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Post Info TOPIC: Mondo Bongo - really that bad...?


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Mondo Bongo - really that bad...?
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everyone keeps saying how bad this album is, that it´s the weakest one, but is that the opinion of everyone here? I think that there are a few good songs one it, obviously banana republic but I´ve always liked hurt hurts aswell. what do you say?

-- Edited by Tina McBain at 16:34, 2005-10-04

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RE: really that bad...?
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quote:

Originally posted by: _johanna_

"everyone keeps saying how bad this album is, that it´s the weakest one, but is that the opinion of everyone here? I think that there are a few good songs one it, obviously banana republic but I´ve always liked hurt hurts aswell. what do you say? "


I think it's better than V Deep.  There are a few very good songs on it (Banana Republic, Go Man Go, Fall Down, This is My Room, Elephant's Graveyard, Straight Up, Hurt Hurts), but it does contain the shockingly poor Another Piece of Red, and some other not so good tracks (Please Don't Go & Mood Mambo).   Though I prefer the first three albums and In the Long Grass, Mondo does get the occassional airing, and thanks to the wonders of CD programming, it's a very good 8/9 track album! I can live with Whitehall 1212 and Under Their Thumb. 


I find V Deep as far harder listen, as about half the tracks (original version) are ropey, and only a couple stand comparison with the Rats at their best.  In fact, had House on Fire made it onto Mondo Bongo (recorded at that time) then I could almost live without V Deep.



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oh, well, I actually like V Deep, it´s alot better than mondo bongo, it´s different from, what shall we call it, classical rats, but still good.. one of my favorite rats songs happens to be the little death, so i dont think I could live with out it...:)

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quote:

Originally posted by: _johanna_

" oh, well, I actually like V Deep, it´s alot better than mondo bongo, it´s different from, what shall we call it, classical rats, but still good.. one of my favorite rats songs happens to be the little death, so i dont think I could live with out it...:)"


I'm more of a classical rats fan   As far as I'm concerned, the first two albums are two of the greatest albums ever made (by anyone! Can only think of a handful of comparable albums), and though I do like most of the rest, they don't quite match up. 


Had Mood Mambo, Please Don't Go and Another Piece of Red not been on Mondo and were substituted by House on Fire, He Watches It All and A Storm Breaks (The Bitter End would have been better than Under Their Thumb as well), I think I would really love Mondo Bongo, and have it alongside the first two albums as an all-time favourite.  Man at The Top would have been a good Mondo Bongo track, rather than been left on the b-side of Banana Republic.


I always think of it as the album that could have been their greatest.  All it needed was someone to have been a bit objective, flesh out some tracks like This is My Room and abridge others like Mood Mambo.  Maybe even write a couple of new songs. Ultimately, I don't think it's a bad album, it just can be a little jarring at times, unlike the first three albums which were more consistent. 


Once I've got the audio off the DVD, I might make the ultimate Mondo Bongo remix! 


 



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ah, well...I do agree, the first two albums are the ones you´d bring to a desert island..:)
I think they sort of lost their way after gerry cott left, had he stayed I think it could´ve been so much better....but then, who knows?

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When Mondo Bongo came out in early 1981 I thought what the hell has gone on here. The first 3 albums were consistent with each other. Mondo Bongo was a complete diversion.  A number of my then school friends couldn't believe Mondo Bongo and together with the changing winds in the pop music world( New Romanticism etc) explains the fall in the Rats fortunes.


Having said all that, I like Mondo Bongo, probably more now than at the time. It didn't sound of its time and still I would find it hard to place. Yes its patchy and a number of things dont come off, but it has many fine moments. Agree about Mood Mambo.


V Deep on the other hand is one of my favourites. 


Never heard about House on Fire being on the Mondo Bongo sessions. How do you know this? Have you heard a different version (i.e luike Up all Night) and why wasn't it on Mondo Bongo.


 


 



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quote:

Originally posted by: Steve

"Never heard about House on Fire being on the Mondo Bongo sessions. How do you know this? Have you heard a different version (i.e luike Up all Night) and why wasn't it on Mondo Bongo.    "


It was discussed here


http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?forumID=48603&subForumID=116247&action=viewTopic&commentID=1915603


quote:

Originally posted by: Mark Boyle
" Switching from the hardline Robert John Lange to the lackadaisical Tony Visconti was a final nail in the coffin creatively (to emphasise the point, three of the songs from "V Deep" were in fact "Mondo Bongo" rejects - "Up All Night" (albeit re-recorded), "The Little Death" and "House On Fire").



-- Edited by ArrGee at 19:19, 2005-03-31

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this album was hard for me to get used to at first lol but after making myself listen to it over and over again, there are some (other than the already-liked Elephant's Graveyard and Banana Republic) that I like a lot (Hurt Hurts, Go Man Go, Whitehall 1212, and Cheerio [that one's really good]).

still probably my least favorite Rats album so far but it has its high points...

-- Edited by MMbullybuddyGP at 19:25, 2005-04-02

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quote:
Originally posted by: ArrGee

"
There are a few very good songs on it (Banana Republic, Go Man Go, Fall Down, This is My Room, Elephant's Graveyard, Straight Up, Hurt Hurts), but it does contain the shockingly poor Another Piece of Red, and some other not so good tracks (Please Don't Go & Mood Mambo).


While I agree that Please Don't Go and Mood Mambo aren't as strong, the "shockingly poor" Another Piece of Red is probably my favourite song on the album! I'm not sure why I'm such a sucker for songs about England, but it does remind me of another song I love, by the Kinks, called "Living on a Thin Line": "All the stories have been told about kings and days of old, but there's no England now."

I was surprised to see two of the songs listed as "bonus tracks" -- Cheerio and Don't Talk to Me. My copy of the Mondo Bongo LP (the Canadian release) contains both those tracks. It doesn't contain Fall Down and Whitehall 1212, which are supposedly the "regular trakcs". I can see why they omitted Whitehall, as it's instrumental, but Fall Down? I really like that one; wish I'd heard it years ago!

Guess I didn't realize that tweaking song tracks for North America didn't end for other bands when it ended for the Beatles!

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Personally this is my least favourite. I like the album, but there are more mediocre songs on it than on all the other albums.

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