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--- In , "Brian Neal" <bneal@i...> wrote:
> On first listen, I am surprised by the energy and dare I say
> passion that is evident in the Ventures playing. Something I don't
> always hear in their work. The guitar tone is a
> bit too hot, almost harsh, though. Is this the Mosrites, or just the
> recording technique of the time?
I'm almost completely sure its the guitars. They could've done with
some
reverb--even just a little--during that set, but man, it's still
killer. The tone on their albums drastically changed when they
switched to Mosrites for "The Ventures In Space." I think. I'm pretty
sure it was for that album. Anyone 100% sure?
(I for one prefer the Mosrite tone. The Fabulous Ventures and Guitar
Freakout are my favorites of their studio stuff.)
> Just wondering what others thought of this
> album. My favorite so far is "Bulldog". I never understood why so
many hyped
> up Nokie, but on this particular album he (and the rest of the
band) are
> smoking.
I think as a whole it's their best release. Like you said, the energy
is surprising, considering it *is* the Ventures. (The Japanese
Surfin' Deluxe comp's pretty great as well.) Granted, since there's
almost 30 songs a few are begging to be skipped, with the Beatles
cover and "Love Potion #9" standing out in that sense. I was pretty
down on them until I picked this one up as a sort of last chance, and
since then it's been one of my favorites.
The lead on "Bulldog" blows me away. I don't know what the effect is,
I don't know what most of the notes are, but I love it nontheless.
Other favorites are "Driving Guitars (Ventures Twist)," "Yellow
Jacket," "The Cruel Sea," "Journey to the Stars," "Rap
City," "Bumblebee Twist," and "Slaughter On 10th Avenue."
Outside of "Journey to the Stars," I prefer the '65 live version of
each of these to the studio cuts.
I love the dissonance on the cover of the Pink Panther theme, and I
really like the extremely loud mistake on "Wipeout." Same with the
tuning problems on the first chorus of that song. It shows off their
human side, which is kind of rare for them. Nokie's playing
throughout is downright impressive, to boot.
Did he always do this live? On a lot of the studio stuff it seems
like he's holding back.
> I understand there is a video of this performance? Anyone see it or
know
> where to get it?
Anyone? I'm intrigued ...
-Warren
