SickthingsUK

All, I have been a AC fan for about 12 yrs and have at least 18 of his albums so far. An I was thinking about getting "Pretties For You" and was wondering is it any good and worth buying? I have only heard "levity Ball" and "Reflected" from the album though. Also I was thinking about maybe getting 2nd Album "Easy Action" is that worth getting as well? any advice will be greatly appreciated. thanks.

you can hear excerpts and if you go to http://www.spotify.com, you can hear the full tracks.

This appears to be off limits to U.S. users right now.

I love pretties for you and easy action. When i first heard them i was a bit taken aback as they were so different but they both reward repeated listening.

AliceFan wrote:Also I was thinking about maybe getting 2nd Album "Easy Action" is that worth getting as well?

In terms of their musical merits, even more IMHO. It foreshadows whats to come, but still has the psychedelic edge to it.

For some reason, someone decided to edit my post. A response stating that www.spotify was not available in America would have been sufficient. Also, someone removed my reference to www.www.apple.com/itunes/ where AliceFan can hear excerpts from the albums in question.

WickedYoungMan wrote:

AliceFan wrote:Also I was thinking about maybe getting 2nd Album "Easy Action" is that worth getting as well?

In terms of their musical merits, even more IMHO. It foreshadows whats to come, but still has the psychedelic edge to it.

WYM, What did you mean by they have more IMHO?

Pretties For You and Easy Action are definitely worth getting, shows the band in a more raw, unbridled form than the Love It To Death era.

A_MichaelUK wrote: This appears to be off limits to U.S. users right now.

Not if you're industrious:

http://crenk.com/how-to-use-spotify-if- ... countries/

Edit: Doesn't appear to work anymore.

A_MichaelUK wrote:For some reason, someone decided to edit my post. A response stating that http://www.spotify was not available in America would have been sufficient. Also, someone removed my reference to http://www.www.apple.com/itunes/ where AliceFan can hear excerpts from the albums in question.

I have to take responsibility for this. It was entirely done by accident and I didn't realize I had done it until you pointed it out! I thought I had hit the "Quote" button and apparently I hit the "Edit" button instead (which as a moderator I can edit other member's posts but never do.)

So my intended reply is what ended up becoming your edited post. I am sorry.

For the record, Andy did indeed post links to both iTunes and Spotify in his original post for those following along and was not meant to be removed nor was done intentionally.

AliceFan wrote:

WickedYoungMan wrote:

AliceFan wrote:Also I was thinking about maybe getting 2nd Album "Easy Action" is that worth getting as well?

In terms of their musical merits, even more IMHO. It foreshadows whats to come, but still has the psychedelic edge to it.

WYM, What did you mean by they have more IMHO?

In response to your originally question, in my honest opinion Easy Action is worth getting even more so than Pretties For You if we're discussing on the merits of the music alone. Basically I think E.A. is a better album than P.F.Y. But that is merely my opinion and your mileage may vary. Pretties For You is obviously historical and is worth having for any Alice Cooper completest as far as that goes. So I would say get both.

Both definite lps for any fans of the group. Although if you prefer the "greatest hits" and regular rotation songs, you may not be happy.
EA clearly has more commonality with the classic Alice Cooper lps, albeit in a much rougher form (naturally, sans Ezrin). PFY has wider scope of sounds, some blues influence, Zappa and even the prototypical late 60s LA sounds.

I love both albums, but if you're used to the polished Ezrin sound, they are an acquired taste. Sort of like listening to Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd when you're familiar with DSOTM onward.

PFY is the stranger of the two. EA is much more mainstream, with the exception of "Lay Down and Die, Goodbye". I owned them for years without giving them any more than an initial spin, but that was my loss. As James1981 correctly observed, they reward repeated listening.

Good luck! Soon you'll be bouncing down the street, humming "Today Mueller" to yourself!

Robert Gerard Hunt wrote:...Sort of like listening to Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd when you're familiar with DSOTM onward...

A shrewd comparison. I've always preferred 'classic era' (LITD-MOL) ACG material, but there are some treats on both PFY and EA, such as:

PFY: Sing Low, Sweet Cheerio
Reflected
Apple Bush
Changing Arranging

EA: Mr. and Misdemeanor
Refridgerator Heaven
Lay Down and Die, Goodbye

Ted

They are both acquired taste so it is hard to say if you will like them or not initially, but they definitely both have their moments. I agree with WYM that Easy Action is probably the better listen in terms of song arrangment, etc. " Return of the Spiders" is one of my favorite Alice songs ever.

Besides your up to 18 Alice albums, so you are on the fast track to eventually owning all the Alice albums. Definitely give them a shot.


Just out of curiousity what are the other ones you don't presently own?

Both would have made half decent eps.

>I have to take responsibility for this.

No problem at all.

I think EA has some really great stuff on it. PFY not so much.

I like both albums. I think Pretties for you is psychedelic rock with a little bit of hard rock edge and Easy action is a hard rock album with a little bit of psychedelic flavour. Easy action is more consistent. Pretties for you is more wild and adventurous.

Pretties for you has in my opinion some really great songs and some of the best harmonica playing Alice has ever done but after Fields of regret(sixth track) the quality drops significantly. PFY clearly has influences from both Frank Zappa and the Beatles. Especially Alice's vocals are much more softer and Paul McCartney-ish than on later releases. This record may feel quite absurd and chaotic on many places.

On Easy action Alice has his signature raw vocals which sound terrific. Sound isn't so wide as on PFY but the playing is more focused. Some of the guitar work is much more experimental than on later releases while always maintaining the hard rock edge. There are still noticeable Beatles influences on Easy action. Overall a more focused, conistent and rocking album.

The son of Don Quijote wrote:I like both albums. I think Pretties for you is psychedelic rock with a little bit of hard rock edge and Easy action is a hard rock album with a little bit of psychedelic flavour. Easy action is more consistent. Pretties for you is more wild and adventurous.

Pretties for you has in my opinion some really great songs and some of the best harmonica playing Alice has ever done but after Fields of regret(sixth track) the quality drops significantly. PFY clearly has influences from both Frank Zappa and the Beatles. Especially Alice's vocals are much more softer and Paul McCartney-ish than on later releases. This record may feel quite absurd and chaotic on many places.

On Easy action Alice has his signature raw vocals which sound terrific. Sound isn't so wide as on PFY but the playing is more focused. Some of the guitar work is much more experimental than on later releases while always maintaining the hard rock edge. There are still noticeable Beatles influences on Easy action. Overall a more focused, conistent and rocking album.

That sums them both up quite well!

I like both albums alot, especially Easy Action. I have a friend who is massively into early psychedelic and experimental rock and he rates these 2 albums very highly although he isn't really into anything else by AC.

I'm not really into Pretties For You, except for a couple of songs, but I really like Easy Action.