Track Listing

1. Aloha Steve & Danno
2. Non-Stop Girls
3. Anglo Girl Desire
4. What Gives?
5. Murder City Nights
6. Man with Golden Helmet
7. Descent into the Maelstrom
8. Do the Pop
9. Hand of Law
10. New Race
11. Love Kills
12. Monday Morning Gunk
13. Hit Them Again
14. T.V. Eye
15. You're Gonna Miss Me

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #278639 in Music
• Released on: 2004-11-16
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Lots of meat on them bones
There is a lot of better material on vinyl from these guys that has never been re-issued in a digital format, and that's a shame because this is a great band -- you'll think you've heard them before and then you realize that they invented a lot of what became cliches in the hands of less talented groups. This is probably the best intro to them available on CD -- there is another collection called "The Essential Radio Birdman" that has a lot of the same material (enough of it re-mixed to appeal to the collector) -- but this and "Living Eyes" are closer to the original sound and have a little less of the "greatest hits" quality. For the life of me I don't know why this band didn't get more attention but they are well worth listening to. A stripped down surf-punk sound that sticks with you.

Radio Birdman's First Album Was Their Best
I agree with the other reviewer that there is a lot of cool Radiobirman stuff on vinyl that isn't on CD. For example, there are some really cool live shows I have managed to pick up on vinyl in various shops that aren't even listed on amazon, so if you're interested, they're out there. Radiobirdman only released two albums: this and Lying Eyes. They did release Zeno Beach but that's more of a reunion album. This album is their best. If you're looking for a place to start with Radiobirdman than this is it. There is a Sub Pop collection entitled The Essential Radiobirdman which has most of the songs off this album but I would still suggest buying their two albums seperatly for the geniunie feel of what the band was putting out. I bought this because someone said they were like The Stooges. I wouldn't compare these guys to The Stooges but more The Clash if they were hybred with The Cramps. It's surf punk. If you're a fan or protopunk, than you must own this album. If you're a fan of rock and roll, than you must own this album. I guess what I am getting at is buy this album.

Great variety of pub rock, proto-punk, punk and jazzy stuff. c 9/10

Firstly, I was disappointed to find out that the version of this cd I bought in Australia recently (much cheaper than Amazon's asking price, really...try major retailers in Australia for better deals. Got mine for around $20 or so, more or less) did not have the original track listing. The song order is all over the place. That gripe aside (I hate finding out that I bought some US version of a album instead of the original), you do get all the tracks from the international and Australian versions of this album, plus a few bonus tracks. You can look up this album on Wikipedia for the various track listings on each version of the album; the original Australian version of this album had the following tracks from this version of the album in the following order: 14,5,3,6,7,12,8,11,9 and 10.

Anyway, I'd have to say that I reluctantly bought this album due to recently exploring the origins of punk...can't say that I knew much about Radio Birdman or held them in high esteem. On first listen I'd have given this album a solid 8/10 or so, but on second listen I'm bumping it up to 9/10. So, I'd say that it's score would range from around 80-90 out of 100. As for the music, I'd describe it as terrifically varied pub rock...of a sophisticated sort, proto-punk, punk, and some jazzy type rock on a small number of occasions. The strength of this album lies not in having 'killer' songs, like "Never mind the bollocks", say, but in the overall album experience. The band has a dual lead guitar attack, which offers something different, sound wise. You get harmonies and unusual instruments for this type of genre, like piano. On second listen I also got more out of the guitar solos on this album. Really, the only disrespectful aspect to this album is the jumbling of the track order.

Seeing as all but one of the songs I liked came from the original Australian version, it might be fine to seek this version out somewhere, though I do know that many people regard the song "Aloha Steve & Danno" as a classic track (which is on this version of the album). "Hit them again" is the only song not on the original album which I particularly liked, and it features on the international version of this album but that version leaves out good tracks from the original, despite having more songs on it.



Best songs:



Man with golden helmet - 5:40 long, with a nice jazzy arrangement featuring the piano and bass guitar. Has 1960s style vocals. The piano is very good in this song...both the notes and the solo. Sometimes this song reminds me of Van Morrison's "Moon dance".

Love kills - a slower tempo track with very pleasant piano playing. Also features the electric and accoustic guitar.

New race - I'm not that famiiar with pioneering punk or punk in general, but this song COULD be the first "Oi!" punk type song...not that I'd know about Oi punk! However, AC/DC's "T.N.T" also seems to me the kind of song that fits that "Oi!" punk template...assuming I have the right template in mind. In any case, bizarrely, AC/DC were once considered punk in the U.K, I think. The lyrics are pure bovver boy chants at times, like "We're gonna punch you out". The guitars are speed and jarring, like angle-grinders working on metal. Good guitar solo in this song (a punk rock solo in my books) and laddish chants. Radio Birdman usually get described as "proto-punk" but I think that sound wise, they can qualify as punk. This album was released in the year that punk broke too...1977 (well, the original Australian version, that is).



Next best song:


Hit them again - has an excellent contrast between the dual lead guitars: one guitar has a distorted sound...sort of Bon Jovi territory in that regard, and the other guitar has a familiar, catchy melody (which I can't pin down). The intro guitar reminds me of Pink Floyd's classic song "Wish you were here".



The Rest:


Aloha Steve & Danno - an ode to the US tv series "Hawaii Five-O". It's ambient intro references the H50 theme (surf harmonies, drum intro and the melody on the guitar). Song has mild punk vocals and sort of reminds me of The Sex Pistols "Silly thing" on occasion.

Non stop girls - nice guitar and a simple piano melody with an oriental flavour. A high tempo song. Australian band The Angels have a song which I thought of when listening to this, namely, "No secrets".

Anglo girl desire - intro is vaguely like Hendrix' version of "All along the watchtower" as far as the drums go. The guitars jangle and grind and the rhythm is intense, with backing vocals and an interesting sounding organ. The synthesiser in this song sounds a bit dinky but melodic backing vocals make for a good outro.

What gives? - more jarring guitars, of the angle-grinder working on metal kind, and the drums get thoroughly spanked in this song. In fact, the drums have a heavy metal vibe to them at times. The dinky sounding synth returns and you get pub punk rock backing vocals and hand claps.

Murder city nights - 1950s inspired rock'n'roll with a noteworthy 50s style guitar solo. I like the dipping mini-riff in this song.

Descent into the maelstrom - has that cool Hawaii Five-0 style drum intro and another noteworthy guitar solo. A bassy track with screeching vocals.

Do the pop - not sure, but maybe The Stooges' Iggy Pop is referenced by the title. This band has an American and a Canadian in it, so you believe the singer when he says "I saw The Stooges and MC5" (both acts reviewed here by me). The intro to this song is emphatic with a good dual guitar attack...their tone is raw, which sounds good.

Hand of law - has a bass intro and the drums sound cool there too. Guitar solo is good to and that instrument references the surf pop classic "Wipeout", I think. The dual guitar attack brings to mind such acts as AC/DC and The Angels. One guitar does some interesting, melodic stuff, whilst the other does the harmonies.

Monday morning gunk - the intro has some pleasant note picking on the guitar and bluesy pieces on the guitar too. You then get a 'chugga-chugga' riff. I like the tone to the lead guitar. It has a 1950s style lead to its sound. The guitar solo in this song is good too.

T.V. eye - the first version of The Stooges song I heard. Having heard it first, I actually prefer it to the original now, which I've listened to in the past few months. You get a scream in the intro, and the song has a heavy metal vibe to it with the guitars and drums (the drums get fairly slammed on this song) etc. One guitar brought back my Bon Jovi analogy. This is another song where you get an interesting texture difference between the guitars. One guitar seems to chuckle! Vocals sound strangled at times, too.

You're gonna miss me - nice dual guitar riffing. Has screeching vocals again, and a good guitar solo.



Recommendations:



The Saints - (I'm) Stranded. The second punk album in the world, I think, after Ramones' self-titled debut. The most seminal of the first wave of punk, I think. These guys were apparently influenced by Radio Birdman, from what I've heard.

The Damned - Damned damned damned. The first punk album to come out Britain. Of the pub rock variety, which Radio Birdman has at times too.

The Sex Pistols - Never mind the bollocks. Not the stongest of albums, but it has two of the greatest songs of all time on it: "Anarchy in the U.K" and "God save the queen". They redefined what it meant to be punk (unfortunately).

Ramones - Ramones. The first punk album and you can see that pop-punk was in punk right from the start (The Saints didn't do that kind of stuff though, though they did cover pop songs, like Ramones did, but not really in a very poppy way).

The Stooges - The Stooges/Fun House. You can get these two albums bundled together. They influenced Radio Birdman...covering "TV eye" from the first. The second album is more jazz or jam rock...again, there's some of that in Radios Appear, but it's nicer.

Television - Marquee Moon. Not a favourite of mine, but highly regarded by critics. For some reason this band gets called 'punk'. I don't know why. If Radio Birdman weren't punk, they might sound like this band. Television also utilise dual guitars and are jazzy at times.

The Heartbreakers - L.A.M.F. A terrific punk/boogie rock album which came out the year punk exploded.

The New York Dolls - The New York Dolls. More great rock'n'roll with some arty punk elements to it...more jarring though...not as quiet as that in Marquee Moon.

AC/DC - Let there be rock/Powerage. The latter album might be described as a sort of punk album...jarring guitars and all. Not a favourite, but if angle grinder guitars are your go, go for it. The former is classic Australian pub rock...has jarring guitars too, but just not as extreme as in Powerage. Songs are more accessible than that on Powerage too.