Customer Reviews

Absolute O Brien

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

 

 

Richard O'Brien is a very talented singer/songwriter/actor. But unfortunately, outside of "Rocky Horror", "Shock Treatment" and maybe even "Dark City" -- most of his work isn't known about, even by the devout Rocky people.

Many of the songs on this album are from his Mephistopheles Smith live act he was developing in the early and mid-90s and finally gave up when the costume effect he insisted on going on gave him problems. He did however record some of the best songs (minus, unfortunately, "Disgracefully Yours" the title of his act) for this CD. He then added other songs that he wrote during the making of "Dark City" and recorded most everything in a soft jazz style that was decidedly different from his earlier tunes (exception "Running With The Noisy Boys.")

Does this style work for Richard? Not as well as Richard playing it Rock and Roll style, or listening to him play acoustically on his guitar (oh yeah!) But it does work.

Some songs like "It's Up To You" and "Rhythm of the Heartbeat" (the latter from Meph Smith/Disgracefully Yours) sound more like something you'd be listening to at Starbucks and are just a tad too mellow.

The jazz style, however works terrifically on other songs. While I prefer the unrelease acoustic version of "Incubus of Love" the jazz version certainly does it justice. "Angel In Me" also works well here. But where it really scores is on two songs "Ain't That to Die For" (again from his act) which is a great upbeat number, and "One Hundred Dollars an Hour" -- the rare song about prostitution and sensuality.

I'll be the first to profess more of a fondness for his rawer (and exceptionally difficult to find) earlier works released on vinyl such as his Kimi & Ritz and Dicky Hart singles, or the cast album to "The Stripper," another musical he co-wrote with Hartley (Hartley did the music, Richard the lyrics.) But we won't see a legitimate release of those songs on CD for year, and Richard would like to do another album before revisiting those works. But if you've already bought Rocky and Shock treatment, here's a chance to get another dose of cleverness from the shaven-headed one, Ritz.

I have been a Rocky Horror fan for 8 years, and absolutely love Richard O'Brien's rock music. I had heard this was more of a jazz CD, but honestly I didn't really know what to expect when I bought it. I had thought I would hear something quirkly, and probably a bit odd despite the jazz description, but much to my great surprise the music is incredibly good. Even though I do like his films, I admit I had somewhat written off his singing talent and had always thought of Richard O'Brien as mainly a cult patriarch - but this CD proves he does have real musical talent and diversity. I was in a bit of shock when first heard the first few songs - I remember thinking "he really CAN sing". If you are a hard core Rocky Horror fan and are wanting more rock music this is probably not a CD you will like. If you are interested in hearing an incredible voice with incredible music, not to mention gaining a possibly new perspective on Richard O'Brien's talent, you will love this CD.

I've been a fan of Rocky Horror for many, many years now and recently purchased Shock Treatment, which I was totally captivated by. I love Richard's way of mixing 50's and 60's rock with that of the 70's and 80's. He is a wonderful lyricist and song writer and I'm very impressed with his work, in general.

I bought this CD hoping to find more of his music, similar in style to that of Rocky and Shock Treatment. I was disappointed with this CD mainly in the fact that the songs are all jazzy, lounge sounding songs. No electric guitars or catchy, fun choruses. There doesn't seem to be the same angst and fire that was in his other works. They seemed very mellow and tame, not cutting edge, rebelious, and memorable.

He does show his singing talent in this CD. If you are looking for music similar to his earlier works I wouldn't look here. If you want to see another dimension of Richard then this CD is worth a look.

I have this album, Richard O'brien has a marvelous singing voice, and what is more he writes all the lyrics himself. This album is yet another success for Richard, its a must for anyone who loves richard's work, or indeed for anyone wanting some great music to listen to. After seeing the Rocky Horror Picture Show years ago i always used to wish that Richard would bring out an album of some sort and I was so pleased when this one was released. I just cant wait for the next one. Keep up the good work richard!!!!

What more could I possibly expect from this man? He's awesome and everything he does (I'll excuse Spice World...LOL) is awesome! Thanks Reckless Rick for once again proving your creativity and engeniousness. To anyone who is contemplating buying this album DO SO! When I got mine I had no idea how it was going to be and I didn't think I liked jazz at all. All in all the CD is awesome! My only complaint...IT SHOULD BE LONGER! :)

Don't expect "Riff Sings"...expect something much better! Smooth, jazzy and catchy. Great job, Ritz!

The CD has really great songs..I like Richard really very much..have a page about him ... Songs he writes are awesome