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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Boos go POP! And they do it brilliantly..., 3 Feb 2001
3 and a half minutes is all it takes. Wake Up Boo! is one of the greatest pop songs of the last ten years, and anyone who disagrees is a curmudgeonly old fool, frankly, who must be too dull and old and po-faced to be seduced by it's perfectly Motown-tastic brass and breezy Autumn-morning chorus. But don't be fooled - there may well be loads of hooks and choruses on this LP, but it's still the Boos, and those hooks and choruses are still tied to psychedelic guitar abuse and deeply touching sentiment. If you think Wake Up Boo! is all this album, or indeed, the Boos, are about, then you are very much mistaken. Check out Wilder and Twinside. Sod it, just buy this album. And Giant Steps too. You bloody deserve it.
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4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I wouldn't start from here if I were you, 17 Jan 2005
Having just returned to this album for a first listen in a couple of years, it has become apparent why it's the Boo Radleys album that I listen to least of them all. Compared to the colossal achievements of Giant Steps and Kingsize - two of the finest albums in my collection - this is a weak album. Perhaps it's that it is too commercial but when the most commercial track on the album is the wonderful Wake Up Boo! I don't think that it's that. Maybe it was just recorded in a period when Martin Carr's light of inspiration was a little dimmed. That's not to say that the album doesn't have its merits; the aforementioned Wake Up Boo, Stuck on Amber, Wilder and Reaching Out From Here are all tracks that wouldn't look out of place on their better albums. But if you are looking for a place to start discovering the qualities that made the Boo Radleys one of the best bands of the 90s then in the words of the old joke - I wouldn't start from here if I were you.
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4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
It's easier to drink than to think, 23 Mar 2001
The album where the Boo Radleys realised their dreams of pop stardom...the Wake Up Boo! single went Top 10 and propelled this LP to number one...it all seems faintly unreal in retrospect.
The superficial cheeriness of Wake Up Boo! is not indicative of the rest of the LP; generally, the theme throughout is typically downbeat. The Boos always sounded best when they were simply wallowing in self-pity (try the brilliant Stuck On Amber for size) or, to coin a phrase, being experi-mental (e.g. the alarming change of tempo midway through Joel).
Unfortunately, Wake Up!'s highs are tempered by other less inspired moments - the attempts to replicate Wake Up Boo!'s blatantly commercial sound on a number of other tracks, notably its follow-up singles Find The Answer Within and It's Lulu, are considerably less successful, while Charles Bukowski Is Dead is, frankly, a waste of time.
Overall, Wake Up! is a confusing LP, unsure whether it wants to be one thing or another, and as such is probably the Boos' weakest.
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