Silk Torpedo

Artist: The Pretty Things
Label: Original Masters UK
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Extra tracks
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 636551555920
EAN: 0636551555920
ASIN: B000009Q3L

Release Date: 1998-08-25

Silk Torpedo

Related Categories:

General

| Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock

| Pop | Styles | Music

British Invasion

| Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR)

| Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Tracks:

Dream/Joey
Maybe You Tried
Atlanta
L.A.N.T.A.
Is It Only Love
Come Home Momma
Bridge Of God
Singapore Silk Torpedo
Belfast Cowboys
Singapore Silk Torpedo (Live)
Dream/Joey (Live)

Album Details

REMASTERED FEATURING 2 LIVE BONUS TRACKS.

Customer Reviews:

The last of the great glam rockers.......2006-06-03

This is the first Pretty Things album I bought back in early 1975. I was impressed with the vocals, lead guitar, and keyboards. As always, the drumming was great. The Pretties always had great drummers (Vivian Prince who almost joined the Kinks and spent 3 weeks in the Who filling in for a sick Keith Moon; Mitch Mitchell who briefly replaced Prince and ended up with Jimi Hendrix; Skip Alan who plays on this album and all but two of the others-the first and SF Sorrow; and John'Twink'Alder formerly with Tomorrow and then with Pink Fairies)who could play everything from surf music to jazz. The bass playing was weak on Silk Torpedo given that it was overdubbed by lead guitarist Peter Tolson or guitarist/keyboardist Gordon Edwards. Newcomer Jack Green would later learn to play bass. "The Dream/Joey" medley is great with excellent piano/organ interplay. "Maybe You Tried" has a catchy groove with a subtle guitar hook. "Atlanta/LANTA" medley is the weakest part of the LP. However, the coda has the strongest bass playing. "Is It Only Love" demonstrates the softer side of the Pretties with strings and horns. This song is somewhat in the vein of "Over the Moon" from Freeway Madness, but not as good. "Come Home Momma" starts out with an excellent boogie piano and some great rock and roll guitar. It is in the same vein as the Faces "Stay With Me", but better. "Bridge of God" is Procol Harum meets Queen with the piano/organ interplay mixed with glam rock guitar and vocal harmonies. "Singapore Silk Torpedo" shows their comparisons to the Who with power chords, etc. It starts with a piano riff that would make Elton John proud and then has a crash and thunder guitar riff. It's about a sailor on leave in Singapore. A happier song than "Cries from the Midnight Circus" from Parachute. "Belfast Cowboys" (they're apparently good friends with Van Morrison whom Robbie Robertson nicknamed "Belfast Cowboy") starts off like a mellow Neil Young song (think of his Harvest album) with unamplified harmonica. Keyboards used include an electric piano and a harpsichord. The guitar kicks in violently. This is a song about the violence in Northern Ireland. The song segues into "Bruise in the Sky". The first time I heard this album, I liked the keyboards, but was otherwise unimpressed. A few months later I bought it, played it a couple times, and liked it. It certainly was better than a lot of what was out at that time. It is different than any of their previous albums and considerably better than its follow up "Savage Eye". The blues influences (and their comparisons to the Stones and Yardbirds) are somewhat subdued. They have more in common with the Who, Kinks, Faces, etc. The Beatles (and Beach Boys) influence is there with three and four part vocal harmonies.

This is one great band !.......2004-02-17

Pretty Things was the second band signed by Led Zepplin's label, after Bad Company. They never achieved the commercial success they deserved. The Swansong label had signed a great band that had bad luck. This band was hard to deal with and they would self-destruct, and would keep on messing up. Their music and talent were wonderful though, and they rocked! This is one of my top 10 albums of all time. This to me is Pretty Things at their best, with Savage Eye following. The vocals and instrumentation are great. The Pretty Things are one British band that should not go unoticed in your cd collection. The Cd packaging on this 1974 release is also very good.A great cover for an album!

WHAT ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT???.......2003-12-04

I cannot understand how the previous reviewers can pan this album. The songwriting, vocals, and instrumentation are excellent. This is a solid and memorable effort by a severely underrated group.

Post-high water mark for the Pretties.......2002-09-12

The Pretties weren't exactly prolific and the long wait from (the OK) "Freeway Madness" to "Silk Torpedo" just wasn't worth it.
We all know about their groundbreaking Stones-meets-Beatles-meets-Pink Floyd masterpieces from the 60's and the indescribably excellent "S.F. Sorrow" and "Parachute", so with these standards to measure by, "ST" is a disappointment all the way around.
The vocals and playing are as good as ever (especially the keyboards), but the songs and ideas just aren't there. Half of the tracks are extended jams from melodies that are fairly uninspired in the first place. The best two tracks, "Singapore Silk Torpedo" and "Belfast Cowboys" are at the very end and are little reward for slogging through the rest of this tedious set.
There was lots of press surrounding the initial release of "Silk Torpedo", what with the backing of Led Zep's Swan Song label and Peter Grant (and a great cover), but this album showed a decline that continued through the 70s with "Savage Eye" and "Cross Talk".
After four (at least) great albums, I was really pulling for Phil May and co., but this album isn't the one you want to start a Pretty Things library with.

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