Search - Cloud Eleven :: Orange & Green & Yellow & Near

Liquid sunshine. Get it-- here, or cheaper. But get it.

J. Chasin | NYC, NY | 02/07/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First off, this is a glorious CD, capturing the magic of the Byrds, the Beach Boys, and everything purely musical about California, and putting it into a blender, and coming out with beautiful, glorious, irresistable songs. If you aren't sure you want this, well, you want it. It sounds like a lost classic from 1968, with better production. In fact, if this WAS a lost classic from 1968, it would be universally hailed as a masterpiece.This version from Japan has 2 bonus tracks, which may make it worthwhile for the collector (although Cloud 11 main man Rick Gallego reports that they'll be on his upcoming "odds'n'sods" style release.)But if you want to take the plunge at a more reasonable cost-- and Amazon, I love you guys, I do, but I have to help the struggling artist-- try Not Lame or CD Baby, two online retailers that still stock the US release. And hey, why not really support the artist and get this from his site-- www.cloudeleven.com. Then of course come back to Amazon and buy lots of stuff. I know I will."

Buy this disc, you won't be sorry

Pat B | Edwards, Colorado | 02/09/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"We all have favorite discs and favorite artists. Those of us who grew up in the 60's held many an album close to our hearts, and we'd carry a stack of LP's from our house to our friend's house to listen to for hours. In turn, they'd bring their albums over to our house. (albums are 12" round plastic discs played on turntables for those readers here from the CD age) Believe it or not, we'd sit down and *listen intently* (and repeatedly) to the music as we simultaneously poured over and dissected the lyrics while we checked out the art on the inside and outside of the album cover. If I was a kid again with my Beatles, Stones, Byrds and Motown albums in hand walking down the hill to my best friend's house, this album would certainly be in the pile.To desribe the music contained within this disc, I guess I'd have to say that it's a sunny day in the summertime, a breeze is blowing across your face, and there's an innocence and excitement in the air that you've felt before and long to feel again and again. Such is "Orange and Green and Yellow and Near". Hearing it for the first time will take you back to that youthful innocence you once took for granted. Hearing it again will make you long for more. There's a hint of nostalgia here without a doubt... but this is no easy one-off or carbon copy of anyone else. It's a blend of everything you loved as a kid, yet it stands alone all by itself...and if you give it a chance, I guarantee it'll take you places you haven't been in awhile.From the psychedelically laced voices that creep in on the opening track "Van Gogh Smiles", to the Beatlesque lead-in and feel of "Smolder", to the lyrical beauty of the acoustically based "Blue Butterfly"...this album will circle around inside your head like a light show at Winterland in '67. There's a heart and soul here that I think is very hard to find in the popular music of today. Akin to that statement, is the rarity in today's music world of a one-man-band/do it yourself approach. The approach here is of an artist straining to be heard in a world full of corporate rock "product" that is touched by so many people along the way that what the artist himself originally intended you to hear is lost or muted beyond recognition.Not so here. Rick Gallegos "Takes Control" (another great tune, this time from his first self titled disc *Cloud Eleven* also avialable here and at NotLame.com) of his own destiny on this release. The music is his...and he formed his own label for the sole reason of getting this product out so that YOU could hear it's magic unchanged and unadulterated. If you love to hear an entire disc of tunes that will instantly stick in your head and that will make you feel like a kid again, this artist/disc can fill that void. So come onboard. Take a trip, float on a *cloud* of shining bliss blown endlessly across a crystal blue sky on a warm sunny day. Feel that childhood innocence once again...and remember what it was like to feel so good after hearing an album that you can hardly wait to turn your friends onto the same magical feeling you once held dear to your heart as a kid when music meant so very, very much and played a huge part in your life."