Spacemen 3 - classic or unutterably shite?

srsly tho, this is such a weird revive in so many ways -- been moving shit around in my apt ... found a box of old CD's. Like, total 90s CDs.

apparently things that I had stored away to one day rediscover. Ok so first up was actually Darkness, 'Melomania' -- LOVED it on relisten, but boy was Pete Bassman going for that SP3 sound ... but he hits it real good, at least on that 1st Darkness albmum

Recurring is great!!

'Why Couldn't I See?' is the jam.

this chord........is for you DA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA

buncha other stuff ... Thee Hypnotics .. couldn't quite believe how much i liked their American label CD .. pretty dang OK .. Jesus and Mary Chain 'Stoned and Dethroned' .. on American

all these albums seemed like total shit to me .. at the time

was that just a product of some sorta mid-90s style shift, why do I think these things sound decent now (incl. like I say, the Bassman stuff as Spacemen 3 aping Darkside) ?

now I need to listen to that American-label Love and Rockets CD again. If I can find it.

Ok so first up was actually Darkness, 'Melomania' -- LOVED it on relisten, but boy was Pete Bassman going for that SP3 sound

I didn't like this album outside of about two tracks ... I should listen again though, it's been ages.

Pierce okay sure, but Spectrum is basically Kember re-making the first half of the record over and over (to great effect mind you, but still!)

I agree, but the remakes were usually a lot better than the stuff on "Recurring". The roots of what would become SPZ are obvious on Jason's half, but I've never been able to get into any of it. I seriously would have never guessed that SPZ would become so good based on Jason's contributions to "Recurring".

So since the two halves are basically poor facsimiles of the much better music they'd make later on, I almost never feel the need to hear this album.

Recurring is great!! albeit a pretty big anomaly in their catalog. it doesn't really sound too much like anything before or since by either Kember or Pierce.

― assorted curses (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, January 13, 2011 11:50 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

well, apart from 'feel so sad' which became a spiritualized release iirc

and then there's the huge troggs rip anticipating spz's first single

there was also a huge troggs rip on Milli Vanilli's second single .. i swear

"I agree, but the remakes were usually a lot better than the stuff on "Recurring". "

I like all of Kember's stuff so I still pull out Recurring to listen to his half.

"I seriously would have never guessed that SPZ would become so good based on Jason's contributions to "Recurring"."

I'm not sure anyone would have! Consensus at the time was that he was the far less talented bandmember!

I dunno of Pierce's half "Hypnotized" and "Feel So Sad" are both breathtaking imho

those Darkside records do NOT hold up. the vibe is there but the songwriting definitely isn't

I'm not sure anyone would have! Consensus at the time was that he was the far less talented bandmember!

― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Friday, January 14, 2011 5:14 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

was this so? if so, i didn't notice. seemed to me that there was a great deal of anticipation about and positive response to that first spirtualized 12". or maybe that was just in my living room, i dunno. was floored by the great leap forward on lazer guided melodies tho.

iirc at the time Playing With Fire was seen as the high point and Pierce's involvement on that album is like, what, two songs? Kember definitely seemed like the dominant force around the time.

"Feeling Just Fine (Head Full of Shit)" sounds reeeeeally good under the right circumstances.

Plus Kember had released the first Spectrum album by that point and the Angel 12". He looked like the together/productive member of the group lol!

the LP sleeve for those first couple Spectrum albums are some of my all-time favorite psychedelic gimmick-style designs

They are great records too!

"Big City" is my favorite S3 song ever and "Why Couldn't I See" is always the song I send to ppl who have never heard/heard of S3 before. Recurring is amazing.

but yeah, 1st sonic boom LP and those early spectrum 12"s looked great

http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/51esl5TFMXL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

^^ underrated

Thomas Koner is underrated!

might be heresy, but i like that e.a.r. album more than actual thomas koner stuff i've heard

Out.

;_;

so these lyrics are all about drugs.

also Jesus

you are sensitive to details

also bubblegum and rollercoasters

and politics (revolution)

band that seems awesome in theory but is actually pretty boring. dud.

Opened me up to the world of underground psych. Classic.

90% classic, 10% boring

best rock band of all time

rock and roll

My favorite band.

That's it. No more to add.

No surprise re: people who are very wrong itt

easily one of the best rock bands of the 80's.

oh my god, it's made of drugs

elvis great sleeve otm

what about me?

i guess i'm 90% otm, 10% wrong

Recurring, probaby their most accessible record, is also very underrated

Recurring, probaby their most accessible record, is also very underrated

Especially the super-long UK CD version!

I'm all about forged prescriptions

those are the best kind

forged prescriptions 2XCD is amazing

Playing With Fire >> Recurring. Could never be arsed with the rest. These always sounded fantastic on the walkman while still e'd or phetted up from the night before and some of Pierce's best ever songs on these.

bubblegum and rollercoasters and jesus lyrics are secretly about drugs too. this is my theory, and mine alone. you may disagree, but it is true i tell you.

music itself is a drug because it is a thing that has a chemical effect on your brain that causes you to feel things. drugs, my high school english teacher told me, just unlock the doors -- the doors of PERCEPTION -- that have always been there, only they've been locked. all lyrics are about drugs, because EVERYTHING is drugs.

drugs.

no that is a bad theory. most things are not drugs. the things spacemen 3 sing about, on the other hand, are drugs. this is how u can tell the difference.

i mean, i learned this in school though there were grades