THE THIRD REICH 'N' ROLL

One of my favourite 'cover' albums but not my favourite Residents album. The music here is de- constructed 60s pop music. A lot of the songs are unrecognizable, others are easy to make out. You get everything from "96 Tears" and "Hanky Panky" to the Beatles and The Doors. At one point during "Swastikas On Parade" you hear a sample of the beginning of James Brown's "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag". The cover shows Dick Clark dressed in a Nazi uniform. The Nazi references and imagery seem to suggest that the Residents are making a parallel between fascism and mainstream music. In both cases, "thinking outside the box" is not tolerated; you will like what everybody else likes or become an outcast.

There are only two tracks here(I have not heard the bonus tracks on some CD versions). "Swastikas On Parade" is slightly more experimental and has a woman singing in German at one point. "Hitler Was A Vegetarian"(which you can hear on PA), has a great ending with their version of "Hey Jude". Snakefinger does the "nah nah nah nah" part on guitar. Most people don't realize that Hitler is the world's most famous vegetarian. It's hard to describe what the music sounds like. Apart from the odd melody here and there, the original songs are performed in a completely different way, with the trademark weird vocals that the Residents use. The synths and drum machines stand out, but there is guitar, piano and drums as well. The synth sounds here in particular are really good.

The whole album is a contradiction: well known pop songs performed in an avant-garde style. This is crazy music, but the Residents have done crazier. They have better albums than this but this may be a good introduction to the group. I think The Commercial Album would be an even better starting point. The music and concept deserves 4 stars. But as original as the music sounds most of the time, it is of course not new music. This gets a star removed for working with already existing songs. Sometimes when I listen to this, like on the "In-A-Gadda- Da-Vidda" part for example, I rather listen to the original. Overall it's a great idea for an album but it's not one of my most played Residents albums. 3.5 but compared to other Residents albums this will get 3 stars.