Label: Bmg Int'l
Category: Music
Average customer rating:
Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1
UPC: 632427683421
EAN: 0632427683421
ASIN: B00004VXGB
Release Date: 2000-06-16
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Artist: Harry Nilsson
Label: Bmg Int'l Category: Music Average customer rating:
Format: Import Media: Audio CD Number Of Discs: 1 UPC: 632427683421 EAN: 0632427683421 ASIN: B00004VXGB Release Date: 2000-06-16 |
Nilsson Schmilsson
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Album Description
Originally issued in 1971. Bonus tracks, 'Without You', 'Driving Along', 'Gotta Get Up', 'Coconut', 'One Forgotten Soldier', 'Down', 'The Moonbeam Song' and 'Jump Into The Fire'. 2000 release. Standard jewel case. 20+ years before his 1994 death from a heart attack, American singer/ songwriter Harry Nilsson released several albums that did well in the charts, spawned some hit singles, got lots of critical acclaim and won the respect of his peers (including The Beatles, who were huge fans). However, Nilsson's back catalogue has never gotten the same just reward ...until now! BMG's Camden subsidiary in England has reissued all of Nilsson's best records for RCA, all digitally remastered with bonus tracks, the original cover art and specially packaged in standard jewel cases within full color slipcase covers.Album Details
Includes 8 Bonus Tracks.Customer Reviews:
a Triumph!.......2007-01-15
get the first three albums first.......2004-04-06
Harry On the Crest of a Commerical Wave.......2002-09-03
When all this was done Harry came to the conclusion that the 70s would be a musically cruder, more rock-oriented version of the 60s - and changed his musical template to suit. Unfortunately as the decade wore on, this meant that his lyrics, once slyly witty and clever without being clever-clever, became increasingly banal and incoherent and his music, once elegantly simple, became merely simple.
And, enjoyable though "Nilsson Schmilsson" is, you can see the rot setting in. Thus, the lyrics of "Driving Along", "Down", "Jump Into the Fire" recycle the same lines endlessly and have a make-do quality about them, quite at odds with the finely - honed, but apparently effortless quality, of almost all the lyrics on Harry's first three albums. Then there are odd lapses in taste and judgement like the "He would pound her for a couple of days" lyric in "Gotta Get Up" or "On a fence with bits of crap around its bottom" in "The Moonbeam Song".
Musically, Harry keeps it pretty simple throughout, his melodies and singing are still excellent throughout which helps cover up the fact that the likes of "Driving Along" and "Down" are lightweight indeed (even for a GLORIOUS lightweight like Harry). Instructive to learn from the sleevenotes that one of the more musically complex songs on the album, "Gotta Get Up", actually dates from the time of "Aerial Ballet" - I never knew this but it figures. By the way, the speeded up ending of "Gotta Get Up" has always irritated me, I know it fits in with the concept of the song but it always sounds to me as if Harry merely ran out of verses and couldn't think of a way to finish the song.
Harry's attempts to rock himself up include two cover versions - "Early in the Morning" is just Harry and Harry on voice and organ, unfortunately this track sounds like he and producer Richard Perry forgot to record the band! "Let the Good Times Roll" is a fairly straight, ho-hum version not a patch on the medley with "Walk Right Back" and "Cathy's Clown" Harry recorded for his brilliant BBC Television Special (by the way any chance of a DVD/Video or soundtrack release, oh BBC mandarins?)
Am I being too hard on the album? Probably, apart from the two cover versions, even the lesser songs are fun and "The Moonbeam Song" is simply.beautiful. "Without You" can still make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up but hearing Harry gamely trying to hit the high notes on the solo voice and piano demo is quite painful listening! Likewise "Coconut" in its demo form (also included) is a one-joke and one-chord throwaway - hats off then to Harry and Richard Perry for transforming such base material into the brilliantly infectious nonsense we (and Quentin Tarantino) know and love. "Jump Into the Fire" still astounds too - punk rock or what? Herbie Flowers' rubber-band bassline (this is the same guy who came up with the bassline for Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wildside" and wrote Clive Dunn's "Grandad"!) still plays havoc with your bass bins but I much prefer the single version (thoughtfully included here) than the rambling jam of the album version - even with Jimmy "Macarthur Park" Webb on piano! The closing "I'll Never Leave You" is one of Harry's periodic attempts at Gershwin/ Irving Berlin-style classic songwriting. An odd meandering song which doesn't appear to have either a chorus or a middle eight (or any verses for that matter!), it's the only one to be arranged by George Tipton, the arranger behind Harry's first three albums (and "The Point") - suffice to say, that if this turned up as an obscure Brian Wilson track, the critics would be creaming themselves, but nobody takes Harry Nilsson that seriously. But then Harry never took himself that seriously either, which was a good thing in a lot of ways but also a pity in other ways.
As I implied, I don't think this album stands the test of time as well as Harry's work in the 60s but sadly there was a lot worse to follow as he slid further into self-indulgence and self-abuse but "Nilsson Schmilsson" from its title to its debunking just-got-out-of-bed sleeve is still a lot of fun.
a great album, with great unreleased tracks.......2001-06-06
The demos (extra tracks) are revelations and stand on the merit of Harry's singing alone.
I feel that I must add that I was a bit disappointed with the sound. The original vinyl LP sounded so good; I expected this release to finally sound better than the original record. It doesn't. But at least it comes closer than the domestic release.
Don't let my disappointment in the sound put you off. This is a first class release with great previously unreleased demos.
You can jump into the fire............2000-09-27
The sound quality is top notch (although it would have been nice if they had used the HDCD format or 24 bit remastering for that extra detail and warmth). There is a noticable difference between the domestic version of NS and this fine import. Rumor has it (Buddah Records wouldn't confirm it but I hear they are working on the masters as we speak) that Buddah Records will be reissuing Son of Dracula next year with a number of previously unreleased bonus tracks. While SOD wasn't Harry's best album (it did feature the terrific Daybreak though), the opportunity to hear unreleased tracks makes me water at the mouth.
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