Bonzos' Concept Album
happydogpotatohead | New Orleans, LA USA | 07/08/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is the Bonzos' fourth, and final (in their original formation) album. It received a lot of bad reviews at the time it was released (1969) because a lot of reviewers didn't perceive it as being as "funny" as their other albums. Humor figured a lot into the Bonzos' work, to be sure, but Neil Innes and Viv Stanshall were also good songwriters and lyricists, and this album was meant to focus on that aspect of their work. It was also a "concept album," based around Innes' idea, "What if we thought we were sane, but we were actually insane and didn't know it?" Out of this loose concept came this album. It also reflects the Bonzos' lives at the time, which were not terribly happy. They were poorly managed and had been touring incessantly with nothing to show for it. Their management was so dreadful that when one of the bandmembers' wives had a miscarriage while they were on the road, they neglected to tell him until after the tour was over, so as not to interrupt the bookings. And in spite of the touring, they made no money.In the face of all this, the Bonzos reacted by making an album which was more focused on their musicianship, and which reflected the chaos that was their lives at the time. Neil Innes contributes two heartfelt and lovely songs which rival Ray Davies in their winsomeness and nostalgia (Quiet Talks and I Want To Be With You), while Stanshall takes his razor wit to the entertainment industry (Look At Me I'm Wonderful) and lust (Tent). The sardonic "The Bride Stripped Bare" is a comment on all the sleazy pubs and bad gigs they played, and Stanshall's "The Odd Boy" is his funny, but somehow sad, tribute to everyone who was ever an outcast at school. "You Done My Brain In" and "Busted," which bookend the album, are reflections of their dazed and pummeled mindset, but they also show that they had not lost their sense of humor or their resilience; no self-pity here. And "Mr. Slater's Parrot," dedicated to their sax player's cantankerous bird, is a classic Bonzos take on 20's jazz. All in all this is a surprising and revealing album. The Bonzos could have made another "Gorilla" or "Tadpoles," but they chose not to; they chose to take a chance and reveal a bit more of themselves without losing the humor and sense of whimsical adventure that marked their other albums. This is another forgotten classic, and deserves to be heard by anyone who is interested in the immense fount of creativity that was British rock in the 60s."
BONZO'S BEST
Richard Moore | DREXEL HILL, PA. United States | 03/16/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Contrary to what one may see in other reviews Keynsham
is an extraordinary album easily the Bonzo's best. It
belongs with other great albums of the late sixties such as
Sgt.Pepper, Pet Sounds, Village Green Preservation
Society,Forever Changes and Songs for a Tailor.
One problem for some might be that the album is not as
parodic as most of their earlier work.Instead it draws on
more of the style of their conceptual work like Ready
Mades and 11 Mustachioed Daughters etc...
In fact the whole album is sort of a concept album with
many of its characters apparent inhabitants of an asylum (
Quiet talks and Summer Walks is sung from the
perspective of someone who believes himself to be a
blade of grass). Curious links between tracks and a
bizarre story written by Stanshall are other notable
inclusions in the package.
The album ends with the brilliant Stanshall/Innes
collaboration "Busted" which skewers not only the
establishment ( the police ) but the hippie movement aswell.
To be sure many of songs are funny - they just require
you thinking about them a little more and the music is the
best the band ever produced - impeccably played."
Jolly good
Sam Banks | Petersfeild, Hampshire England | 06/14/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is a really, really good album. Not their best. Gorilla and Tadpoles just beat it. Some really top tunes in it. especially recomended are 'Busted' 'You Done My Brain In' and 'I Want To Be With You'."
Track Listings (14) - Disc #1