If you see Singles As and Bs, buy it simply for the liner notes.
― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Friday, 28 January 2005 22:53 (nineteen years ago) link
all you need is "Odessey" and the singles thing.
i'd say get the blunstone comp "some years" too; there's a real falloff toward the end, but it's worth it for "misty roses" and "caroline goodbye."
avoid the reunion shit like the plague--"new world" and "as far as i can see" both suck, and i'm a zombies fan...
― es hurt (ddduncan), Saturday, 29 January 2005 00:08 (nineteen years ago) link
I believe it's easy to find, and in my opinion it has about 75% of the Zombies songs you'll ever want to hear, including what seems like about half of the songs from "Odessey & Oracle". And the liner notes really are great: kind of a big narrative collage of cuttings of singles reviews and photos from the English music press.
When it comes to The Zombies, the main thing you need to do is just dance around with friends to "Time of the Season". The rhythm starts and stops and jerks you around a bit, but it's worth it because it's one of the coolest and funnest songs ever.
― matias f., Saturday, 29 January 2005 05:26 (nineteen years ago) link
― fim tinn, Saturday, 29 January 2005 05:35 (nineteen years ago) link
― es hurt (ddduncan), Saturday, 29 January 2005 17:41 (nineteen years ago) link
― AaronK (AaronK), Thursday, 27 October 2005 11:38 (eighteen years ago) link
― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Sunday, 29 October 2006 06:24 (seventeen years ago) link
so ILX is where the girls are. i never would have guessed.
― Godfrzej Ljang (godfrzej), Monday, 30 October 2006 09:33 (seventeen years ago) link
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Monday, 30 October 2006 14:06 (seventeen years ago) link
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 30 October 2006 15:57 (seventeen years ago) link
― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Sunday, 19 November 2006 08:37 (seventeen years ago) link
― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Sunday, 19 November 2006 09:02 (seventeen years ago) link
― polyphonic (polyphonic), Sunday, 19 November 2006 09:27 (seventeen years ago) link
― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Sunday, 19 November 2006 10:40 (seventeen years ago) link
― Bobby Peru (Bobby Peru), Tuesday, 6 February 2007 23:38 (seventeen years ago) link
― Tiki Theater Xymposium (Bent Over at the Arclight), Wednesday, 7 February 2007 00:17 (seventeen years ago) link
not always right because (a) a lot of recordings from the '60s and before were originally recorded/mixed with a mono product in mind, and stereo mixes created after the fact often rely on some cheesy, unnatural-sounding processing, and (b) some people just plain like the sound of everything piled together into one glorious mono blob. either way you're coloring the sound; it's just a question of which way you prefer it to be colored.
― fact checking cuz (fcc), Wednesday, 7 February 2007 00:28 (seventeen years ago) link
― jimbo (electricsound), Wednesday, 7 February 2007 00:31 (seventeen years ago) link
― Kate Silver (Kate Silver), Wednesday, 7 February 2007 04:18 (seventeen years ago) link
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Wednesday, 7 February 2007 04:51 (seventeen years ago) link
― sleeve (sleeve), Wednesday, 7 February 2007 04:57 (seventeen years ago) link
― So weit wie knock-kneed (kenan), Wednesday, 7 February 2007 05:34 (seventeen years ago) link
All of disc 1 and everything on disc 2 that's not Odessey at least.
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Wednesday, 7 February 2007 06:44 (seventeen years ago) link
― Telephone thing, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 16:53 (seventeen years ago) link
― SusanD, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 17:13 (seventeen years ago) link
― SusanD, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 17:15 (seventeen years ago) link
― Telephone thing, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 19:18 (seventeen years ago) link
― David R., Wednesday, 11 April 2007 19:20 (seventeen years ago) link
― M@tt He1ges0n, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 19:24 (seventeen years ago) link
― Tim Ellison, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 19:26 (seventeen years ago) link
― David R., Wednesday, 11 April 2007 19:30 (seventeen years ago) link
― Tim Ellison, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 19:33 (seventeen years ago) link
― SusanD, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 19:37 (seventeen years ago) link
― fact checking cuz, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 19:42 (seventeen years ago) link
― deej, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 19:50 (seventeen years ago) link
― Dimension 5ive, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 20:01 (seventeen years ago) link
― Tim Ellison, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 20:32 (seventeen years ago) link
― Dimension 5ive, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 20:46 (seventeen years ago) link
― Telephone thing, Thursday, 12 April 2007 03:38 (seventeen years ago) link
The booklet in my copy of the boxset has detached from the spine of the box. :(
― David R., Tuesday, 14 October 2008 12:33 (fifteen years ago) link
it has turned into crystal..
― Mark G, Tuesday, 14 October 2008 12:56 (fifteen years ago) link
Wrong band.
― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Tuesday, 14 October 2008 12:59 (fifteen years ago) link
(!)
― Mark G, Tuesday, 14 October 2008 13:08 (fifteen years ago) link
Are you calling me an anus?
― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Tuesday, 14 October 2008 13:13 (fifteen years ago) link
Bummer In the Summer
― Ich Ber ein Binliner (Tom D.), Tuesday, 14 October 2008 13:14 (fifteen years ago) link
The Velveteen Rabbit Box Set?
― the higgs, Wednesday, 15 October 2008 00:51 (fifteen years ago) link
Every week I like to pick up an album by a band I've never heard before. Last week it was Pere Ubu, this week The Zombies. Although I might have made the mistake of buying a copy lacking the mono versions. Doh!
― AnotherDeadHero, Saturday, 20 March 2010 11:00 (fourteen years ago) link
Next week: Red Aunts, motherfucker!
― Armchair Crab (staggerlee), Saturday, 20 March 2010 21:40 (fourteen years ago) link
oddessey & oracle = perfect summer record
― lukevalentine, Sunday, 21 March 2010 06:34 (fourteen years ago) link
anybody go out to see the "odessey & oracle" 50th anniversary tour? chris white plays the second half of the show (when they do the record front to back).
saw them in mpls last night and it was fucking insane. colin blunstone is spot on, the arrangements are super tasteful, i almost wept with joy.
so nice also to hear rod and colin tell little anecdotes between the songs (in the first half when they play their early hits). these guys are obviously so grateful, so happy to being doing what they're doing at 70+
http://www.thezombiesmusic.com/tour-dates
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 04:03 (seven years ago) link
Thought about it but didn't get it together.
― Stupefyin' Pwns (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 04:12 (seven years ago) link
Saw the show in Durham, NC last month. The first part was decent,-and the Odessey portion was absolutely great. I enjoyed Chris White breaking up Blunstone and Argent's jeans-and-leather-jackets theme by wearing a high-collared maroon suit that I'm pretty sure was paisley.
― JRN, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 05:06 (seven years ago) link
the Odessey portion was absolutely great
Yes it was
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 13:53 (seven years ago) link
I saw it in DC. They came back through again and I missed it the second time, but heard folks who attended, praise it
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 13:55 (seven years ago) link
I saw them in an old movie theater outside of Philly between Odessey tours so they basically played whatever they liked and I was blown away. The harmonies were unbelievably tight and Blunstone's voice hasn't aged a day!
― DavidLeeRoth, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 14:12 (seven years ago) link
Saw them last week and the Odessey set was ace. The first set was ... kind of embarrassing. The two or three or four Zombies hits they played sounded good, the new blues-rock boilerplate they played was embarrassing, and "Hold Your Head Up" remains one of my least favorite songs of all time. There were times I'd be driving around as a kid listening to classic rock radio, and when the song came on I'd keep changing the channel and coming back, always surprised this epic slog was still going. The crowd here was soooooooo not into it, but I suppose humored Rod.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 15:54 (seven years ago) link
'Hold Your Head Up' is a great song and Odessey and Oracle is better than Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
― ...so music and chicken have become intertwined (Turrican), Wednesday, 19 April 2017 17:28 (seven years ago) link
I agree wholeheartedly with the second part of that.
― JRN, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 17:31 (seven years ago) link
josh, i think the first set was really hampered by the guitarist's unwillingness to play the earlier mod tunes in that mid-'60s style. his tone was just super lame rock guitar guy (as were the solos). thank god that argent et al. seemed to have insisted that his tone for "odyssey" had to more or less mirror the lp. obv. stuff like "she's not there" can easily be ruined by being overblown (see: santana).
first avenue crowd was clearly in the mood to humor the band (or maybe they genuinely were into it, i don't know), applaud loudly at the new songs, and sing along with "hold your head up" (a song i don't like at all). looking around, the feel was kind of like a state fair vibe. lots of mom / daughter, dad / son combos.
colin's big smile and his hand gestures were more or less identical to this performance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtyROCysfN0
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 18:11 (seven years ago) link
Yeah, guitarist's tone was the worst. The ugly PRS was a red flag. I guess he used to be in a Santana tribute band?
Anyway. O&O could not have been performed more faithfully.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 19:01 (seven years ago) link
I consider myself a fan and have Zombie Heaven and Odyssey and I have no idea what this "Hold Your Head Up" song you guys are talking about is. weird.
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 19:03 (seven years ago) link
not going to post the video in this thread, but it's been a classic rock radio staple for decades, you've certainly heard it. it's not a zombies song but white/argent wrote it
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 19:15 (seven years ago) link
Interestingly, at the show I saw, Argent prefaced the song by saying "a lot of people think I wrote this, but it was actually Chris White". They are both officially credited, though.
― JRN, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 19:16 (seven years ago) link
yeah that was cool. i also lol'd when rod said something like, "i've been performing this song for a number of years. for some reason, people seem to think the lyrics are 'hold your head up, woah!' actually the lyrics are 'hold your head up, WOMAN.' so, if you're going to sing along -- and we really hope you do -- for god's sake, get it right."
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 19:20 (seven years ago) link
Verbatim here, and probably everywhere, iirc, since they've been doing the same exact setlist for a couple of years.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 19:22 (seven years ago) link
Man, that reminds me--Rod Argent is 71, and still shredding on the keyboards, while playing just about the whole show standing up. That was something to see.
― JRN, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 19:23 (seven years ago) link
Do keyboard players tend to lose dexterity as they age? I would imagine so, and maybe Argent has, but I couldn't tell.
― JRN, Wednesday, 19 April 2017 19:24 (seven years ago) link
Aside: Great article from last year about the group that toured the US as the Zombies to cash in on their success. Included 2/3 of ZZ Top!
https://www.buzzfeed.com/danielralston/the-true-story-of-the-fake-zombies-the-strangest-con-in-rock?utm_term=.it8GBR9V9b#.uvYAWMYeYq
― andrew m., Wednesday, 19 April 2017 19:26 (seven years ago) link
which, as the article explains (though i've read this elsewhere on some zombies fan site), led the zombies to record their great lost album, unreleased until 2012 i think.
anybody have an opinion on "rip" ? it's one of those things (like the vu quine tapes) that i keep thinking i'll buy but never do.
― budo jeru, Thursday, 20 April 2017 01:49 (seven years ago) link
thanks for that youtube clip upthread. i've always loved that song and that 'era' of the zombies but hadn't seen that video before. plus, i never realized what a tall drink of water blunstone used to be.
― dynamicinterface, Thursday, 20 April 2017 02:34 (seven years ago) link
just came back from seeing the Zombies at the Grammy Museum, in a small theater there. It was about an hour and forty minutes, the first hour being an interview with Colin, Rod, Chris, and Hugh, and the remainder being a set of Zombie songs (including a pair of new ones, which I thought were a cut below but performed with a lot of joy that was infectious.) This set was just Rod on piano and Colin singing, which was remarkable. He can still belt it out at 71. They played about ten songs, i think. Such legends.
― nomar, Friday, 28 April 2017 06:08 (seven years ago) link
wow
― Yoni Loves Chocha (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 29 April 2017 03:24 (seven years ago) link
i did not know that...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usvuOs7o944
― scott seward, Friday, 3 November 2017 18:15 (six years ago) link
would have thought all the ilx chillwavers would have hepped me to this fact. i have been playing old prefab a TON recently.
holy shit, that's really good. not a reimagination as much as a perfect match.
― drejelire, Friday, 3 November 2017 18:21 (six years ago) link
Picked up Time of The Zombies, a double LP comp Epic put together in the '70s. The second side is a bunch of stuff slated for RIP (post O & O sessions w/Argent & White), and almost all new to me. It's like The Left Banke if they'd been grownups.
― "...And the Gods Socially Distanced" (C. Grisso/McCain), Sunday, 27 September 2020 18:43 (three years ago) link
Sounds tempting
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 27 September 2020 19:03 (three years ago) link
Can’t check now but I think all of that is on the Zombie Heaven box
― rob, Sunday, 27 September 2020 19:08 (three years ago) link
Zombie Heaven has everything from the '60s. RIP itself finally came out in the 2000s.
― "...And the Gods Socially Distanced" (C. Grisso/McCain), Sunday, 27 September 2020 19:27 (three years ago) link
Time of the Zombies is so great, plus you get all of O&O in it
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Sunday, 27 September 2020 19:43 (three years ago) link
I thought Heaven had a bunch of post O&O stuff on it and comparing track lists on discogs it sure she seems like all of Time is on Heaven but maybe I’m misunderstanding you
― rob, Sunday, 27 September 2020 19:48 (three years ago) link
Bad phrasing on my part. Zombie Heaven is their complete recordings (all of which were made in the '60s) RIP was later broken off as its own individual release a few years later.
― "...And the Gods Socially Distanced" (C. Grisso/McCain), Sunday, 27 September 2020 20:09 (three years ago) link
...and apparently a bundle of recordings not included in the box were released as Into The Afterlife in 2007.
― "...And the Gods Socially Distanced" (C. Grisso/McCain), Sunday, 27 September 2020 20:28 (three years ago) link
This should be a fun listen
https://omny.fm/shows/the-true-story-of-the-fake-zombies/trailer
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 11 June 2024 14:53 (one week ago) link