephants and tacky tigers"). But "Kimono My House" is full of the same symphonic delirium, Ron Mael's sharp, funny lyrics and brother Russell's vocal acrobatics, self-consciously spectacular songs that seem to be charging in three directions at once, eruptions of extrovert eccentricity. And the fairground whirl of "Amateur Hour" offers better advice to fumbling teenage lovers than any advice column. "It's a lot like playing the violin," suggest Sparks. "You cannot start off and be Yehudi Menuhin." --Taylor Parkes
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This was the Mael brothers first foray into the UK/Europe back in 1974. After completing 2 weird and wonderful American albums they set up in London, advertised for a band and produced a number of well received albums and singles, beginning with this rockin' gem. The 2 British top 10 singles: "This Town...." and "Amateur Hour" are first up and then things begin to get interesting. The album is tight, Dinky's drumming rock hard, Adrian's guitar playing superb and Martin's bass loud and exciting. Standout tracks include "Hasta Manana Monsieur"; "Up Here In Heaven" and "Thank God its not Christmas". Sparks could never perform this good live, but if you want a slice of '74 then buy it.
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Sparks' 'Kimono My House' ranks as one of the greatest albums of all time- despite the fact Sparks have created a wealth of excellent records, this is one that stands out. It's a record that has been cited as an influence, or just is an influence, by/of such acts as Morrissey, Depeche Mode, Siouxsie & the Banshees, New Order, Faith No More, Franz Ferdinand, Associates, The Darkness (and so on...)It's also one of the great long-players of the glam-era, taking its place alongside such classics as Bowie's 'Ziggy Stardust', T-Rex's 'Electric Warrior', Roxy Music's 'For Your Pleasure', Todd Rundgren's 'Something/Anything' & Lou Reed's 'Transformer.'
Recorded in the UK, where the Mael-brothers were joined by Dinky Diamond (Drums), Martin Gordon (Bass) & Adrian Fisher (Guitar) - Sparks' had a suitably rock-band sound for their Mael-pop. That line-up have played this album alongside the recent 'Lil' Beethoven' at Morrissey's Meltdown festival and beyond (there is a DVD) Whoever said this album was rubbish & nothing more than 'This Town...' is clearly talking out of their posterior. 'Kimono My House' is loaded with pop-classics, even bonus-track 'Lost and Found' (a dead ringer for Suede, like Ultravox!'s 'Life at Rainbow's End') is a classic!
Highlights on an album populated by highlights include 'Amateur Hour', the caustic 'Talent Is An Asset', the prog-ish 'Equator' & the fantastic ode to narcissism 'Falling in Love with Myself Again.' & these are probably not the uber-highlights, which include the caustic gripe 'Thank God It's Not Christmas' - which with 'Here in Heaven' (Juliet bottles out of the suicide pact) makes clear the reason why Morrissey adores them. The humour is fantastic, and possibly the reason why people don't take this album as seriously as they should- classic-lines include "It's a lot like playing the violin/You cannot start off and be Yehudi Menuhin" ('Amateur Hour') & "You mentioned Kant and I was shocked/You know where I come from none of the girls have such foul tongues" ('Hasta Manana, Monsieur'- up there with Monty Python's playful Philosophy Song!).
The two ultra-uber highlights have to be the most well known track 'This Town...', which is a glampoprockrush which nods sinisterly to war ("You are a Khaki-coloured bombadier- it's Hiroshima that you're nearing...the bullets cannot cut you down")& have the euphoric repetition, "Heartbeat/Increasing heartbeat." & my personal favourite 'Hasta Manana, Monsieur' - which manages to allude to 'Strawberry Fields Forever' intelligently (note to Oasis' 'Go Let It Out') and sounds wonderful with such odd lines such as the refrain, "Kimono My House, Mon Amour/I am sure that this motion don't need no accompanying words/Guess I was wrong because you've fled/Leaving me with my Michelin Guide and a half-empty foreign bed." It's kind of amusing and melancholic, a happy-sad-odd pop-rush that makes me wonder if they're the Kurt Vonnegut of pop-music?
'Kimono My House' is quite reasonably the number one album in heaven - though follow-up 'Propaganda' is as great too!
19 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Sparks' 'Kimono My House' ranks as one of the greatest albums of all time- despite the fact Sparks have created a wealth of excellent records, this is one that stands out. It's a record that has been cited as an influence, or just is an influence, by/of such acts as Morrissey, Depeche Mode, Siouxsie & the Banshees, New Order, Faith No More, Franz Ferdinand, Associates, The Darkness (and so on...)It's also one of the great long-players of the glam-era, taking its place alongside such classics as Bowie's 'Ziggy Stardust', T-Rex's 'Electric Warrior', Roxy Music's 'For Your Pleasure', Todd Rundgren's 'Something/Anything' & Lou Reed's 'Transformer.'
Recorded in the UK, where the Mael-brothers were joined by Dinky Diamond (Drums), Martin Gordon (Bass) & Adrian Fisher (Guitar) - Sparks' had a suitably rock-band sound for their Mael-pop. Whoever said this album was rubbish & nothing more than 'This Town...' is clearly talking out of their posterior. 'Kimono My House' is loaded with pop-classics, even bonus-track 'Lost and Found' (a dead ringer for Suede, like Ultravox!'s 'Life at Rainbow's End') is a classic!
Highlights on an album populated by highlights include 'Amateur Hour', the caustic 'Talent Is An Asset', the prog-ish 'Equator' & the fantastic ode to narcissism 'Falling in Love with Myself Again.' & these are probably not the uber-highlights, which include the caustic gripe 'Thank God It's Not Christmas' - which with 'Here in Heaven' (Juliet bottles out of the suicide pact) makes clear the reason why Morrissey adores them. The humour is fantastic, and possibly the reason why people don't take this album as seriously as they should- classic-lines include "It's a lot like playing the violin/You cannot start off and be Yehudi Menuhin" ('Amateur Hour') & "You mentioned Kant and I was shocked/You know where I come from none of the girls have such foul tongues" ('Hasta Manana, Monsieur'- up there with Monty Python's playful Philosophy Song!).
The two ultra-uber highlights have to be the most well known track 'This Town...', which is a glampoprockrush which nods sinisterly to war ("You are a Khaki-coloured bombadier- it's Hiroshima that you're nearing...the bullets cannot cut you down")& have the euphoric repetition, "Heartbeat/Increasing heartbeat." & my personal favourite 'Hasta Manana, Monsieur' - which manages to allude to 'Strawberry Fields Forever' intelligently (note to Oasis' 'Go Let It Out') and sounds wonderful with such odd lines such as the refrain, "Kimono My House, Mon Amour/I am sure that this motion don't need no accompanying words/Guess I was wrong because you've fled/Leaving me with my Michelin Guide and a half-empty foreign bed." It's kind of amusing and melancholic, a happy-sad-odd pop-rush that makes me wonder if they're the Kurt Vonnegut of pop-music?
'Kimono My House' is quite reasonably the number one album in heaven (though a later Sparks album from 1979 might count too?) - though follow-up 'Propaganda' is as great too! As are the latest two Sparks albums...this is the best version released, coming remastered with great sleevenotes and pics and at a budget price...
Recorded in the UK, where the Mael-brothers were joined by Dinky Diamond (Drums), Martin Gordon (Bass) & Adrian Fisher (Guitar) - Sparks' had a suitably rock-band sound for their Mael-pop. Whoever said this album was rubbish & nothing more than 'This Town...' is clearly talking out of their posterior. 'Kimono My House' is loaded with pop-classics, even bonus-track 'Lost and Found' (a dead ringer for Suede, like Ultravox!'s 'Life at Rainbow's End') is a classic!
Highlights on an album populated by highlights include 'Amateur Hour', the caustic 'Talent Is An Asset', the prog-ish 'Equator' & the fantastic ode to narcissism 'Falling in Love with Myself Again.' & these are probably not the uber-highlights, which include the caustic gripe 'Thank God It's Not Christmas' - which with 'Here in Heaven' (Juliet bottles out of the suicide pact) makes clear the reason why Morrissey adores them. The humour is fantastic, and possibly the reason why people don't take this album as seriously as they should- classic-lines include "It's a lot like playing the violin/You cannot start off and be Yehudi Menuhin" ('Amateur Hour') & "You mentioned Kant and I was shocked/You know where I come from none of the girls have such foul tongues" ('Hasta Manana, Monsieur'- up there with Monty Python's playful Philosophy Song!).
The two ultra-uber highlights have to be the most well known track 'This Town...', which is a glampoprockrush which nods sinisterly to war ("You are a Khaki-coloured bombadier- it's Hiroshima that you're nearing...the bullets cannot cut you down")& have the euphoric repetition, "Heartbeat/Increasing heartbeat." & my personal favourite 'Hasta Manana, Monsieur' - which manages to allude to 'Strawberry Fields Forever' intelligently (note to Oasis' 'Go Let It Out') and sounds wonderful with such odd lines such as the refrain, "Kimono My House, Mon Amour/I am sure that this motion don't need no accompanying words/Guess I was wrong because you've fled/Leaving me with my Michelin Guide and a half-empty foreign bed." It's kind of amusing and melancholic, a happy-sad-odd pop-rush that makes me wonder if they're the Kurt Vonnegut of pop-music?
'Kimono My House' is quite reasonably the number one album in heaven (though a later Sparks album from 1979 might count too?) - though follow-up 'Propaganda' is as great too! As are the latest two Sparks albums...this is the best version released, coming remastered with great sleevenotes and pics and at a budget price...
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Vintage Sparks
Great classic at a great price but no idea of why they included a live version of Amateur Hour - Russell's voice was all shot to hell and he cannot even sing half of the chorus!! Read more
Published 9 months ago by DR_KIlsyth
Revisting my student days!
This CD took me back to my university days. You either like it or you dont and I certainly do ! Great music and great memories. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mr. T. Howard
Average
This town is'nt big enough for the both of us is an excellent song one of my favourite singles ever, very original and experimental so i decided to buy Kimono My House. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Matthew
Fabulous nolstalgia.
My husband and I played the vinyl version of this brilliant album until we nearly wore it out. Years later, it is an absolute pleasure to play it again on cd and we can't figure... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Ms. Carol A. Mills-field
Kimono me in New Zealand!
Having read the review in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, I thought WHY NOT GIVE IT A GO!!! Read more
Published 23 months ago by B. Stuart
Here In (Sparks) Heaven....
...."Zoo time, is she and you time..." and thus my love affair with Sparks began, in May 1974. From the first time I heard that captivating intro, I was hooked. Read more
Published on 26 Sep 2009 by JUDE
memories
bought the original lp many,many years ago.The quirkiness of the duo has not lessened over the years. A nostalgic buy, but what the hell!!!
Published on 1 July 2009 by B. G. Cullen
Garbage
Garbage. In the bin allready. Liked it all those years ago. But not now. Think I'm getting old.
Published on 7 Oct 2008 by vlad the impalla
a perfect album
great songs , great musicianship , a production that was light years ahead of it's time . this album is up there with the likes of the first velvets album re the influenece it had... Read more
Published on 14 July 2007 by S. B. Singleton
Unique
It's always the sign of a stone cold classic album when you can't place the year it was made in. Despite recording it in 1974, square in the middle of the glam fad, this could be... Read more
Published on 18 Dec 2006 by C. Brown
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