- Audio CD (26 Feb 2008)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Format: Original recording remastered
- Label: Sanctuary
- ASIN: B0001WPSFE
- Other Editions: Audio CD | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 131,643 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
Jubilee Offer: Patriot Classics for £2.50 |
Product details |
Track Listings
| 1. Open My Eyes | |||
| 2. Back Of Your Mind | |||
| 3. See What You Can Be | |||
| 4. Hello It's Me | |||
| 5. Wildwood Blues | |||
| 6. If That's The Way You Feel | |||
| 7. When I Get My Plane | |||
| 8. Lemming Song | |||
| 9. Crowded | |||
| 10. She's Goin' Down | |||
| 11. Nazz Radio Commercials | |||
| 12. Train Kept A Rollin' | |||
| 13. Magic Me | |||
| 14. See What You Can Be | |||
| 15. Hello It's Me | |||
| 16. Crowded | |||
| 17. Open My Eyes | |||
| 18. Lemming Song | |||
| 19. The Nazz Are Blue | |||
| 20. Why Is It Me | |||
See all 22 tracks on this disc
| |||
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Nazz are one of the great lost American bands of the 1960s and this, their debut, album is essential listening for anyone with a penchant for garage groups or melodic pop. Both are much in evidence here, with the influence of The Who as obvious as Todd Rundgren's melodic gift.
It goes without saying that there are worse ways to spend your money.
It goes without saying that there are worse ways to spend your money.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Tracks 1-10 of this CD comprise Nazz's eponymous debut album with the remainder being the now almost obligatory demos and alternate mixes (and even a couple of radio commercials in this instance) found on most reissues nowadays. Nazz were probably a difficult band to pigeon hole upon the release of their debut - all their influences can be heard - blues, garage, R&B, psychedelia, hard rock and pop - but the end result is a near perfect Power Pop classic. They could almost be credited with inventing the genre given that this was originally released in 1968 - it's almost the bridge between the blues and garage of the 60s and Power Pop of the 70s.
Opener 'Open My Eyes' is an out and out rocker punctuated by a stunning bass line and some cool psych phasing. 'Back of My Mind' takes its influence from Cream and 'When I Get My Plane' is clearly indebted to The Who. However, despite their obvious influences, this album holds its own and the song writing and musicianship are almost faultless, as are the Beach Boys inspired vocal harmonies. The interplay between the band members is sublime at times and they always keep it tight with plenty of soaring guitar solos and even drums and bass solos. There are three near perfect ballads which highlight the quality of the vocal harmonies, particularly on the gorgeous 'Crowded'.
Of the bonus material, whilst not unwelcome, it's hardly essential with the highlight being the messy out-take 'Train Kept a Rollin''. The remainder consists of demos, a blues drenched live track and mono mixes of 'Hello It's Me' and 'Open My Eyes'. In summary (and bonus material aside), this is a 60's gem and where it all began for the young Todd Rundgren. Recommended.
Opener 'Open My Eyes' is an out and out rocker punctuated by a stunning bass line and some cool psych phasing. 'Back of My Mind' takes its influence from Cream and 'When I Get My Plane' is clearly indebted to The Who. However, despite their obvious influences, this album holds its own and the song writing and musicianship are almost faultless, as are the Beach Boys inspired vocal harmonies. The interplay between the band members is sublime at times and they always keep it tight with plenty of soaring guitar solos and even drums and bass solos. There are three near perfect ballads which highlight the quality of the vocal harmonies, particularly on the gorgeous 'Crowded'.
Of the bonus material, whilst not unwelcome, it's hardly essential with the highlight being the messy out-take 'Train Kept a Rollin''. The remainder consists of demos, a blues drenched live track and mono mixes of 'Hello It's Me' and 'Open My Eyes'. In summary (and bonus material aside), this is a 60's gem and where it all began for the young Todd Rundgren. Recommended.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
9 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
The Nazz of Philadelphia
7 May 2007
Format:Audio CD
I have seen people put this album down but I have to say that this is great album. Not only that this is Todd Rundgren's first group it also shows how much talent he had at 18. Yes, they are wearing their influences on their collective sleeves but for a debut it's not a surprise. This album has everthing in it. The slick pop of "Open My Eyes" to the ballad "Hello It's Me" (which by the way is playing on WDAS regularly in a new soul version) and the Association like "Crowded" to rockers like "Wildwood Blues" & "She's Going Down" it's almost a crime that Nazz weren't more popular than they were. This new re-issue is an improvement in sound than the Rhino re-issues from the last century and the bonus cuts are a nice addition especially the humorous radio spots done by the band. So if you're looking to upgrade from your worn out vinyl pick this up
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Not a terrible album at all!
30 Oct 2006
Format:Audio CD
This album was criminally overlooked in the late 60s. The Nazz was much greater than the sum of its parts, and shows Todd Rundgren's prowess even back then when he was just really getting started. The Philly-area band also featured the great Robert "Stewkey" Antoni on vocals, Carson Van Osten on bass and the rambunctious drumming of Thom Mooney. Sure, it had its "garage band" moments, but that was its charm and its fire.
"Open My Eyes" grabs you from the start with its "I Can't Explain" intro and takes off from there. To be fair to Todd Rundgren, I'll take the solo version of "Hello, It's Me" from four years later over this one, but even this version showcases their ability to construct gorgeous harmonies. Some other high points: "Wildwood Blues", "Back of Your Mind" with their intense guitars, the alternate versions of "The Lemming Song" (one of them from Todd's prior band Woody's Truck Stop) and a live rendition of "The Nazz are Blue", the Yardbirds classic...fascinating stuff for Rundgren fans everywhere. These guys knew exactlly what they were doing, and it showed. Perfect? No. But did it suck? Not at all, when you realize what it led to. A lot of bands would kill to have as good a first album as this. If you're just getting familiar with Todd, you need to check out where he started (until somsone comes out with a decent compilation of Woody's Truck Stop's material). If you already have the Nazz albumss, this is an awesome upgrade. I discovered some tracks here I didn't even know existed, and I've been a major Nazz fan since they were around!
"Open My Eyes" grabs you from the start with its "I Can't Explain" intro and takes off from there. To be fair to Todd Rundgren, I'll take the solo version of "Hello, It's Me" from four years later over this one, but even this version showcases their ability to construct gorgeous harmonies. Some other high points: "Wildwood Blues", "Back of Your Mind" with their intense guitars, the alternate versions of "The Lemming Song" (one of them from Todd's prior band Woody's Truck Stop) and a live rendition of "The Nazz are Blue", the Yardbirds classic...fascinating stuff for Rundgren fans everywhere. These guys knew exactlly what they were doing, and it showed. Perfect? No. But did it suck? Not at all, when you realize what it led to. A lot of bands would kill to have as good a first album as this. If you're just getting familiar with Todd, you need to check out where he started (until somsone comes out with a decent compilation of Woody's Truck Stop's material). If you already have the Nazz albumss, this is an awesome upgrade. I discovered some tracks here I didn't even know existed, and I've been a major Nazz fan since they were around!
razzamaNAZZ
8 Dec 2010
Format:Audio CD
Nazz was a Philadelphia based band made up of Todd Rundgren, Robert "Stewkey" Antoni, Carson Van Osten and Thom Mooney with their first album released in April 1968 on SGC Records. It was produced by Bill Traut with Open My Eyes and Hello It's Me produced by the band. The record opens with Open My Eyes, a song clearly inspired by The Who and The Small Faces but still having enough of it's own personality to make it worthy in it's own right. Back Of Your Mind is a hard rocker while See What You Can Be sounds more Peter Asher than The Who. Next up, the original version of Hello It's Me which Todd would rework in a couple of years for Something / Anything. This version is much more somber than the latter, more well known version but still works well. The first half of the album ends with the British blues inspired Wildwood Blues and is the first song on the record not to be entirely written by Todd.
The second half starts off with the ballad If That's The Way You Feel and picks back up with When I Get My Plane. Lemming Song dates back to Todd's pre Nazz band Woody's Truck Stop and the song reminds me of an early Jefferson Airplane song with the song itself being quite nice. Crowded is a great tune and is written by Stewkey and Thom Mooney. The original album ends with Todd's upbeat She's Goin' Down. This cd version is packed with bonus songs of demos, single mixes, and even a live version of The Yardbirds The Nazz Are Blue which is the song that inspired the group's name. As far as the album itself, it's very good with only a couple of songs being what I would call "throw aways" although the album does have a bit of a dated feel.
The second half starts off with the ballad If That's The Way You Feel and picks back up with When I Get My Plane. Lemming Song dates back to Todd's pre Nazz band Woody's Truck Stop and the song reminds me of an early Jefferson Airplane song with the song itself being quite nice. Crowded is a great tune and is written by Stewkey and Thom Mooney. The original album ends with Todd's upbeat She's Goin' Down. This cd version is packed with bonus songs of demos, single mixes, and even a live version of The Yardbirds The Nazz Are Blue which is the song that inspired the group's name. As far as the album itself, it's very good with only a couple of songs being what I would call "throw aways" although the album does have a bit of a dated feel.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
