LP Record review:
Man Or Astro-Man? - Is It Man Or Astro Man?

Man Or Astro-Man? - Is It Man Or Astro Man?

Band: Man Or Astro-Man? Title: Is It Man Or Astro Man? Rating: Release Date: 13 July, 1993 Media: LP Record Tracks:

Customer Reviews A Personal Favorite, Since They All Sound the Same, Might As Well Be This One! I really like their fun attitude and love of old-fashioned sci-fi and sound bites. I really enjoy Man or Astro-man, the band. If they have a weakness, it is that the lack of lyrics and singing forces the music to rely on the surfer sounds of their retro rock style. You basically get consistent surfer rock instrumentals with humorous sound bites tossed in. The sound bites become more memorable and identifiable than the songs. I enjoy the music, but I am hard pressed to be able to identify any distinctive melody or tune between one song and all their others. I like this CD better than their DESTROY ALL ASTRO MEN (LIVE) (which does NOT sound live at all, BTW), simply because the sound bites on IS IT. . . MAN OR ASTRO-MAN are mixed closer to the same volume as the music, where as on DESTROY ALL ASTRO MEN the sound bites are quieter in volume and you have to strain to hear them unless you have the volume cranked up loud, which I can't do when I'm at work. Otherwise, I can't tell the difference between the two CDs, so you might as well buy this one, which is a little better. Born of Woman... Re-Created By OUTER SPACE!! Man. . or Astroman? came out with an impresive debut album when this was released back in 1993. This self titled album was a precedent to the music they would release later in their many albums to follow this one. This is were it all started, when Man. . . or Astroman? started with its humor and talent with the mixture of b-movie samples and amazing songs. The songs presented on this album are deemed classic Man. . . or Astroman? songs. Them being the first songs released for the whole audience of the world to hear. These songs are just incredible to listen to. It all starts with Taxidermist Surf, a song that shows what is to come in the following songs and albums. Then as a follow up song is Invasion of the Dragonmen, a song that captures the listeners attention with the b-movie sample and then holds that attention with a great song. Nitrous Burn Out and Clean Up on Aisle #9 are just what is meant by classic songs by Man. . . or Astroman? And then Man. . . or Astroman? show how well they can cover a song by doing a cover song of one of the original innovators of surf, The Ventures, with a cover of their classic song 'Journey to the Stars'. All the songs that follow up until the last song, cheerfully named 'Alien Visitors', are a bundle of listening pleasure. All these songs are played by the original recording members of Man. . . or Astroman? Starcrunch who plays lead guitar. Birdstuff who plays drums. Coco, The Electronic Monkey Wizard who plays the occasional bass, percussion, and is responsible for the sound bites. Finally there is Dr. Delecto & His Invisible Vaportron, who is refered to in the following album as Dr. Deleto, who plays bass, and rhythm guitar. This foursome has come a long way, and through many changes in so many different regions of their attire and music genre, from this first album all the way up until their latest full length release, Spectrum of Infinite Scale. Man. . . or Astroman? have been releasing albums at an impressive rate and for this to be the first of their many, it is a prophecy proven true that they were destine to be great from the beginning. well, OK... This band is quite prolific, and this album, while certainly not a bad one, will suffice as the MoA album of your choice. Yet another carbon-copy Man Or Astroman album. The band can play with a lot of energy, and they've always been tight, but the pitfalls still exist: lack of variety in tempos and keys, the one-song-represents-the-whole stigma, and of course, the pretentious TV-spacemen schtick, which is getting pretty old at this point. I would suggest, as an alternative, Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet, a Canadian instrumental/surf band with far more variety, whose creativity is stronger on the musical side, rather than the image. Not a bad record, this one, albeit generic, been done before, and been done better. . You can see a complete list of all Man Or Astro-Man? discography, or go back to the Man Or Astro-Man? tabs