A Must for Acid-Jazz and Film Score Fans
L. S. Slaughter | Chapel Hill, NC | 08/07/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The Amazon review does a great disservice to this score by putting the focus on the pop cuts by the Yardbirds and Tommorrow, and I much prefer the original vinyl release that deleted Tommorrow altogether. It is Hancock's sassy, melancholic piano and organ tracks that fuel this CD, and jazz and acid-jazz fans would do just as well to program 'out' the pop cuts for a seamless experience of cool, dark blues. Cuts like "The Bed" and "Thomas Studies Photos" rank high, and the title cut has been heavily sampled by mixmasters already (DeeLite's "Groove is in the Heart" stole the opening bass line). At the risk of sounding like a druggie (which I'm not!), BLOW-UP is the consummate opium CD: dreamy, disjointed in a coherent way if that makes sense, and certainly not confined to its 60s origins. It's neither camp nor kitsch, but a form of organ-based jazz that has finally come around to appreciative ears again. It's almost a must for any music fans who favor the 'Easy Tempo' soundtrack lounge series, and my favorite relic of pre-synthethic Hancock."
Terrific indie feel with an unbelieveable lineup!
Aaron Pikcilingis | Somerville, MA United States | 06/25/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is one of Herbie's best albums. With an all-star lineup and a terrific independent movie to go along with it, this is one of my favorites. It goes from funky jazz-pop like "Bring Down the Birds" to raw rock and roll from the Yardbirds back to super-chill lounge straight out of that wood-paneled rumpus-room your parents had in the finished basement.If you're already a jazz buff and you think you have everything, you need this album. Just the personnel on this one should be enough for you. If you're new to jazz, this is a good place to start, too. It's extremely accessible and stays closer to earth than some of Herbie's more popular work from the 70's.Either way, this is a must-have for any jazz collection, and I wholeheartedly recommend it."
Swingin
Yosuke Kitazawa | 11/20/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Great mod movie, great make-out music, and Hancock's a fab jazz genius, but I just have to take issue with the Amazon editor who had the cheese to mention Austin Powers in the review above. Yea yea yea, Austin Powers borrowed from Blow-Up, and a hell of a lot of other sixties sillies, but please baby, don't even try to compare a parody to the real thing. Blow-up has so much more to offer in the way of fashion photography and bad British teeth. Mod on!"