INCREDIBLE STRING BAND
223
Audio CD
9 offers from $27.20
Joni Mitchell
246
Audio CD
7 offers from $91.00
DYLAN,BOB
1,367
Audio CD
11 offers from $20.16
Johnny Cash
299
Audio CD
8 offers from $22.99

Product description

Debut album, originally released in 1971. Original 9 tracks(digitally remastered) + 2 bonus tracks. Guest musicians include Pete Townshend, Elton John, Jimmy Page, Richard Thompson, John Cale, Keith Moon and Steve Winwood.

Product details

Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 14.4 x 12.6 x 1.2 cm; 106.88 Grams
Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ P-Vine
Original Release Date ‏ : ‎ 2003
Label ‏ : ‎ P-Vine
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0000CD84D
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1

Customer Reviews:
15 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		68%
4 star		9%
3 star		15%
2 star		9%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

How are ratings calculated?

Review this product

Write a customer review

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Melomaniak

Freaky Feast

Reviewed in France on 5 December 2014

Verified Purchase

Quand un membre des excellents écossais de l' Incredible String Band (une valeur à révaluer, pas de doute !) se lance en solo, ça donne un Smiling Men with Bad Reputations à la pochette aussi ridicule que son titre et son contenu sont savoureux, c'est dire !
En vérité, si vous connaissez le travail de Mike Heron avec son habituelle formation, vous ne serez pas fondamentalement surpris par la présente galette, on y retrouve un identique esprit mélodique et compositionnel. Mais une liberté instrumentale accrue du fait, logique !, de la présence de nombreux invités, tous plus prestigieux les uns que les autres, les invités, pensez, une moitié des Who (Townsend et Moon), John Cale, toute la formation irlandaise Dr. Strangely Strange, Ronnie Lane des excellentes Small Faces, Richard Thompson... On s'arrête là mais, franchement, le line-up ressemble à un who's who des belles figures peuplant un rock/folk/pop aventureux mais pas progressif en ces septantes naissantes.
Et la musique ? Du rock qui rythme'n'bluese (avec le saxophoniste Dudu Pukwana en guest star sur Call Me Diamond, avec les Who sur Warm Heart Pastry), de la pop rock typique de l'époque dans ce qu'elle offrait de meilleur (Flowers of the Forest), de l'acoustique caressant au coin du feu (Audrey), en cordes baroques (Brindaban), ou glissant vers un Harrison sous influence indienne (Spirit Beautiful)... Varié, de qualité, à l'ancienne forcément, avec toujours cette petite fêlure, ce je ne sais quoi qui rend un album attachant.
Ce qu'est définitivement Smiling Men with Bad Reputations, un pépite à exhumer de la tombe d'oubli où il a trop longtemps été enterré.

1. Call Me Diamond 4:46
2. Flowers of the Forest 5:48
3. Audrey 4:14
4. Brindaban 3:59
5. Feast of Stephen 4:42
6. Spirit Beautiful 5:23
7. Warm Heart Pastry 6:06
8. Beautiful Stranger 7:27
9. No Turning Back 3:22
Bonus
10. Make No Mistake 3:09
11. Lady Wonder 4:20

Mike Heron - Guitar, Keyboards, lead vocals
John Cale - Bass, Guitar, Vocals, Harmonium, Piano, Viola
Gerry Conway - Drums
Tony Cox - VCS3 Synthesizer
Pat Donaldson - Bass
Dr. Strangely Strange - Backing Vocals
Ronnie Lane - Bass
Sue Glover - Vocals
Mike Kowalski - Drums
Malcolm Le Maistre - Clarinet
Sunny Leslie - Vocals
Dave Mattacks - Drums
Keith Moon - Drums
Simon Nicol - Guitar
Dave Pegg - Bass
Dudu Pukwana - Saxophone, Piano
Rose Simpson - Bass
Liza Strike - Vocals
Richard Thompson - Guitar
Pete Townshend - Guitar
Heather Wood - Vocals

3 people found this helpful

Translate review to English

James N. R. Goad

Patchy

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 October 2004

Verified Purchase

This is basically an album of stuff that Mike Heron couldn't really do with The Incredible String Band. Much of the album is in a rock (rather than Folk) style & is sounds as if Mike & the other musicians had a great time making the album.
There are some excellent tunes on here (especially Warm Heart Pastry with Pete Townsend on Guitar) but there are almost as many that I'm not very keen on. However, this is often the way with solo projects & there is enough variety on here to keep things interesting.

9 people found this helpful

progmike

Generic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 May 2017

Verified Purchase

After enjoying the work of The Incredible String Band for many decades, I finally gave in to the hype and purchased a CD of this album.
To me, it sounds like a generic 1970s rock album and has none of the sparkle and magic of ISB.
Disappointed.

J. Bonder

Heron & a cast of top class collaborators

Reviewed in the United States on 16 April 2012

Verified Purchase

Mike Heron is of course best known for his work as co-founder of the Incredible String Band. While said group underwent various permutations, it was Heron along with Robin Williamson who remained at its core as songwriters and multi-instrumentalists. It's likely that most folks with any interest in this album are already well aware of this, but I mention it because this album, while quite different from any music by the Incredible String Band, brilliantly succeeds for similar reasons.

Heron is indeed an immensely talented man, but what made the ISB so successful was the balance between Heron and Williamson. These two had an invaluable resource in each other, friends who could get excited and inspired by the ideas the other brought to the table. They knew (at least in the best work by the ISB), when to step in, and when to step back. When to push the other to do more, and when to take the reins. In creating this spectacularly eclectic album, Heron found a cast of sympathetic collaborators who had enough talent and vision of their own to be able to truly contribute to Heron's ideas. In turn, they seemed to push him to new heights, all the while providing the variety that makes this album as diverse and expressive as it is, with Heron as the great unifier. John Cale, Pete Townsend, Elton John, Steve Winwood, Richard Thompson, Keith Moon, Dave Mattacks, Jimmy Page, Dudu Pukwana, Dave Pegg, Rose Simpson, Ronnie Lane and Lisa Strike (to name just some of the more familiar folks who contributed), did so out of an obvious love and respect for Mike Heron and his many gifts - perhaps the most glowing endorsement a musician at that time could receive.

Cale probably contributes the most, and serves as the Williamson to Mike's Heron. He plays a variety of instruments that beautifully serve the songs, and contributes some very well thought out arrangements. Elton John and Jimmy Page are only featured on the bonus tracks, but these are indeed welcome additions to the album, particularly the rocking and slightly countrified "Make No Mistake". These people really couldn't put out a bad tune, and there isn't a clunker in the bunch. That said, I must make special mention of a few favourites. "Call Me Diamond" provides a brilliantly upbeat start to the album, and Pukwana's playing is really highlighted to great effect. He also seems to push Heron in the vocal department, and the song never lets up in sheer energy and exuberance. "Feast of Stephen" is perhaps the best argument for Cale's involvement in this project, and it is surely one of Heron's strongest tunes. It is ultimately a relatively simple tune, but the arrangement and performance elevate it to something truly transcendent.

As I look over the list of tracks, I'm quickly realizing that I could just gush over every single one. I guess I'll just stop here then, albeit with one final endorsement. Variety is the spice of life, and this album is simply brimming with it. None of the guest musicians, as diverse as they are, ever seem out of place or like an attempt at musical name dropping. They are there for a reason, and that is to bring the multi-faceted vision of Mike Heron to life, and to acknowledge and do their part to help in revealing the expansive talent of Mike Heron. This is quite different from the Incredible String Band, but Mr. Heron has pushed himself and been pushed to the same dizzying heights he had reached with Williamson. Very highly recommended!

6 people found this helpful

M. Bromberg

Mike Heron, with a cast of thousands

Reviewed in the United States on 31 August 2004

Verified Purchase

Well, maybe that's overstating the case -- but the line-up is pretty stellar for 1971: Pete Townshend, John Cale, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Ronnie Lane, Keith Moon, Richard Thompson, Dave Pegg, and many others from the British folk and rock scenes, all on one album, creating a heady mix of music during a once-in-a-lifetime session. It's a wonderful blend of the Incredible String Band's psychedelic-styled, mystical ballads and Who-powered guitar riffs that remains under-appreciated more than thirty years on. Perhaps only early Traffic achieved something this audacious (Winwood even makes an instrumental appearance, completing the circle). This import reissue is a little pricy, but does contain some bonus tracks. If you're a fan of British folk rock and its obscurities, this album will come as a real surprise.

15 people found this helpful

See all reviews

Image Unavailable

Smiling Men with Bad Reputations

Customers who bought this item also bought

Product description

Product details

Customer reviews

Review this product

Top reviews from Australia

Top reviews from other countries