Customer Reviews

Kimono My House

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an album that changed my opinion of what rock should be. There were no more rules. This album has stood the test of time and for me it's still catchy, melodic, eccentric and an acquired taste. They were falsetto rock before Queen had their Bohemian Rhapsody moment. It's obvious when you play this disc that in 1974 the Mael brothers were way ahead of their time. There are many catchy tunes here but the ones that grab you are the lead off single "This Town ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us" along with "Amateur Hour","Talent Is An Asset", "Falling In Love...." and "Thank God It's Not Christmas." Give it a try. I dare you. You'll either love it or hate it...there's no in between. If you do love it, you'll do what I did....go after all their other albums (there are many more... some bad some good) to get your fix.

One of the most important albums of the 1970's taught pop kids a lesson: you can actually strike it easier with the 'difficult' third album.

As an impressionable 3-year-old back in 1974, I cowered into the sofa when seeing the Maels debut on Top of the Pops with 'This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us'. 14 years later as an impressionable teenager I bought the album and was hooked on it for months afterwards.

After two failed albums that trifled with 60's British psychedelia with sophomoric UCLA student musos, the Maels shifted to the UK to come up with a curious blending of staccato baroque riffs on a Fender Rhodes together with a tough, piledriving wall of tumbling guitars and reverbating bass that took the charts by storm. Terrorizing children with Ron Mael's Dickensian scowls and stares every time the cameras pointed to him and Russell's androgynous hybrid of Jim Morrison and Johnny Rotten, they took everything that waas taboo and sacred asbout youth culture and defaced them with a perverse sense of humour such as complaining up-the-duff girlfriends ("Complaints"), masturbation ("Amateur Hour"), the out-crowd ("Thank God It's Not Christmas"), and making fun of family orientated clout ("In My Family"). Critics raved about the album including a young Morrissey who got his first bite of the pop cherry in the NME by citing it the 'album of the year'.
30 years later, it still sounds disturbingly excellent - although it is doubtful that you'll ever get picked for 'Pop Idol' by using "This Town Ain't Big Enough" as your rehearsal number. Ah, what fools we have for the public!
After leaving the UK in 1975 to dabble with punk, MOR, disco, teen pop and electronic orchestral pop, Sparks have never attempted returning to their Brit-rock roots, but to listen to lyrics about girls growing tops to go topless in and shooing strangers away from Albert Einstein still makes a bunch of 40+ malcontents feel like they'd never left the first year of art school that sumer of '74.

Kimono My House is one of the great unknown classics of the 70's. The odd charm these songs exude is plainly evident 30 years after it's release. I, for one, have always enjoyed Russell Mael's voice and brother Ron's song writing is intelligent and funny. Very funny! I think the other band member's contributions were just as vital to the success of this album. Norman "Dinky" Diamond was voted drummer of the year in a poll conducted by Premier Drums in 1975. Martin Gordon has had a long and varied career as a producer, session musician, member of Jet & Radio Stars, and as a solo artist. Pick up his latest CD entitled "Baboon In The Basement" for further proof of his genius. He also arranged the songs on "Kimono...". Sadly, Adrian Fisher, the fantastic guitarist from these sessions, passed away in 2000. The one gripe I have about this album is that, at times, Adrian's guitar is too low in the mix. His guitar hero riffs deserve to be up front and prominent. The CD re-issue contains 2 b sides from this era that were not on the original release, "Barbecutie", a fantastic song about cannibalism with a really neat bass intro and "Lost and Found." This may have been the best album of 1974!

I have a hard time coming to grips with the fact that this was released when I was only 3 years old! Talk about an undated piece of work. The music is completely addictive, but the lyrics...the lyrics give this cd the 4-star rating. I laughed the entire way through the first playing...then the second. I finally opened the insert and read them. I discovered a flotilla of subtleties that escaped me by merely listening to the music. These aren't your average rock musicians...these guys have brains, talent, and a fabulous sense of humor. Combine those with a talent for writing great music and playing great guitar and you have Sparks. Kimono My House, mon amour...

This is my first venture into the ever so slightly odd world of Sparks, and what a revelation! The thing that strikes me most about this album is how undated nearly all of the tracks sound. There's some lovely, chunky guitar riffs that you can really get your teeth into, and the bass and drums mesh perfectly together forming some really tight and catchy tunes. It's a flawless and direct sound that grabs you, plays with your mind a bit and then leaves you wanting more. Add to mix the unique but absolutely suited vocal talents of Russell Mael, as well as brother Ron Mael's predilection for choosing odd subject matter for lyrics, and you've got yourself something that is unequivocally eccentric and sounds like nothing else you've ever heard. Rarely have I listened to a recording with such instant, but lasting appeal. Was this really made in 1974?

I heard "Kimono My House" when it was new and for a few years after; when I heard it yesterday for the first time in over 25 years, it was as fresh and perfect as when it was new. Some pop embaresses us years later; "Kimono My House" sounds even better. The chords are *clever*; the cabaret stylistics ("Thank God It's Not Christmas") are superb, and "This Town's Not Big Enough for Both of Us" stands right beside "Suffragette City" as the energy song of the decade. Bravo to the Brothers Mael.

This was my first introduction to Sparks in 1974 and how very odd they sounded. Russell Mael's vocals coming over like a cross between Geddy Lee of Rush and Robert Plant - but singing completely different type of material. Unusual is too mild a word. However, give it a couple of listens and you realize that the songs are extraordinarily witty and catchy musically - definitely pop rather than rock. What is interesting too is that the Mael brothers or their manager (whoever it was) decided that the best approach was rather than take the "muzak" or ABBA approach they would hire a bunch of top session men to back them, To my mind this was a stroke of brilliance. The band are tremendously capable and they can certainly lay it down. They sound remarkably heavy at times. Hasta Manana Monsieur has one of my all time favorite riffs - all guitar, bass and drums, when it could have been the typical violins and washes of Moog synthesizer more common in the pop end of 70s music. There is little doubt in my mind that every song is a gem even if some are rather annoyingly catchy ("Talent is an Asset" comes to mind). Sparks are the kind of band that can write just excellent effortless pop songs - The Go-Gos and Blondie were in a similar vein. Anyway you might like to try this album - be prepared to struggle with the vocals to start but then perhaps you will grow to really like it. If you are a real rock fan, then liking this album can be your guilty secret. If you are a pop-charts kind of person then you have no need to feel guilty at all.

You could imagine a young Morrissey listening to this album and taking notes. The witty lyrical and falsetto singing style were very much incorporated in the Smiths. 'Kimono My House' also contains superb playing from the other band members, in particular some huge riffs from guitarist Adrian Fisher. The high energy, exuberant style lends itself perfectly to Sparks' later new wave tinged albums, especially on 1982's 'Angst in my Pants'. The Island reissue of KMH contains two very good bonus tracks, Barbecutie and the storming, rarely mentioned 'Lost and Found', which has a killer guitar line. In fact, the strong basslines and quirky guitar style are reminiscent of the early albums of Sparks contemporaries The Stranglers. To be fair though, I don't think this album is as good as the follow-up 'Propaganda' because KMH is not as complete in the song crafting.

this album depicts a good time in my life. i shared this album with my father and it means a lot to me. my favorite song is "this town ain't big enough for the both of us". actually, the entire album is just great. i highly recommend this album to everyone that likes alternative music.

I bought this one when it came out in '74, and played it to death for a few years before moving on to other stuff . Nearly 30 years later (god help me) I'm really pleased to have rediscovered it on CD. It's got clever lyrics, gorgeous melodies, and the Maels and band put everything across with real power and authority. Sure, it's pop music - meaning that I'm not really sure how much of my enthusiasm for this record has to do with the fact that it was the soundtrack to a large portion of my misspent youth - but the old me and the current me seem to be in agreement that it's great stuff. Your mileage may vary, of course, but if you're a Bowie-T. Rex-Eno-Zappa kind of person, "Kimono My House" may be your kind of record.