So who has the Camper Van Beethoven 'Tusk'?

[RavenOfRhiannon]

I just got mine today. I haven't listened to the whole thing yet, but I love 'Angel' and 'Beautiful Child.' I HATE 'Sara' and I am not sure about 'Sisters of the Moon' yet. I haven't listened to 'Storms' yet.

'Angel' is cool in an Beatles 'Life Goes On' kinda way, and 'Beautiful Child' is the most faithful interpretation. SOTM has a cool groove, but the lyrics sound like they are being read at a poetry reading...

Any other opinions?

Ranyd

[AliP]

I have it. I think they did a terrible job on the Stevie songs - some of them are hilarious. I burst out laughing when SOTM came on. But then again, I read an interview where the members said none of them wanted to do the Stevie songs. I'm actually kinda impressed with their rendition of "Over and Over." I think it's the best one on the album. Other than that I just listen to it for fun and don't take it too seriously.

[CarneVaca]

AliP, I read the same interview. The Camper guys really didn't know what to do with Stevie's songs, hence the interesting takes on Sara and Sisters of the Moon. I don't know how much you know about the history of these guys, but I certainly understand how they would find Stevie's songs a bit vexing. This is a band that built its reputation on being unorthodox; it was considered a seminal alternative band and got a lot of college radio play.

Having said that, I would add that I enjoy immensely the Sisters of the Moon rendition. I'm not crazy about Sara because hey turned a beautiful lush song into a creepy tune bordering on annoying. Beautiful Child I've never really liked, so Camper's treatment of it doesn't do much for me either. The band's take on Storms, however, is brilliant.

Other favorites on Camper's Tusk include Save Me a Place, Not That Funny and Think About Me. I get a kick out of Honey Hi too.

This is a great, honest-to-goodness tribute to a band the Camper guys respected. They were primarily fans of Lindsey, which makes sense, because both Camper and Lindsey approach music in a similar way.

By the way, Camper's Tusk was originally recorded around 1987. The project was shelved and dug up again a couple of years ago. A lot of the songs were damaged, so Camper did some voice and instrument overdubs. Some songs actually came out sounding considerably different than what they originally intended.

[CarneVaca]

Here's a story about CVB's Tusk:

http://campervanbeethoven.com/random/nypress3.html

[Justine]

Oops, I just posted about this album on the Lindsey board as "new news", should have known that it is already known about! ;-) I have not yet heard the album but I'm curious. Your reviews make it sound quite interesting.

Justine