Customer Reviews

Yer Album (With Orig. Art)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Yer Album (1969.) James Gang's first album.

If there is one era of Joe Walsh's musical career that is severely underrated, it would have to be his years with the James Gang. Before going solo or joining the Eagles, this is where Walsh did lead vocals. It's a shame that the James Gang tends to get little recognition outside their hits Walk Away and Funk #49, because this era features some of the best stuff that Walsh ever recorded. The Gang's debut LP, Yer Album, was released in 1969. Read on for my review of it.

This album captures the James Gang in their prime - before they went mainstream and focused on scoring hit singles. The band's sound stayed excellent from their formation right up to their final days, but it's their debut that captures the band in their finest hour. The band kicks things off with the ever-so-bizzare introduction. This song is strange in that it uses classical music excerpts! Weird stuff, but it sure is an attention-getter! A slower, more melodic track entitled Take A Look Around comes next. The fact that this song never became a big hit for the band is just insulting, because this is a damn fine song. Third up is Funk #48, not to be confused with the more popular Funk #49. This is an excellent jam that truly captures the band in their prime. No, it's not as popular as the similarly-titled track from a later album, but it's equally excellent. Bluebird is a cover of an old Buffalo Springfield, and an excellent one too. It's more electric than the original version, which was more on the acoustic side, but solid nonetheless. Walsh's vocals really shine here. The next track is Lost Woman. This is blues-based rock at its finest. Drummer Jim Fox even serves up a drum solo for your listening pleasure! Stone Rap is an interesting little transitional piece. Not spectacular, but still worth listening to. The next track, Collage, is country-flavored rock reminiscent of the slower tunes that Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young recorded. I Don't Have The Time is straight-up classic hard rock, remiscent of the Who's stuff from the late sixties and early seventies (ironic, considering the band would be an opening act for that band during an early seventies tour!) The weirdest song on the album would have to be Wrapcity In English, which features orchestral work. Surprisingly, this only makes the album stronger! Fred is another excellent tune as only the James Gang could do, and the closer, Stop, is a song that seems to get a lot of praise from people, and why not? It's a damn fine closing song. Is the James Gang's debut their finest hour? I think so.

This album was remastered and rereleased circa 2000, and I must say, the remastering really does make a difference. It's tough to take music recorded thirty years prior and make it sound better, but the record company manages to do just that with their James Gang remasters! I wish they would have added a few new extra features/bonus tracks, but I'm not complaining.

What more can be said? Yer Album is a James Gang masterpiece, and in my mind the finest material that the band ever recorded (although many of the fans would beg to differ.) The fact that this album is underrated fills me with rage, because this really is excellent material. If you want classic rock that almost certainly won't fail to please, or maybe you just want to check out Joe Walsh's early days, don't hesitate to purchase this or any other James Gang release.

But 5 stars is for great. This is good....very good, and probably the best work The James Gang (with or without Joe) ever did. Indeed, as mentioned elsewhere, every song is fine, though the two long ones are to my mind a bit long.

But this is a solid album, well-played and very well remastered. This is remarkably dense for a trio, not overdone, but thick with good sound and good writing.

I have the first six James Gang LPs, and they never sounded this good again. Fresh, young, brash, strong but not pompous, and quite enjoyable. If you are a Walsh fan looking backward, this is a great addition. If you remember the Gang fondly, this holds up after 30+ years far better than the later stuff. The other albums were built around a "single" and fluffed up, though each has their joys. Not Yer Album. This has nothing but good stuff.

Fred is unique. I Don't Have The Time snaps and pops. And Bluebird is brilliant, listen to that bass. And some of Joe's best vocals. They noodled, but didn't lose me on that one. Just wish they hadn't been quite so indulgent on the 9+ minute tracks.

I won't go into a lot of detail with a review...suffice it to say Yer Album along with the band's second release "Rides Again" remain to this day two of the finest and yet most overlooked releases in rock'n'roll. Having said that I would like to point out to the serious audiophiles reading this one of the cleverest, and funniest, gimmicks I've ever heard on a record. I have an original vinyl copy of "Yer Album" in my possession. For those who have one as well and still in possession of a turntable you might want to give this a try. Be forewarned it only works if your turntable does NOT have an automatic shut off in which the arm catches the last groove and then removes itself from the record. If your needle will catch the final groove and then go entirely to he end of the record and stay there until physically removed...you're in for a treat. At the completion of side one..you'll hear a voice...presumably Joe Walsh's...repeatedly say "Turn Me Over...Turn Me Over" again and again. At the end of side two, the album's completion, you'll hear that same voice say repeatedly "Play Me Again...Play Me Again". Give it a try if you can. Obviously this is a feature that can't be discovered on CD or tape.

an angel bought me this disc - and i can't thank her enuf - you need this disc if for no other reason than to hear "stop" digitally re-mastered!! this is fantastic music - being played by three (or four) very good musicians in tune with each other - so the jams are tight and awe-striking - really - buy this and when you get it - blast it!! turn it way the ... up loud and drive the neighbors nuts!!! this album is what rock 'n' roll is all about - this recording defines rock 'n' roll - hard edged, relentless and yet soulful and heartfelt - if you love rock 'n' roll, then this album is appropriately titled - it's "yer album" - and if you don't own it, well then, yer missin' the point - - i suggest you "add to shopping cart & proceed to checkout" - now !! you will *not* be disappointed - thank you theresa ann - i love it!! k

if for no other reason than to hear "stop" digitally re-mastered!! this is fantastic music - being played by three (or four) very good musicians in tune with each other - so the jams are tight and awe-striking - really - buy this and when you get it - blast it!! turn it way the ... up loud and drive the neighbors nuts!!! this album is what rock 'n' roll is all about - this recording defines rock 'n' roll - hard edged, relentless and yet soulful and heartfelt - if you love rock 'n' roll, then this album is appropriately titled - it's "yer album" - and if you don't own it, well then, yer missin' the point - - i suggest you "add to shopping cart & proceed to checkout" - now !! you will *not* be disappointed

This brings me back to a far younger, more self-indulgent era in my own life. It was a time when a drum solo was pretty much a novelty. One thinks, of course, of Iron Butterfly, and Michael Shrieve in Santana. But despite all the time having gone by, I never lost taste for "Yer Album."

Yes, there is a drum solo, in "Lost Woman," and that leads me to my most superlative comment of the album: Jim Fox is perhaps the best drummer I've ever heard! Listen to the album. The drums play themselves. I've seen too many rock shows in which a mediocre drummer gets a set the size of Japan, thinking that the array of drums will make up for the lack of quality. I don't know the size of Fox's set as I never saw James Gang on stage. But the drum work on every song on the album is impeccable. He doesn't just "keep the beat," he adds to the music. And a rare drummer does that.

Oh, that song also has something I never heard before, a bass solo. That's worth hearing too!

Buffalo Springfield's "Blackbird" is done very well, a bit more "electric" perhaps than the original, but not over challenging the original's essence.

"Fred" is still intriguing; fabulous bass work, and, like in everything else, drums that stand out due to their quality.

There is, for those of you not familiar with the album, some orchestral work. It seems incongruous, but I think it adds to the quality of the album.

Then there's "Stop," a song the guitar work of which I could never master. Someone appropriately called it a "minor classic." It's long, but with the instrumental work in particular, it won't bore you.

I don't mean to down play the vocals. They're mostly Joe Walsh, of course, and he has a great rock voice, shrill, penetrating. But nothing in the vocals stand out to me like the fabulous instrumental work.

Even if you weren't yet born when this album was produced (I remember it from mid to late 1970!), I recommend you listen to it. Again, the drum work is worth listening to, the bass work is excellent--pounding, and carrying like a bass should be--and Walsh's guitar work too is great. This is a real classic (which I'm listening to for the millionth time as I type this!)

I USED TO THINK THAT THE RIDES AGAIN CD WAS THE BEST BY THE JOE WALSH LED JAMES GANG BUT WHEN THEY REMASTERD THE FIRST JAMES GANG CD`S WITH JOE WALSH I BOUGHT THIS FOR THE FIRST TIME AND NOW I`LL HAVE TO SAY THIS IS A LITTLE BETTER.THIS HAS A GREAT VERSION OF A BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD SONG BLUEBIRD.BUT THE STAND OUT SONG`S ON THIS ARE THE HARD ROCKER I DON`T HAVE THE TIME,AND STOP.THESE TWO SONGS ALONE MAKE THIS A CLASSIC CD.GREAT EARLY 70`S MUSIC.

This may be the one James Gang album to benefit greatly from remastering. The most sonically dense of the three Joe Walsh studio albums, I found more clarity in the guitars than I have ever heard before, especially on Bluebird. Rides Again and Thirds are also worth the investment, but this album remains my favorite, and radio hasn't played it to death.

The debut album of the James Gang was a very solid effort. Most fans are familiar with the cuts Funk #48 and Take a Look Around which have been included on compilations, but there are some virtually unheard of gems on this release. Collage is perhaps one of the most beautiful compositions Joe Walsh has ever penned (and is perhaps his version of the classical piece "The Four Seasons". The strings on this piece are definetly ahead of it's time. The gang's take on the Buffalo Springfield classic "Bluebird" also manages to pay homage without being redundant. Granted, there is some mindless noodling on this cut but it still manages to captivate. Lost Woman is also a great cut. The other hidden gem is Fred. I've heard this song hundreds of times and I still haven't figured what it is about but the melody is unforgetable. And the closer Stop is also a minor classic. Unlike most of Joe Walsh's solo recordings which have a couple of great songs surrounded by throwaways, every song on this CD more than holds it's own. The digital remastering is also quite remarkable. This recording made in the late 60's has aged well. I strongly recommend this recording for Joe Walsh fans and fans of classic rock as well.