Vinyl Albums - Comments by leo.m.k

Vinyl Albums - Comments by leo.m.k

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
leo.m.k 8th Sep 2022		Vinyl Album The Beatles - Please Please Me (1964)	Why are there images of rubber soul here? Mod Edit: Images moved to correct entry.
leo.m.k 28th Oct 2020		Vinyl Album Freddie And The Dreamers - King Freddie And His Dreaming Knights (1967)	Review "Picture Of You", "Don't Tell Me That", and "Is It Love" are all on a compilation I have. I really like those songs, so I added this album to my discogs want list, thinking that it may be some lost classic. Today I listened to a rip of it on YouTube, and promptly removed it from my wantlist. I think that 2 tons of Perry Como would do my collection better than this crap, and that's only a mild exaggeration. Freddy & Co. had some wonderful material that hadn't yet been released on a U.K. album, but it seems that their sense of good taste had been demolished by their last two albums. The 3 songs that I mentioned above are still great, and I highly recommend them, but I don't think I will ever be purchasing this album. Their versions of "Juanita Banana" and "Sing C'Est La Vie" are simply inexcusable, and the rest of the songs are too dull to talk about. This is what people who hate Freddie and The Dreamers think all of their output sound like. 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
leo.m.k 7th Oct 2020		Vinyl Album Freddie And The Dreamers - Sing-Along Party With Freddie And The Dreamers (1965)	Review A question I often ask with Freddie & The Dreamers is "what were they thinking?", and this album is no exception. Who is this for? Who would buy this? They were already fading from the British charts, and the ever-changing consciousness of the British record-buying public, so with this album, they should be trying to get their audience back. Instead, they committed "pop band suicide" by releasing this puzzling piece of crap. As I've stated before, some of the group's best material went unreleased in the U.K., which makes schlock like this all the more incomprehensible. If you compare the release dates of this album and "Beach Boys Party", it seems almost as if the group was trying to re-create that. But I have an amazing revelation: Freddie & The Dreamers are NOT the Beach Boys! That album was fun! They covered new, hip songs! Bob Dylan! The Beatles! Everly Brothers! These are songs that work with the band. Freddie & co. chose to cover old show tunes and big band songs, most of which weren't any good to begin with. The teen audience that they (previously) had would've hated these songs. To them, these songs represented everything wrong with their parent's generation. So was this album marketed to parents? That would be even more astounding. And to add insult to injury, the arrangements are awful! They're a dreadful mix of beat music and big band jazz that doesn't work even remotely. Some of the instruments used on this album include piano, trombone, clarinet, tuba, and saxophone, all playing the most cliche ragtime parts that I've ever heard. Even the drums are stuck in 1940. In conclusion, whose idea was this? This album disgusts me. I want to scream at the band and tell them to leave whatever studio they made this in. Listening to this is like watching a car crash in slow motion, except it's less fun for everyone involved. 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
leo.m.k 7th Oct 2020		Vinyl Album Freddie And The Dreamers - Freddie And The Dreamers In Disneyland (1966)	Review I came into this album with low expectations. I had just listened to "Sing-Along Party" and "Freddie & His Dreaming Knights" back-to-back, so I had almost given up on the idea that there were any lost gems hidden in the grooves of the albums from this often forgotten era of the band. I was shocked to then find that this album is middlingly enjoyable, albeit in moderation. "The Ugly Bug Ball" kicks this album off, and I'm surprised with how much life they kick into this one, it almost sounds like a real rock song. Mind you, I've never heard the original, so take this with a grain of salt. "When You Wish Upon A Star" shows just how good of a singer Freddie could be. He may be overly-reliant on his mediocre falsetto, but he hits every note perfectly. The arrangement is also phenomenal, albeit nearly identical to the original. "When I See An Elephant Fly" is a wonderful song with great lyrics, although that credit should go (begrudgingly) to Disney. I must say, I can easily see why Mr. Garrity went on to be a children's T.V. host, as his voice suits a song like this perfectly. The ending sounds somewhat ominous though, which is perfectly out of place on a song like this. Wonderful! "Winnie The Pooh" is not the best Disney song IMO, but they do it alright, I guess. "Chim Chim Cheree" If I had a nickel for every time that I've heard this song, I would have about $1.95, although it feels like I'd be a millionaire. To say that I'm sick of this song is an overstatement, but this version is nothing new. "Heigh Ho" is the only song on this album that I had heard before, and it's easily the best thing on here. The off-key intro is brilliant, the harmonies are wonderful, the strings are beautiful, the horns are triumphant, and it's one of only two times on the album that we get any backing vocals (the other time being the final track) and I actually prefer this version to the original. "The Unbirthday Song" is another song that I've never heard before, but I wish that I had. I do think that Freddie could've done with a few more takes, as he's a bit off in spots. "The Siamese Cat Song" ignoring any outdated factors there are in this song, this just isn't very good to begin with. But I mean, come on! That accent? That won't fly under my roof. I expect better from you, Freddie, although at this point, I'm not sure why. "Whistle While You Work" is one of the best songs every featured in a Disney movie, and is a perfect choice for this album. It's not as good as I want it to be, but it makes me think of simpler times, and I'm very young, so that's impressive. If you want a better version of this song, I highly recommend NRBQ's version. "Give A Little Whistle" I used to think that this and the last song were the same song, and it's easy to see why. I may actually prefer this song to "Whistle While You Work", both with Disney, and with Freddie. "The Ballad Of Dick Turpin" Never heard this one either, but I'm going to have to seek out the original. The arrangement is again wonderful, and for once, the guitar is given more of a chance to shine. It almost sounds like a real band at some points. "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" We all know how brilliant this song is, and so does Freddie. He delivers it perfectly, and so does everybody else on it. For once, Freddie's manic personality actually adds something to the song. It's energetic, fun, and makes a good finale. Overall, this is a pretty good album, although there are very few instances where it sounds like the work of a Rock group. But comparing it to the band's other albums around this time, this a masterpiece, and yes, I'm aware of how ridiculous that may sound. And yes, it isn't actually that good. But seriously, those other albums are awful. 8 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?