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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
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Average Customer Review

3.4 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kid A before Radiohead came up with the idea. , 24 Oct 2006

By	Will Flitcroft "wilbur13" (West Midlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wah Wah (Audio CD)

I remember first listening to this album and thinking "oh my god.... What have done". Thinking i'd wasted valuable student drinking money on an album of half-baked musical doodles. Stupid me I hadn't read the linear notes, which certainly cast new light upon it. After really 'listening' to the album in full I started to get what was going on. Delicate, immediate, going with the flow all sprang to mind. It's James at their most naked, creative-wise. Only the genius of Eno could have brought this out of a band riding on the wave at their most creative point. Like Kid A and many an Eno album it's best listened to through headphones in a dark room, close your eyes and just imagine being sat on a bean bag in a subdued studio whilst one of indie's founding fathers play an intimate set for you.

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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Wah-wah-wah!" - not "Blah-blah-blah", 14 Jul 2004

By	"sjm107" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wah Wah (Audio CD)

Plenty of Eno spookiness - combined with Tim Booth anthemics. Check out the progress of the making of this album in Eno's Diaries.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A more experimental sound far removed from the James of "Sit Down", 16 Mar 2009

By	Alistair Murray (London) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Wah Wah (Audio CD)

I really do think those who are awarding this album one or two stars are slightly missing the point of Wah Wah. As far as I'm aware this album was never intended to be fully formed or a flawlessly produced masterpiece. It is essentially a collection of out-takes and improvisation designed to give the listener an insight into the creative process the band go through to deliver their more polished efforts such as Seven or Laid. The liner notes written by Tim Booth explain how the project was first put together and essentially why they decided to release it.

There are only a few tracks here that could be considered "finished" i.e. have a proper flow, structure and lyrics. These would be Jam J, Rhythmic Dreaming, Gospel Oak, Honest Joe and Tomorrow. The latter was destined to be re-recorded by the band (and Stephen Hague) for 1997's Whiplash where it clearly stands out as a career high both commercially and in terms of "that's simply a great pop song". Here, the track is already fully formed a full four years before Whiplash but sports a much more rough and ready sound which characterizes most of Wah Wah right down to the minimalistic cardboard digi-pak.

Rhythmic Dreams is a blissfully chilled out jam with Booth free-forming lyrics over Gott's distant guitar work; a mellow stand out. Honest Joe and Jam J have a much more distorted and heavy sound; they both feature unpolished and rawer instrumentation and we can hear the band taking some risks with their sound. James would never sound quite so far removed from the jangly guitar and trumpets sound of their traditional sound again; excellent stuff.

I like this album a lot but know it's probably considered a niche or leftfield pleasure. If I was looking to turn a friend onto the band this would probably be the last album I would give them but it's still well worth checking out if you appreciate something a bit off the wall and - more importantly - you own enough James albums to know they're hands down one of the best groups the UK has produced.

Highly recommended to longer term fans however newer listeners may want to start off with Laid or Fresh As A Daisy and come around to Wah Wah in your own time. That's pretty much what I did.

On a final note, Wah Wah's status as a James oddity was further solidified when the label and/or band chose not to re-release with the other remasters in 2001. It remains out of print as of early 2009 but the original pressing is still easily attainable if you're willing to pay.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Unlistenable
Even if you are a huge James fan as well as a fan of Eno (and I am), this album is pretty close to unlistenable. Read more

Published 10 months ago by A. Lawler

2.0 out of 5 stars My whole world, breaking down, the pressure's on!
A very strange one this, conceived almost entirely from pure compositions during the Laid Sessions of 1993 by the fantastic James and celebrated producer Brian Eno. Read more

Published on 30 April 2003 by Pooka (Ben Maydon)

2.0 out of 5 stars For true collectors ONLY!
I bought this album as I had everything else ever produced by James, and the concept of a near-improvised album sounded quite appealing. Read more

Published on 19 Nov 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Rare gems
This CD is a collection of studio cuts from when James started working with Brian Eno, which led them into more mainstream success than had been previously granted with albums... Read more

Published on 7 Aug 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars wow!
Why on earth did they make so few of this album? Its one of the most revealing and insightful recordings ever. Read more

Published on 10 Oct 2000

› See all 8 customer reviews...

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	24% buy Whiplash (2001 Reissue) 4.3 out of 5 stars (3) �2.98
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