|
Wow | 
 enlarge | Artist: Moby Grape
Label: Sundazed Music Inc.
Category: Music
Buy New: $39.98
New (5) Used (2) Collectible (1) from $29.99
Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 155637
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 11191
UPC: 090771119124
EAN: 0090771119124
ASIN: B000UVPJRS
Release Date: October 9, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: New factory sealed store stock. perfect in all respects. ships first class.
| |
| Tracks:
| • | The Place and the Time | | • | Murder in My Heart for the Judge | | • | Bitter Wind | | • | Can't Be So Bad | | • | Just Like Gene Autry; A Foxtrot | | • | He | | • | Motorcycle Irene | | • | Three-Four | | • | Funky-Tunk | | • | Rose Colored Eyes | | • | Miller's Blues | | • | Naked, If I Want To | | • | The Place and the Time (alternate)* | | • | Stop (demo rec.)* previously unissued | | • | Loosely Remembered* previously unissued | | • | Miller's Blues (alternate*) previously unissued | | • | What's To Choose* previously unissued | | • | Seeing previously unissued |
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Album Description
Wow, the sophomore album by multi-talented Moby Grape, brims with ambition, adventure and a determination to show the world the San Francisco quintet could do it all. Firmly in the post-Pepper spirit of the day, the set, first issued in 1968, features everything from taut rockers and blistering blues to touching melodic ballads, country waltzes and the outright unclassifiable. The band's guitar-heavy sound is augmented in spots with piano, brass, string orchestration and, in its original vinyl incarnation, one track made to be played at 78-rpm.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 It's either "WOW!" or "UGGHH!" You decide! October 1, 2008
M. McKay (Downey, CA United States)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Did the Grape give this album it's title because that's what they thought the buyer's initial reaction would be to the music contained within? Was Skip, Peter, Bob, Jerry, and Don THAT confident in their sophmore effort? Is "Wow" ambitious? YOU BET IT IS! It is one of those true post-"Pepper" efforts that every band in the U.S. or U.K. was trying to churn out during the remainder of 1967 on into 1968. From the first track to the last, every single song brims over with, "Why don't we try this out," "Why don't we put this sound effect here," or "Let's have a big band sound to this one!" Some bands of the era managed to get it right and create their own worthy masterpiece, other bands simply went overboard ("The Beat Goes On" by Vanilla Fudge comes to mind). "Wow" falls somewhere between the two, displaying some awesome songcraft because Grape was one of the few bands of the era where EVERY member contributed a truck load of individual talent. However, overindulgent noodling mares a few of the tracks, where they could have been stronger, more cohesive songs.
"Bitter Wind" is wonderfully symphonic but rambles on into the avant-garde by the middle of the song. The real gems of this set are "Murder In My Heart For The Judge," where the bands awesome four-part harmonies combine with a laid back funky groove. Skip's "Motorcycle Irene" may recall the lyrics of such '60s hits like "Leader Of The Pack." Only this time the lyrics are much darker in their nature and the rebel herione Irene meets her demise in a motorcycle crash, complete with wonderfully stereo panned effects of a motorcycle racing back and forth until it crashes in your left speaker! Jerry Miller has his rolicking moment with "Can't Be So Bad" complete with a killer horn section that will rock your socks off.
NOTE TO READER: THIS REVIEW IS NOT COMPLETED. (So don't say it's not helpful to you yet!)
 Yeah, I'd say so... August 24, 2008
James D. Morrow (Omaha,NE USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
...Wow, pretty much sums it up, for me. As a 15 year-old haunting the record dept. of every store I could get to in 1968 I had become pretty well versed on what was what. There was a lot less (thankfully) "music mags" then, so you had to go out on a limb occasionally. Sometimes that limb was pretty thin. I had just wasted $2.99 on Vanilla Fudge "The Beat Goes On" and I wasn't keen to repeat the mistake since two albums a month was all I could afford. I was aware of Moby Grape but I still hadn't heard their first one (except for "Omaha" and "8:05") but I thought two albums for the price of one couldn't be passed up, and besides, I really liked the cover.
After living with it for a week or so, I knew my instincts were right and decided that the first Moby Grape would be my next purchase. The album started off well with "Place and the Time" but "Murder in My Heart..." and "Bitter Wind" always brought the needle back to tracks 2 and 3. "Can't Be So Bad" galloped along nicely with some killer horns but aside from Arthur Godfrey's intro (which I repeated endlessly-whenever the situation seemed to call for it) I still skip "Foxtrot." Side 2 started just dandy with "He" and "Motorcycle Irene" and then veered into C&W weeper territory with "Three-Four". I took awhile getting into that but it totally prepared me for The Byrds "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" later that summer. "Funky Tunk" would have been better without the helium voices but I liked it anyway. The album ended strong with "Rose-Colored Eyes/Miller's Blues/Naked" and the Jam album wasn't half bad either.
40 years later, I must admit preference for the first album but I love everything they recorded through "20 Granite Creek" (reissue anyone?) and loved the '91 Legendary Grape album. I remember reading plenty of disparaging reviews of "Wow" through the years, and while it does have a clinker or two and suffers slightly (but only slightly) from over-indulgence it is one of my favorite records from the late sixties and one which shines a lot brighter in retrospect. Along with '69 and the debut album I consider it to be an essential to anyone interested in the Grape. Don't buy into the myth that MG only put out one great album, and then faded away artistically. It just ain't true. Long live the Grape!
wow! finally! December 11, 2007
B. medici (the east)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
along with stg pepper,satanic majesties and possibly the doors first lp,this album is a joker on the lot.
not because its bad..because it is a great work of art,but because its NOTHING like anything else i have ever heard.its like hearing a totally different band from the first lp.
skip spence did his share on the album..but peter lewis is sadly "less there" on this one although his vocals are all over it.
bob mosely came into his own on this one as did jerry miller..still one of the all time ace lead blues players around.(hes still giggin..out west!)
drummer don stevenson has a big role on the lp just by playing his butt off and singing on every song.
moteercycle irene is a big one here.as is murder in my heart for the judge..
"he" by peter lewis and 'three four" by mosely are the two gems but skippy spence was not to be outdone and made a rather wise cracking song that originally had to be sped up to 78 rpm on the original lp.
with this marvelouse release,(unlike the "other crappy reissue of this album some time ago) the absurd remark about turning the speed up on your turntable is once more included.
what you hear after that would be a spolier to anyone here who hasnt heard it..so BUY IT AND LIKE IT!
its up thier on the main list of my favs!
 Judged too harshly in the past. November 28, 2007
Dennis H. Pope (secaucus, NJ United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I purchased "Wow" when it was first released in 1968 and always thought that the critics were far too harsh in their evaluations. This album, like the group itself, suffered from the comparisons to their first release-a near perfect effort. Additionally, the inclusion of the "bonus" recording, "Grape Jam" further damned this recording. Finally free from the subpar "Grape Jam" and issued separately, "Wow" deserves a retrospective.
That said, "Wow" is an entertaining, diverse effort with a number of fine tunes. "Murder in My Heart for the Judge", "Can't Be So Bad", and "Motorcycle Irene" are as strong, if not stronger, as the songs on the first album. Moroever, tunes like "He" and "Bitter Wind" both establish a reflective ambience which was somewhat lacking in their initial work. Others are just fun and some reflect the group's ability and talent to grow and explore. The Sundazed release enhances "Wow" by including six bonus tracks that are not just padding. They also have merit in their own right.
Given the questionalbe availability of this reissue in the future, "The Place and the Time" is now to either revisit or discover this much-maligned classic.
One note of caution: be certain that you are picking up the Sundazed reissue. Preivous releases of "Wow" were poorly transfered to disc and improvidently edited.
WOW is WOW November 27, 2007
Pete (NJ)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The fall of `68 was an exciting time for me as I had just gotten my driver's license and was beginning my senior year in high school. A friend of mine had just bought this album and I said I had to listen to it. "WOW" is an understatement. And the "Like A Gene Autry Foxtrot" that you would have to get up and switch the record player to 78 r.p.m. was cool. Almost all record players could play 78 in those days. And it included an extra album, "Grape Jam". "Grape Jam" was nice, but was not as good as "WOW", but it was free, so that was good (today these cuts would be considered bonus tracks).
In the years since, this still remains as one of my favorite albums. The vinyl is well worn and my turntable doesn't play 78 anymore.
In the mid 90's I found a CD which was issued by San Francisco Sound. A little pricey at the time of $24.95, but it included the "Grape Jam" album, and it was a vast improvement over my old worn vinyl. Unfortunately it did not include "Like A Gene Autry Foxtrot" from the WOW album and "The Lake" from the JAM album.
In the years following, as technology evolved, I found ways to record the missing songs and improve the sound from the old vinyl. So I now have a complete album set.
I can't comment on the quality of the newly released CD, but the WOW album was and still is a great album. Extra tracks are a bonus. Too bad they didn't include the "Grape Jam" cuts as they were bonus tracks in their day. Now you have to buy them extra.
Buy WOW and enjoy.
|
|
|
|
 | |
