Search - Barnes & Barnes :: Yeah: Essential Barnes & Barnes

Yeah: The Essential Barnes & Barnes

Michael Osborn | Seattle, WA USA | 08/17/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Barnes & Barnes represent first and formost; QUALITY. There is possibly nothing more satisfying for the ears than listening to a recording that is crisp and clear, and this is true not just in novelty records but in any genre. Barnes & Barnes (Bill Mumy and Robert Haimer) produce their own records and make it seem so easy to co-ordinate their vocals and instruments into pure musical clarity. They produced all of the fine records by Wild Man Fischer on Rhino Records, somehow making him actually listenable. O.K., now many believe that their technical skills are lost on the actual music they produce but you must at least be somewhat aware that these guys are sublimely demented and so have never had any pretentions that their music will ever make in onto the Billboard top 40 charts! You will not be disappointed in any of the three Barnes & Barnes CDs available. To ensure you get your moneys worth they are each packed to capacity and they each have well-written and informative booklets by Billy Mumy . Their first album, Voobaha has the original 14 tracks plus NINE excellent bonus tracks including the controversial, Vomit Song and the Dr. Demento favorite, Three Drunk Newts. Their second album, Spazchow has the original 14 tracks plus EIGHT excessively mind-warping bonus tracks. All 22 tracks are sewn together with actual recordings from their phone answering machine which gives a unique touch and a glimpse into their lives as actual people. On this CD, Yeah, 18 of the 24 tracks not available on the other two CDs (the tracks 5-10 are on the Spazchow CD). Three of the cuts (18, 23 & 24) are from their long out of print CD on Rhino records, Loozanteen."

If you hurt no one, you've done nothing wrong.

Johnny Heering | Bethel, CT United States | 02/05/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Oglio Records rereleased Barnes & Barnes first two albums on CD. Those must not have sold well enough, because they didn't rerelease the rest of their albums. Instead, the third Barnes & Barnes release by Oglio Records was this "best of" CD. It features material from all their released albums and unreleased albums, plus newly recorded songs. Ten of the songs have never been released before. It's a good overview of Barnes & Barnes recorded output, from the sublime to the ridiculous. Fans of Art & Art need this CD. Yeah."

Disappointing collection

Cinema Dweller | The Christmas Realm | 01/28/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard their collection called Zabagabee: The Best of Barnes and Barnes in the early 90's and immediately fell in love with their music. If you can find that it would be worth your while. What I really don't understand is that this collection has about twice as many songs as that one did, and hardly any of the same songs. About 4 of the 24 tracks on this collection were on Zabagabee."