Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The original...and still the best., 18 Jun 2006
In 1972 Lenny Kaye from the Patti Smith Group compiled a double vinyl album for Electra records. It consisted of half-forgotten mid-sixties singles by semi-obscure American bands. He cannot possibly have had any idea of what he was starting. At the time compilation albums were few and far between - unlike today. Furthermore the idea of compiling an album of relatively small hits and complete misses must have seemed totally crazy. Now 34 years later that original album is back - and at a budget price too! In the intervening years it has spawned an entire 'Nuggets' franchise. For example it has been been re-issued on vinyl (by Sire Records), given its name to a whole series of albums (also on vinyl) from Rhino (now sadly deleted), inspired the creation of three excellent box sets (Nuggets, Nuggets II and Children of Nuggets) as well as three single CD compilations - all with the name 'Nuggets' in their title (Nuggets, More Nuggets and Even More Nuggets). In fact, one could also argue that it helped create the whole garage-band compilation genre, as evidenced by the success of series such as Rubble, Pebbles, Psychedelic Pstones and such. However, surely the greatest evidence of its success is that many of the bands that appeared on the original Nuggets double-album are better known now than they were in their prime. Browse around Amazon or wander around your local record store and you can easily find material by the Standells, the Seeds, the Shadows of Knight, the 13th Floor Elevators and the Chocolate Watch Band.
And what of the music itself? Certainly a great deal of it is basic and discordant with little sophistication or technical expertise. However it is all infused with a tremendous energy and vitality with liberal helpings of street-corner punk attitude for good measure. Stylistically, everything from the early-Beatles (masquerading as the Knickerbockers) to Dylan (in the guise of Mouse and the Traps)is represented. But there is plenty of experimentation and innovation too - the Magic Mushrooms, Sagittarius and the Electric Prunes. Of course it all sounds a little quaint now, but it is still an enormous pleasure to hear it again as it was originally compiled.
Thank you Mr Kaye for having the vision to create and market the original concept. Because of you I have had many many happy years of musical discovery and listening pleasure.
Welcome back Nuggets!
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Real Nuggets!, 28 Jun 2006
The original vinyl version of this was stunning and a must have. The reissues have been very good but have tended to substitute in favoured or classic tracks like Louie Louie rather than the original track listing. The boxed set included the original tracks and a great deal more but somehow, despite the inclusions of many classics not on the original, like Love for example, it lost some impact. It was too much of a good thing if you like.
Now, here for the first time in several years is a reissue that is both beautifully packaged (albeit that you'll need a magnifying glass for the inside of the gatefold) and does no more or less than reproduce the original on CD in mini gatefold and at a ludicrously cheap price. As such it makes a fantastic artyfact in its' own right. However, it's the music that's the real revelation.
This is a classic compilation. It has highs and lows, something for everyone and the real status of being an iconic, important historical artyfact (sorry, I have to keep using their spelling) , however, unlike many influential records, its' biggest asset is that it has the music in spades. It's corny, hard, soft, tacky and obscure. Fundamentally it's a record no collection should be without. It's not perfect. Everybody will have at least one track or more that they hate but they'll also have at least half a dozen tracks that lead them to explore new musical avenues and a lifetime of pleasure.
Enjoy.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This record changed lives..., 2 Jul 2006
Simply one of the greatest albums you will ever buy. A distillation of the finest US garage punk from the late 60s, this first appeared in the early 70s and, like they used to say about the Pistols early gigs, it seemed like everyone who heard it either formed or joined a band. As much as seeing bands like the Clash or the Ramones, 'Nuggets' told you that you didn't need to be a guitar hero to write a song, you didn't need a corporation to make a record. Ideas, chutzpah and a modicum of talent were plenty.
Which is not to say that this is amateur hour. 'Punk' in those days referred to the famously snot-nosed attitude that these bands espoused, not to a conscious rejection of technique and skill. These boys could really play, in a style picked up from British beat bands but honed, warped and retooled, allegedly through acid, more likely through weed and amphetamines. Great tunes are everywhere, solos and other decorative elements are pithy and minimal, little is more than two and a half minutes long and the sum of these parts adds up to a whole stack of pop excitement, without an extraneous note or song on the whole set. Styles vary from the breathless pop rush of the Seeds 'Pushing Too Hard' through the assured R'n'B of the Standells (arguably America's great lost band) 'Dirty Water', the sweet pop of The Crayan Shames' 'Sugar and Spice', the Dylanesque Mouse & the Traps and much, much more...
Nuggets reappeared a few years ago in a greatly extended box set form, but its dilution seemed to run counter to the spirit of that garage ethos; this is the real fat-free deal.
In 1974, this fabulous record changed the lives of everyone who heard it. So what are you waiting for ?
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