Fretplay.com Yo La Tengo CD reviews Yo La Tengo guitar tabs Yo La Tengo CD reviews Yo La Tengo tabs Ride the Tiger


Yo La Tengo - Ride the Tiger Audio CD

A fair review of the Yo La Tengo "Ride the Tiger" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Yo La Tengo reviews here, or go back to the Yo La Tengo tabs.

Yo La Tengo Band: Yo La Tengo
Title: Ride the Tiger
Rating:
Release Date: 1996-06-18
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Cone of Silence 2: Big Sky 3: Evil That Men Do 4: Forest Green 5: Pain of Pain 6: Way Some People Die 7: Empty Pool 8: Alrock's Bells 9: Five Years 10: Screaming Dead Balloons 11: Living in the Country 12: River of Water 13: House Is Not a Motel 14: Crispy Duck 15: Closing Time

ok
you've heard of YLT. . don't know which album to buy. . . sometimes a band's first album is arguably the best. . . such is not the case for this YLT album. buy anything later than 1990 and you'll hear why lotsa people dig 'em.


What is he singing?
However, the CD I bought is mixed so strangely that I feel compelled to ask if others have the same experience--the vocals are so distant that they are almost impossible to hear. I agree with what other reviewers have said; this is an excellent, fascinating album, enhanced by a listener's experience of later YLT. Buried beneath the guitars. This is not similar to other YLT, not a hallmark of their sound, so I wonder if I just got a bad disc?.


Captures the 80's for me...
. . even though I didn't know this album when I was growing up then. I guess it distills alot of elements of some of the music I was listening to at the time. Or rather, it's the one album I SHOULD have been listening to alongside the Meat Puppets, Camper Van Beethoven, the Feelies, & the Dream Syndicate. Yeah, I suppose YLT only got better with time, but don't look this one over, it's a great album! Dave Schramm's voice isn't very uh, refined, but the 2 songs he sings are awesome! (Five Years & the Way Some People Die) Plus his very skillful, lush finger-picking guitar style really adds alot to the wistful, melancholy feel of many songs here. Despite Ira Kaplans' kinda self deprecating liner notes, I believe YLT were already quite acomplished by the time they put this out. All of their signature elements can be found here: jangly pop, the contrast of tender ballads alongside more rocking songs with manic guitar solos, and great cover choices. How many bands can put covers of the Kinks and Love alongside their own, and make it sound seamless? Not many, I should think.


Such a nice little band!
Pleasant. . what other word could you use to describe this? This is a very safe, tame mid-'80s kind of indie-rock album. It's hard to believe this is the same band that virtually defined iconoclastic indie cool (non-grunge division) in the '90s and beyond.

But that's not meant as criticism. This is the sound of a band arguably recorded too soon--it was still shy and learning to play. And Ira Kaplan's liner notes in the CD reissue admit this, and then some. The album is no worse than forgettable folk-rock/pop, but it's rarely more than that, and few songs stand out ("The Evil That Men Do" the most because it hints at the noisier YLT to come). Even this Tengo diehard has probably played it less than 10 times over the years, because it mostly inspires me to take it off after about four songs so I can hear some of their later, better work instead.

The curse of many rock bands is that their first album was by far their best, and the rest of their career is a slow (or sometimes, fast) fade. Yo La Tengo is unique in that they've just gotten better with time, and this album is the main proof. So enjoy it as a pleasant historical document, but don't expect too much.


Ride the Tiger takes the tiger by the tail
Originally released in 1986, "Ride the Tiger" presents a sharp-edged jangle which is equally at home in complete melodicism and noise. The original four-piece Yo La Tengo, formed by a fromer Village Voice music critic and Velvet Underground/Kinks fan and his wife, present some of the best power pop of the 1980s in this offering. The tunes run from originals like the immediate and powerful "The Pain of Pain" and "The Way Some People Die" to the Kinks' "Big Sky" and Pete Seeger's "Living In the Country". This is the only release to feature Dave Schram as a member (he later went on to form the DIY pop band the Schrams and also appears as a guest on Yo La Tengo's 1991 release, "Fakebook"). The playing is immediate and unforced, the vocals without pretense. Newcomers to Yo La Tengo will hear parallels to R. E. M. , the Velvet Underground, the Kinks, Neil Young, the Feelies, and like-minded bands and solo artists. This is one of the best CDs of the 1980s, bar none.


You can see a complete list of all Yo La Tengo discography, or go back to the Yo La Tengo tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

Search guitar tabs

#ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
[ Search tabs | Guitar tabs | Bass tabs |
Easy guitar tabs | Guitar solo tabs |
Acoustic guitar tabs | Guitar chords |
How to read guitar tabs ]
Forum topics
Music forums
- Bands and artists - Songwriting and lyrics - Tablature talk - Promote your band
Instrument forums
- Guitar basics - Gear & accessories - Bass guitar
Community
- The pit - Site Feedback - Reviews
[ User survey | About us | Privacy statement ]