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So far, they haven't come anywhere close to matching the consistency of "Thirteen Tales" on these subsequent albums. A 60's rock influence is very strong throughout, as well as parts of the 70's versions of Bowie, Iggy Pop and the Stones.
Long after many other hyped releases from 2000 are long gone and sold to the used CD store, this album still gets spins from me and still sounds fresh. The first three tracks are among the strongest opening on any rock album; in fact I've ripped them as one mp3 - they sound much better segued together as one song than as separate tunes.
I probably can't add much more than what has been said about this album already, but it's almost a decade later (as of this writing), and I still find myself listening to "Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia" off and on. It's not awful, but a different sounding tune would have been better here.
All of the other tracks are at least very good, many are excellent. To me, the weakest song is "Sleep", a sleepy, hazy rewrite of the second track "Mohammed".
Too bad the Dandies ditched this sound and came out with a series of other releases that were inferior. Newcomers to the Dandy Warhols should start with "Thirteen Tales", then work their way back to "Dandy Warhols Come Down", then pick and choose some singles from the later albums.
It is done so skillfully and so enthusiastically, and combined with so much of their own originality, that it doesn't come across as imitation. This band was recommended to me by my buddy Dave K. I had no prior experience with them, except maybe a couple of videos on MTV. On just this one album, The Dandy Warhols manage to emulate The Beatles, The Stones, The Byrds, The Offspring, David Bowie, REM, Beck, Franz Ferdinand and Marilyn Manson (and others, I'm sure) - all of this with very hip coolness. And they reflect aspects of alternative American cultures. I played samples from all of their albums, and I chose this one to buy.
The lyrics are sparse, but they are cryptic, sly and/or funny. in the Czech Republic. I cannot stress enough how good this music sounds. The first time I listened to it, I complained, "There's not enough lyrics." Dave replied that all the lyrics that were needed were there. I wondered if I had understood him correctly, but on the second listen, I GOT IT. (Not really laugh-out-loud funny, or acidly-biting funny, but giggly, stoner funny).
I found this band, and particularly this album, to be a revelation, and I owe one to Dave for turning me on to it.
this album is way overrated. I like the first few songs alright and "Get off" and that's about it. "The Dandy Warhols Come Down" is a much better record than this. Get that one first.
If all cuts were as good as "Bohemian Like You", then it would deserve even a 6 star rating. but not all songs are like it, which doesn't mean you'll find a really bad one in here; it's just you won't find any better.However it's still a well crafted and carefully produced album, worth listening and recommended for any Dandy Warhols' newcomer and fan.Good music.
Anyway, I'll give you a rundown of the songs I like the most on this album. Utilises some lyrics from the spiritual song "Sweet chariot" (I think that that is the name of the song). It reminds me of something, but that something must be a song which I don't really hear very often. It's the vocal rhythm which reminds me of something. Not sure if the "Come on down" cd did what this album does, namely, have songs bleed into eachother, such that there isn't any real demarcation between songs. Some other notes on songs I made before posting:Nietzsche- has a very heavy and fuzzy and electric guitar sound-perhaps the synth contributes to this sound as well. That's not a favourite Stones song of mine in any case, so the Dandy's have way surpassed the Stones on that front. I'm not exactly sure if "Solid" is a reply to the earlier song "Country leaver").
It's pretty much the same story again for this cd: has one excellent single to pique your interest, and then delivers some solid songs throughout the cd. On cd, listening to this song in its entirety, you really appreciate it that much more. In any case, this song sounds sort of Western (as in 'country and western music'). I suppose the guitar sound most reminds me of the Stones "Brown sugar". In fact, this cd may have more contenders for songs worthy of inclusion in any future Dandy Warhols' compilation album.
I bought this cd after buying their earlier one "Come on down", which I quite liked. It has, as bookends, songs with titles and themes that go from belief in a god to atheism. The latter song is another song where there is a fuzzy sounding electric guitar.Shakin- this song brings to mind the following types of songs/acts: The Vines' classic "Ride with me" along with Iggy Pop sounding vocals. A pretty song.Get off- perhaps the second best song on this album. This album has "Bohemian like you". It works well, in any case.
To me, this is a song in a The Rolling Stones' style/sound. "Come on down" had "Not if you were last junkie on Earth" as the standout song/single from the cd. In the notes I took for this cd, before submitting this review here, I pondered whether "Thirteen tales" was a concept album. That probably isn't a coincidence.Mohammed- has some Middle Eastern vocal touches and some nice multiple accoustic guitar sounds. Later on, there are are male and female vocals which have an airy sound to them.like they are singing in a cathedral. The song has catchy singing and also has accoustic guitar.Sleep- a gentle, dreamy song built on a pretty two part accoustic guitar melody. I probably first heard snatches of this song when it was used to advertise a car or something or other. Features some hip-hop widgy-widgy turntable effects.Big Indian-features a steel string accoustic guitar, I think.The Gospel- another country flavoured song.
The riff reminds me of The Troggs' classic "Wild thing". Gave the earlier cd 4 stars too. The Oils are one of my top 5 musical acts of all time. This is totally by the by, but this song's title is also the name of one of my favourite Midnight Oil songs, from the equally good as this album "Red sails in the sunset".
A great song.Next best songs:Godless- has accoustic guitar and the riff reminds me of George Harrison's classic song "My sweet lord". Country leaver- another country sounding song from this album."Solid" and "Horse pills"- both have vocals not unlike Lou Reed or, say, Iggy Pop. The lyrics are amusingly chatty (he sings things like you would hear uttered in a conversation). A couple of other songs, and maybe more, seem to be paired, in some way (e.g. Vocals are in the softer sounding mode of the lead singer.
In fact, if the Stones had recorded this song, it would be one of their best ever.it's that good. The intro to "Bohemian like you" has a cool drum intro, nice organ sound and a cool, bassy synthesiser. The former song has a simple, catchy keyboard riff which is a little bit catchy. The guitars sound twangy, in a country kind of way.A really good album.If you like this album, you might want to check out these equally good albums:Midnight Oil-Red sails in the sunset.The Vines-Highly evolved.Patti Smith-HorsesI've reviewed all of these albums here.
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