Music Banter - View Single Post - That 70's Thread - Anteater's Reviews Of Cool **** You Should Already Have
View Single Post
Old 01-09-2010, 04:32 PM   #26 (permalink)
Anteater
Certified H00d Classic
 
Anteater's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Bernie Sanders's yacht
Posts: 6,129
Default

Klaatu – 3:47 E.S.T. (1976)


"The Beatles =/= Klaatu. Klaatu > The Beatles!"

1. Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft (7:14)
2. California Jam (3:01)
3. Anus of Uranus (3:16)
4. Sub-Rosa Subway (4:36)
5. True Life Hero (3:25)
6. Doctor Marvello (3:37)
7. Sir Bodsworth Ruggelsby III (3:22)
8. Little Neutrino (8:25)


For the last thirty years or so, anything with two particular words within the context of an album guaranteed Gold, sometimes even Platinum, sales of said album. What were these magical words you may ask? Why 'The Beatles' of course! Whether it was solo albums by its members, bootlegs, live recordings or the infinitely numerous compilations of their material, anything The Beatles did or do today sold/sells like crack on the street. It's insane, but that's the power of Beatlemania for ya.

Now, what does any of this have to do with a Canadian progressive pop band named Klaatu who released a fun and strangely awesome debut record back in 1976 on Capitol Records? Simply put, due to a strange yet fortuitous rumor, most of the U.S. thought that Klaatu WERE, in fact, the Fab Four reunited, and as a result this album here sold planet-sized volumes within a month of its release that it otherwise wouldn't have. This is due in part to Klaatu's often whimsical approach to their tune writing, but the fact that 3:47 E.S.T. was released through Capitol, who were also responsible for many of the The Beatles material being released stateside, as well as that none of the musicians in Klaatu were named in the album's linear notes, led many to believe that they were The Beatles despite the fact that Klaatu sounded a lot more grandiose, weirder and proggier than Lennon and co.

The album opens with a song that the Carpenters later stole and did a godawful cover of, the 60's tinged 'Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft', which while silly in the lyrical department has some fantastic vocal work and loads of eclectic spacey textures that give this piece a lot of sonic depth, though some may not like the Sgt. Peppers feel it gives off. This opener, more than anything else, was probably what started all those Beatles rumors.




Actually, almost all of Side A has a particularly late summer-y 60's feel to it, though filtered through Klaatu's slick approach to production and arrangement. 'California Jam' is everything that was great about the West Coast sound with a bit of extra punch to the drums and guitar, whilst 'Anus of Uranus' and 'Subway Rosa' start to harden the edges somewhat, with the vocals and guitar work getting sharper and more noticeable. There's even a shade of sitar in the later of these two songs, marking the line where the pop ends and the real weirdness begins.




Klaatu begin to stretch their tendrils out a bit more freely here on the dark side of this particular moon - the peruvian 'Doctor Marvello', raunchy 'Sir Bodsworth Ruggelsby III' and space-drone epic 'Little Neutrino' all stand out here. To briefly summarize, sitar leads and dominates 'Doctor Marvello', but in a more raga-rock kind of way that anything The Beatles did. 'Sir Bodsworth...", on the other hand, is without a doubt the most demented piece of anything on this whole album: to put it one way, its as if Animal from the Muppets jacked the mic from Klaatu's actual vocalist while replacing the rest of the group with some Tiny Tim session musicians. It's awesome and catchy to a point (especially if you pay attention to the lyrics), but extremely strange nevertheless!

We end this album on a darkly cathartic note on 'Little Neutrino', which is led acoustically throughout most of its 8 minute run while swelling into explosive vocoder climaxes at key moments, eventually fading off into silence with the pulse of an orchestra behind it. Very evocative, very spacey, and a most importantly look into the true creative deeps Klaatu would begin to plunge down into on later works.





Pomp and plaster and potential disaster all mix with some killer musicianship here on 3:47 E.S.T., and all in all its one of the most fantastic and fun debut albums to ever hit the market. It takes all the best parts of the late 60's, puts them in the electric chair, then blends up the remains with a a few cups of power-pop and an ounce of ham for maximum playability. I really can't recommend it enough, and along with the follow-up, 1977's Hope, this represents some of the best weird pop the 70's have to offer.
__________________
Anteater's 21 Fav Albums Of 2020

Anteater's Daily Tune Roulette

Quote:
Originally Posted by OccultHawk
I was called upon by the muses for greatness.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frownland
I'm bald, ja.
Anteater is offline   Reply With Quote