Radiator

by

Super Furry Animals

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How does this band do it? Listen to me on this, they are the MOST ORIGINAL band on the globe, period! There is no other band attemping to fuse the music that they do, and Radiator is just one more example. This CD, the bands second release, finds the band far more weird, but more substantial than their debut material. ( which is also fantastic ) Songs like "The Placid Casual", and "Moutain People", start off as really melodic pop numbers, but morph into techno-weird excursions in sound. The classic sing-a-long "Hermann Loves Pauline" demostrates their amazing lyrical diversity coupled with some great bouncy rock. All in all, every track is a classic, original and brilliant, and full of suprises. The world is a much stranger (and far better) place as long as these boys from Wales continue to make music.

This is quite unlike their earlier heavy stuff. It's almost 180 degrees from Vincebus Eruptum and their best work, Outsideinside. It's an ok album, but nothing special. "Fool" is a solid r&b sounding number with some good harmonica and fine vocals by band leader Dickie Peterson. 'You're Gonna Need Someone" , by Bruce Stephens, is another solid track that ends with some weird duck quacks and some cool rolling bass lines from Peterson. Stephens, who had previously worked with Chuck Berry and a band called Mint Tattoo, would only appear on this eponymous fourth album. The bands energetic cover of Delaney and Bonnie's "Hello L.A. Bye Bye Birmingham" comes next. Then "Saturday Freedom", and "Ain't That The Way Love's Supposed To Be", two of the best tracks on the album. The latter featues fine keyboards from Ralph Burns-Kellogg.

The problem with this album is that the second half of the record plummets into sheer facelessness.It's very dull and far from memorable, and keeps this from being a solid album.This is recommended for Blue Cheer fans, but others might find it merely ok.