The 1993 re-release of the Rezillos' sole album as such lives up to its name perfectly -- Can't Stand the Rezillos: The (Almost) Complete Rezillos is indeed almost the complete collection of work that the band officially released during its heyday-of-punk lifetime. As such it's an absolute killer, divided between the original Can't Stand the Rezillos album and the live Mission Accomplished album, along with both sides of the "Destination Venus"/"Mystery Action" single. Ira Robbins' detailed and appreciative band history also makes note of what's missing for completists' sakes -- the original recording of "I Can't Stand My Baby," a remake of the Beatles' "I Wanna Be Your Man," "20,000 Rezillos Under the Sea," and the single version of "Top of the Pops." There's one other excision -- the live "Destination Venus" had to be dropped from Mission Accomplished to fit everything else on the disc. But the end result really can't be argued with -- the remastering of the studio tracks is solid, the live tracks, while not recorded as clearly as they could have been, get shined up as best as they can.
There is not one song on this CD that is not utterly top-notch. 'Flying Saucer Attack' is a catchy song about flying Saucers attacking us and "frying us alive." It might be the best song of the CD, and it might be the best song ever. 'Somebody's Gonna get their Head Kicked in' is an angry song, without the female vox, but is still catchy as hell and worth by itself the cost of the entire CD. 'Top of the Pops' is nothing short of stellar. Even the cover songs are done in a top-notch manner.
The music transcends the simple punk-power chord structure and moves into a realm of utter perfection. The vocals are all done exactly as they should be, mixing male and female vox to create an extremely cohesive medley. Then the bassist is amazing. He provides a perfect texture for the band to play over, while at the same time demonstrating his own skills. The guitar is at times simple, but jumps into more complicated rhythyms and the occaisional solo. The Rezillos are reminiscent of a weird Ramones/B-52s amalgamation--as fun as the Ramones, but more coherent--and as weird as the B-52s, but in my opinion much more listenable. The distinctive style of the Rezillos' music, combined with stellar bass lines and enthusiastic vocals, makes for a non-stop barrage of super-fun songs that will make you want to jump around and dance
Track List:
1. Flying Saucer Attack
2. No
3. Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked in Tonight
4. Top of the Pops
5. 2000 A.D.
6. It Gets Me
7. I Can't Stand My Baby
8. Glad All Over
9. (My Baby Does) Good Sculptures
1. I Like It
11. Getting Me Down
12. Cold Wars
13. Bad Guy Reaction
14. Destination Venus
15. Mystery Action
16. Top of the Pops (Live)
17. Mystery Action (Live)
18. Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked in Tonight (Live)
19. Thunderbirds Are Go (Live)
20. Cold Wars (Live)
21. Teenbeat (Live)
22. No (Live)
23. Land of a Thousand Dances (Live)
24. I Need You (Live)
25. Culture Shock (Live)
26. Getting Me Down (Live)
27. Ballroom Blitz (Live)
28. (My Baby Does) Good Sculptures (Live)
Download: The Rezillos - Can't Stand the Rezillos: The (Almost) Complete Rezillos (67.8MB)
10 comments:
Cool, I've never heard of them to be honest but I will check them out, they sound alright. Thanks and keep up the great work.
It's nice to know that there are people out there who are willing to check out bands that they have never heard of. That's one of the main reasons that I run this blog, to hopefully introduce people to something they've never heard of. Let me know what you thought of them when you get a chance.
Hey, Thanks, this is awesome to hear again. Do you have any of their stuff as The Revillos?
Excellent, I had actually forgotten they existed, thanks for that !
I have 'Totally Alive' and 'From the Freezer'. Let me know if you want me to up them.
'From The Freezer' would be great!
Fay Fife fo fum, I'd like to stick it up her bum - she'd love it as much as I love the Rezillos!
Ain't they gigging again?
great review, great band, i was lucky enough to see them once a few years ago and i hope i get the chance again, had to put on that album right now, always puts me in a better mood!
i like your b52's/ramones description which is how i found this page!
From the Revillos, I have the one entitled The Revillos, which is fantastic, and Rev-Up, with some very good tracks.
You can listen to them on my playlists on Deezer:
http://www.deezer.com/#music/playlist/1885892/611230
http://www.deezer.com/#music/playlist/1577846/611230
Thanks so much. Great memories, great music.
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