| Details | | Distributor: | Alternative Dis. Alliance | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | DDD |
Album Notes This box set includes 4 previously released albums and 1 new live album: II & III(1986)/CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN(1986)/CAMPER VANTIQUITES(1993)/TELEPHONE FREE LANDSLIDE VICTORY(1985)/ GREATEST HITS PLAYED FASTER(2002). Camper Van Beethoven: David Lowrey (vocals, guitar, drums); David Immergluck (guitar, pedal steel guitar, mandolin, background vocals); Jonathan Segel (guitar, mandolin, violin, keyboards, background vocals); Chris Molla (guitar, drums, background vocals); Greg Lisher (guitar); Morgan Fichter (violin, background vocals); Victor H. Krummenacher (bass, background vocals); Chris Pederson (drums). Includes liner notes by Dr. Jill Stauffer, Kacey Carmassi. As a box set, CIGARETTES AND CARROT JUICE is somewhat baffling given that any Camper Van Beethoven devotee already probably owns the first three CVB albums, TELEPHONE FREE LANDSLIDE VICTORY, II & III, and CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN, and the 1993 odds-and-sods comp CAMPER VANTIQUITIES. The previously unavailable disc, 1990 live set GREATEST HITS PLAYED FASTER, focuses on the group's Warner Bros. work, which came after the Santa Cruz years. Nevertheless, as any CVB devotee already knows, the music--with its oft-smirking lyrics and kitchen-sink rock, punk, ska, Tex-Mex, and psychedelic stylings--is chaotically eclectic and frequently transcendent, as on the sublimely ridiculous alt-lite "Take the Skinheads Bowling" and on "Good Guys & Bad Guys," which incorporates reggae, folk, and country textures into its meditation on the liberating power of music on the radio. For the beginner, CIGARETTES AND CARROT JUICE is a great place to start.
Editorial Reviews 4 stars out of 5 - California's CVB were prototypical alt.rockers with a penchant for campfire punk, mutated folk-blues, ska, weird Slavic polka and absurdist lyrics... Uncut (03/01/2003)
...One of the '80s' most consistently interesting bands... - Rating: A- Entertainment Weekly (11/08/2002)
...[The album] shows Camper as a band who'd outgrown their silly shoes... Mojo (12/01/2002)
4 stars out of 5 - ...Collisions of ska beats and gypsy fiddling....The instrumentals are fresh and eclectic, the poppier songs...are sharp and funny... Rolling Stone (01/23/2003)
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