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Meet the Residents

 
Album Review: Meet the Residents

  • Artist: The Residents
  • Rating: StarStarStarStar
  • Release Date: 1974
  • Type: Lyrics are included with the album
  • Genre: Rock

Review

The Residents are true avant-garde crazies. Their earliest albums (of which this is the first) have precedents in Captain Beefheart's experimental albums, Frank Zappa's conceptual numbers from Freak Out!, the work of Steve Reich, and the compositions of chance music tonemeister John Cage -- yet the Residents' work of this time really sounds like nothing else that exists. All of the music on this release consists of deconstructions of countless rock and non-rock styles, which are then grafted together to create chaotic, formless, seemingly haphazard numbers; the first six "songs" (including a fragment from the Nancy Sinatra hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'") are strung together to form a larger entity similar in concept to the following lengthier selections. The result is a series of unique, odd, challenging numbers that are nevertheless not entirely successful. The album cover is a fierce burlesque of the Beatles' first U.S. Capitol label release, sporting puerilely doctored photographs of the Fab Four on the front and pictures of collarless-suited sea denizens on the back (identified as Paul McCrawfish, Ringo Starfish, and the like). This is an utterly bizarre platter that may appeal to very adventurous listeners. ~ David Cleary, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Boots Residents (:54)
Numb Erone Residents Residents (1:07)
Guylum Bardot Residents Residents (1:19)
Breath and Length Residents Residents (1:44)
Consuelo's Departure Residents Residents (:59)
Smelly Tongues Residents Residents (1:44)
Rest Aria Residents Residents (5:09)
Skratz Residents Residents (1:43)
Spotted Pinto Bean Residents Residents (5:27)
Infant Tango Residents Residents (5:28)
Seasoned Greetings Residents Residents (5:13)
N-Er-Gee (Crisis Blues) Residents Residents (7:16)

Credits

Residents (Producer), Residents (?), James Aaron (Guitar), Residents (Arranger), James Aaron (Bass), Master & Servant (Digital Remastering), James Whitaker (Piano)
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Wikipedia: Meet the Residents
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Meet the Residents
Studio album by The Residents
Released 1974
Recorded February-October 1973
Genre Experimental rock, Avant-Garde
Label Ralph Records
Producer The Residents
Professional reviews
The Residents chronology
Meet The Residents
(1974)
The Third Reich 'n Roll
(1976)

Meet the Residents is the first full-length release from avant garde group The Residents. It was released in 1973 on Ralph Records. The cover was a parody of Meet the Beatles! (the Beatles' first US release); Later re-releases of the record changed the cover, though still kept a Beatles parody on the back, listing The Residents as "John Crawfish, George Crawfish, Paul McCrawfish, and Ringo Starfish", with illustrations of the appropriate sea creatures wearing Beatle suits. CD releases of the album in 1988 included tracks from the 1972 double single "Santa Dog".

Track listing

  1. "Boots" – 0:53 (Lee Hazlewood)
  2. "Numb Erone" – 1:07
  3. "Guylum Bardot" – 1:21
  4. "Breath and Length" – 1:42
  5. "Consuelo's Departure" – 0:59
  6. "Smelly Tongues" – 1:47
  7. "Rest Aria" – 5:09
  8. "Skratz" – 1:42
  9. "Spotted Pinto Bean" – 5:27
  10. "Infant Tango" – 5:27
  11. "Seasoned Greetings" – 5:13
  12. "N-er-gee (Crisis Blues)" – 7:16
  • Bonus Tracks (1988 CD release only)
  1. "Fire"
  2. "Lightning"
  3. "Explosion"
  4. "Aircraft Damage"

Trivia

  • The original pressing of the album sold a mere 40 copies in the first year.
  • A remixed version of "Rest Aria" was used without permission in a Levi's ad.

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Meet the Residents" Read more