Birthday Party [Import]

Birthday Party [Import]

Track Listings

 
1. Descendencia
2. Mi Cantar
3. Cancion Para Mi Viejo
4. Sonaremos el Tambo
5. Rincon Caliente
6. Si Alguna Vez
7. Fe
8. Celebracion 40

Birthday Party,La Sonora Ponceņa,Inca [Fania],Latin,Puerto Rico,Salsa,Tropical


Prayers on Fire
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • The Real Deal
  • they'll never reunite so buy their albums and own some history
  • Truly brave and wild
  • Perfection at a Bargain Price
  • Fantastic album
Prayers on Fire
The Birthday Party
Manufacturer: Buddha
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:
  1. Junkyard
  2. Mutiny/The Bad Seed
  3. Hee-Haw
  4. From Her to Eternity
  5. Your Funeral...My Trial

ASIN: B00004T0N7
Release Date: 2000-05-16

Tracks:

  1. Zoo-Music Girl
  2. Cry
  3. Capers
  4. Nick the Stripper
  5. Ho-Ho
  6. Figure of Fun
  7. King Ink
  8. Dead Song
  9. Yard
  10. Dull Day
  11. Just You and Me
  12. Blundertown
  13. Kathy's Kisses

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars The Real Deal.......2006-09-26

An epochal No-Wave masterpiece, transcended only by its successor, Junkyard. One can see this album as the turning point upon which Nick Cave's sardonic dementia truly began to shine through in his songwriting. Features such indispensable classics as "Dull Day" and "Nick The Stripper", the latter of which is an unflinching take on self-loathing that Kurt Cobain could have learned a lot from. A must-have for all Nick Cave/Birthday Party/No-Wave enthusiasts.

5 out of 5 stars they'll never reunite so buy their albums and own some history.......2006-03-15

rating 4.7/5
ok. what you need to know. Nick cave was originally the lead singer from birthday party. he later went on to solo stardom, as well as acclaim with his band the bad seeds. this is one of the coolest albums of all time. nick and the rest of the party slam through songs with psychotic abandon while nicky boy shouts poetic maniacal stream of consciousness lyrics describing venomous acts of spite and mayhem. this is one of the best "art punk" albums of all time. if you think you might like it then you will. get it.

5 out of 5 stars Truly brave and wild.......2004-09-10

This early Nick Cave, truly but endearingly demented and willing to shred your brain with that dementia, won me with this album. The band is also much more interesting even musically than, say, Pere Ubu, to whom I'd feel comfortable comparing them. More artistic...dare I say more progressive? That still counts! A perfect blend of craziness going on, and on the strength of this one I got all four remasters. And of COURSE I'm over 13...!

5 out of 5 stars Perfection at a Bargain Price.......2003-11-12

Like an aural nightmare. Guitars imbed themselves into your brain. The vocals imbed themselves into your soul. There is nothing like this Australian band of the personification of anxiety and terror. That it was released in the early 1980s is just amazing, isn't it? Nick Cave and his cohort Mick Harvey of the Bad Seed's training ground. Not to be confused with their current output, though. Absolutely not.

The lyrics to `Just You and Me' says plenty:

First: I tried to kill it with a hammer
thought that I could lose
the head
sure! We've eaten off the silver
when even the food was against us
and then I tried to kill it in the bed

Second: I gagged it with a pillow
but awoke the nuns inside my head
they pound their goody-goody fists
from the inside-so from the outside
I got good: I stuck it. Dead
Thirdly: I put my lips upon it
And blew a frost across
its flat
I wrote upon its outside-surface
"Tonight we're on the outside surface"
Just you and me girl: You and me and the fat

5 out of 5 stars Fantastic album.......2003-10-16

Any Nick Cave album is hard to review. You honest opinion will seem slight and insignificant towards somebody like him. Because in these days he has become something of a legend. All I can say is that this album is brilliant from start to finish and is worth every last cent. That's all I can say really other than this album far outweighs it's successor, Junkyard, which was, in all honesty a complete drug addled mess. Still had some good songs though
At Your Birthday Party
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Rock Me Baby All Night Long
  • underrated Steppenwolf album
  • My Favorite Steppenwolf Album
  • SteppenwolfRocks
  • Pure Classic
At Your Birthday Party
Steppenwolf
Manufacturer: Mca Special Products
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:
  1. Steppenwolf the Second
  2. Monster
  3. Steppenwolf 7
  4. Steppenwolf
  5. Live

ASIN: B000002Q7A
Release Date: 1995-01-01

Tracks:

  1. Don't Cry
  2. Chicken Wolf
  3. Lovely Meter
  4. Round And Down
  5. It's Never Too Late
  6. Sleeping Dreaming
  7. Jupiter Child
  8. She'll Be Better
  9. Cat Killer
  10. Rock Me
  11. God Fearing Man
  12. Mango Juice
  13. Happy Birthday

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Rock Me Baby All Night Long.......2007-06-15

Another killer effort from one of the seminal rock bands of the late 60's. There are some real nuggets here like Don't Cry, It's Never Too Late, Jupiter Child, She'll Be Better, Rock Me and God Fearing Man. There is some filler here, thus the four stars. A pretty good slice of what hard rock was in 1969.

4 out of 5 stars underrated Steppenwolf album.......2007-04-10

«At You Birthday Party» was the third and - in my opinion - the last of the classic Steppenwolf albums. After those two groundbreaking blues rock albums «Steppenwolf» and ««Second» this (underrated) Gabriel Mekler produced set also contained all the power and inspiration you liked on those two albums. There are great rock tunes like «Rock Me» or the sublime «It's Never Too Late» (both were released as singles) , even heavier tracks like «Jupiter Child» or «Don't Cry», ballads like «She'll Be Better», piano/organ boogie («Cat Killer»), funny jams and the most beautiful birthday song you'll ever hear («Happy Birthday»). Charismatic singer, strong lyrics, superb playing. What more can you hope for? «At You Birthday Party» is a work of true genius and a classic rock album of the late Sixties.

5 out of 5 stars My Favorite Steppenwolf Album.......2007-02-01

It's good. In '76 when I was at Cornell, we were doing a deal and I put this record (which was old then) on to help test the stuff. Everyone asked, "What is this GREAT album?". We had a GREAT time, in the spirit of 1969 to boot.

So, if you want to get wasted a la 1969, try it with this album. You won't regret it. It invokes the feeling.

Favorite cuts: Don't Cry, It's Never Too Late; Rock Me; Happy Birthday. Kay's voice is at its prime.



5 out of 5 stars SteppenwolfRocks.......2007-01-10

I find this album very inventive and most
of all its classic steppenwolf...
which was very much apart of my commune life back
in the 60's and early 70's.

5 out of 5 stars Pure Classic.......2006-06-11

Of course you can never call this their best album, for it's placed between 'Steppenwolf The Second' and 'Monster'. But in my opinion, it is the middle one of their three greatest outings, and it also shows this by blending the early, light mood and born-to-be-wild-rock with 'Monster's more somber, dark spirit, which would dominate the next recording completely. This way, it possesses some of the lightness, that 'Monster' arguably needed, while appearing as more serious & more mature than their first two albums. Then why don't I say it's better than them... well, because I just love psychedelia, and then, how should I criticize 'Magic Carpet Ride'? :)

'Don't Cry' is quite simply THE BEST STEPPENWOLF SONG NEVER TO BE A SINGLE - or at least a hit, I mean, I don't think it was a single anyway... but it certainly wasn't a hit, though I think it's even better than 'Rock Me', though that one deserved its Top Ten placing.
'Chicken Wolf' and 'Lovely Meter' are standard, above-the-rest-of-the-pack Steppenwolf songs, but the band really approaches the heights of their opening track with 'Round And Down', which could be said to be their second greatest not-single, though this time, I'm not so sure...
'It's Never Too Late' is a wonderful anthem. At first it seems a bit bombastic, but hear it a couple of times, and you'll also start loving it.
'Sleeping Dreaming' is funny, and as chaotic as the stranger outings of Jefferson Airplane (like 'A Small Package Of Value Will Come To You, Shortly') and The Beatles ('Dig It')! A kind of "song", that only could have been made in the 60's...
'Jupiter Child', the next highlight, is a great rock song with a powerful riff, while 'She'll Be Better' and 'Cat Killer' arguably beats it. Then 'Rock Me' arrives, their third greatest hit, and, though many other songs surpasses it, still a marvellous gem of rock'n'roll. Even if it's an attempt to capture the spirit of 'Born To Be Wild' once again, then at least it's a great attempt!!!
'God Fearing Man' is a more serious creation, but one which completely dwarfs the otherwise finely crafted 'Mango Juice'. 'Happy Birthday' closes the album with a mystic & brilliant invocation, childhood, the unknown, simply magic, perhaps the only track on this record to rival the splendour of 'Don't Cry', but doing it with completely other means than those that Steppenwolf have become known for!
Mutiny/The Bad Seed
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Last of the Birthday party is a collection of aftershocks
  • One of the best cd's....
  • Tonight We Sleep in Separate Ditches
  • Wow! Postmodernism can be interesting!!!!!!!!
  • oh my lord!
Mutiny/The Bad Seed
The Birthday Party
Manufacturer: Buddha
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00004T0N9
Release Date: 2000-05-16

Tracks:

  1. Sonnys Burning
  2. Wildworld
  3. Fears of Gun
  4. Deep in the Woods
  5. Jennifers Veil
  6. Six Strings That Drew Blood
  7. Say a Spell
  8. Swampland
  9. Pleasure Avalanche
  10. Mutiny in Heaven

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Last of the Birthday party is a collection of aftershocks.......2006-07-03

If "Junkyard", the quintessential Bithday party album was the great earthquake in the punkscene, the songs on the following two E.P.'s (and the last of The BP) can at least be called some severe aftershocks.

The opening scream-out on "Sonny's burning" says it all: "Hands up who wants to die!" howlers singer Nick Cave in pain. And the deconstructive podium-busting of "Junkyard" goes on.
Then "Wildworld" follows, with its slow pacing drums and howling guitar; the song trashes the mind and soul and causes many lonely abandoned off spring to dance with their own shadows in the dark.
There seems to be more echoing effects in the guitars, and more contemplation and sanity in Cave's voice - not that the man is cured of whatever demons are troubeling him, thank God not, but the tight ensembling-work of The Bad Seeds come more and more into vision here.

"Jennifer's veil", a stiring emotional statement, hints at future Bad Seeds output; more singing tendencies than just spoken word or screaming, this track solely is worth a finger.
"Six strings that drew blood" is an early punk version of one of the best songs on "The firstborn is dead" album, the second Bad Seeds release. Although very rarely mentioned, is "The six strings..." version on the "First born..." album still one of Nick Cave's best pereformances, and here on the Birthday Party E.P. we have its original blueprint.
"Swampland" still has the chaos of "Release the bats" from the "Junkyard"album, as have the multi-vocals on "Mutiny in heaven".

Call it aftershocks, call it more matured and pollished, call it a musical testament, it's still all classic TBP.
This last release doesn't show any signs of decline or perishing of the band. It's just "Junkyard" little successor, and a good reason to to ponder on the question where Nick and the mates would have gone to, if The Bitrthday Party hadn't crashed that early in its own personal dark history.

5 out of 5 stars One of the best cd's...........2004-09-11

If you don't love this cd (and many people won't), then you must have a very different taste in music then me. Yes, it's different. Yes, it's offensive. Yes, it's incredibly powerful. Mutiny in Heaven is insanity on a disc, Six strings that drew the blood is awesome, as is everything on this disc. Simply brilliant, and best disc to start a birthday party obsession with.

5 out of 5 stars Tonight We Sleep in Separate Ditches.......2003-11-12

To categorize this CD as "goth" or "blues influenced" or "Stooges-like" is a gross oversimplification. Nick Cave is at his best bible infused morbid-ism. The addition of Einsturzende Neubauten's (and future Bad Seed) Blixa Bargeld on `Mutiny in Heaven' is pure genius. The CD in its entirety is pure genius. A timeless classic, for sure.

An excerpt from `Deep in the Woods':

Now the killed waits for the killer
And the trees all nod their heads, they are agreed
This knife feels like a knife feels like a knife that feels like it's feed.
Yeah I recognize that girl
I took her from rags right through to stitches (pray for me now)
Oh baby, tonight we sleep in separate ditches.

5 out of 5 stars Wow! Postmodernism can be interesting!!!!!!!!.......2003-05-26

Every song on this compilation of two EP's is a highlight of goth, and rock and blues. Opening with the wierd "hands up who wants to die" Sonny's Burning will make you feel just like youre at a lynching - of someone who listens to commercial FM radio ( so they're not advocating anything bad ). The songs on the Bad Seed tend to be particularly percussive with a basic blues structure. Mutiny is more of a layered, introspective sound, like the earlier B.P. recordings like Prayers on Fire, although they are raucous and designed to grind. The ending of this cd is an ode to the herion addiction that the band loved to hate.

5 out of 5 stars oh my lord!.......2002-02-24

This is one of those albums, that at first listen, i gasp, jump up and down, shake my hands wildly and start chanting "OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!!!" IT ROCKS!!!! Nick Cave and his cohorts create such believably dark and menacing atmospheres that you can feel the fear. it's sooooo raw. all the tracks have this sleazy evil mood...like a strip joint in the swamp at night. all the tracks are perfect; it's one of those perfect cd's that can be listened from start to finish. it's just so coherent. if you want a goth cd...i mean real dark goth...get this cd. it basically screams "Hands up! Who wants to die?"...well actually Nick does. ;-) you can hear all the Stooges influence...It's like "Nightclubbing" meets "Search and Destroy"...super charged doom and gloom. God Bless You, Birthday Party!
Junkyard
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • A musical junkyard crammed with ups and downs
  • abrasive, not that there's anything wrong with that
  • UPSY DAISY.
  • Truly Extreme Music
  • Very urgent, frantic
Junkyard
The Birthday Party
Manufacturer: Buddha
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00004T0NA
Release Date: 2000-05-16

Tracks:

  1. Blast Off!
  2. She's Hit
  3. Dead Joe
  4. Dim Locator
  5. Hamlet (Pow, Pow, Pow)
  6. Several Sins
  7. Big-Jesus-Trash-Can
  8. Kiss Me Black
  9. 6" Gold Blade
  10. Kewpie Doll
  11. Junkyard
  12. Dead Joe
  13. Release the Bats

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars A musical junkyard crammed with ups and downs.......2006-07-03

This Birthday Party's third and most notoir album literaly "Blasts off" with total noise, psychotic drums and screaming guitar terror; but then again, it's an LP that is made by a no-holds-barred punk act that's more of a crazed, insane lost-in-the-jungle war ensemble on the loose.

The songs TBP produces can be described best as "well structured chaos". It's fullblown punky mess, but with a mind behind it. Songs like "Six inch gold blade" and "Kwepie doll" are thunder without much point and probably will do nice on stage during cheap, messy, smokey, claustrophobic late night gigs.

"Dead Joe" and "Dead Joe (2nd version)" tell about a car crash and the songs sound just like one. "Hamlet (Pow pow pow)" takes on the graveyard scene from Shakespeare's legendary theatre play and "Several sins" stands out as a kind of eerie but beautiful "punk ballad".

The title track "Junkyard" is maybe the best song TBP ever cried out, with sneering guitars, up and down tempo, and singer Cave's dark voice, sometimes lowkey, sometimes highpitched screaming, perfectly in place. "Release the bats" is more of the same well-formulated chaos but with a catchy base drum by Mick Harvey that's really on a role.

I confess that TBP's first to albums "Hee-haw" and "Prayers on fire" didn't really got to me. Fifty percent of "Junkyard" did in a main way, just as the following (and last) TBP album "Mutiny / The Bad Seed" did.

In some ways, even more. TBP was really growing and maturing (which is really some kind of paradox: I always felt that punk music was mainly created to rage against maturity and the world of oppressing adults) and one would be curious what should have become of this nasty little Party had they not fall apart soon after release of "Mutiny / The Bad Seed".

3 out of 5 stars abrasive, not that there's anything wrong with that.......2005-04-20

Anti 80's pop, nasty sounding, find out who your friends are
rock n roll. My favourite songs are Dead Joe (a classic), Pow
Pow Pow and The Dim Locator. Comparing The Birthday Party to
Midnight Oil is like comparing The Eagles to The Fugs. Not all
American Bands sound the same, ditto in Oz. (I think Midnight Oil are great by the way) This record is a bit
of a time capsule for me, having bought it on vinyl when it was
new. Different to Nick Cave's later stuff, but you don't need me
to tell you that. Junk sculpture turning back to junk junk junk
junk junk unk unk ughh ughh ohh ohh ohh Deaaadddd Joe...etc...
As some Aussies might say "It's a pearler".

5 out of 5 stars UPSY DAISY. .......2004-07-26


this is what rock n roll should sound like. hip-shakin, gasoline sweatin, blood lettin grooviness. channeling the voodoo engergy of the carter family, the delta blues, rockabilly, the stooges, and james brown; bringing the love in the middle of the firefight and then kicking everyone in the county's teeth in.

fans should also check the hair police, xiu-xiu, the pop group, albert ayler, mississippi fred mcdowell, t. rex, and arthur doyle.

5 out of 5 stars Truly Extreme Music.......2003-12-03

The Birthday party, to put it vulgarly, could rip off anyone's face and chew on their brains then, now and tomorrow as well. The Party emerged from the post punk movement that also spawned Joy Division, Bauhaus, The Cure and Christian Death, and which would later be called Goth. (Deathrock in the states) The Birthday Party, however would prove to be one of the most extreme and "hardcore" of lot. While Joy Division and The Cure prefered melancholy and gloom, and Bauhaus and Christian Death - boho artsiness, Nick Cave and his fellow loons gave us a bastard hybrid of garage rock, punk, rockabilly, blues and a bit of lounge as well. The thing that really set them apart was the all out fury and abandon found in their music. Even the fastest and loudest Thrash Metal and Hardcore Punk bands could never dream of creating the atmosphere of raw, unadulterated anger, rage, and tension found on this album. It's almost murderous. Very fitting for songs like Six Inch Gold Blade and Dead Joe. (Probably the greatest Death Rock song ever recorded) One has to wonder what Nick Cave was doing while recording the vocals. Torturing himself with a branding iron maybe? The production values on this recording are almost non-exsistant. The sound is hollow. Low bass end, and ear piercing high end. No middle tone. The vocals sound like they were recorded in a bathroom, the guitar sounds out of tune, and the drums sound... well... broken! But all of these shortcomings add to the experimental nature of this album. And the lyrics... anyone familiar with Nick Cave can expect only some of his best here. Strange characters in ridiculous situations, tons of poetic metaphors and of course Death and Murder. A bit of b-movie horror with the Goth Anthem Release The Bats as well. Essential listening to anyone who thinks today's popular poseur artists are "extreme."

4 out of 5 stars Very urgent, frantic.......2003-05-09

I saw Nick Cave and the Birthday Party twice - once at the Hammersmith Odeon and about six months later at St Albans. The first time I was amazed by the contrast between the performer and the man himself. I spoke to him briefly after the performance and he was cool, rational, and quite generous in his speech. Whatever you might object to, no-one who is a complete 'duh' can either write the songs, perform half so well, or even commission the cover art-

Nick was possibly doing quite a few things during those complicated days, I remember that we were simply being students, we thought "release the bats" was an ideal replacement for the national anthem... When we saw Nick at St Albans later, in spite of the fact that we had talked before, he gave me one of his wild man "better dial for a coffin" look... But that was Nick the performer, I guess, and it was worth the price of the ticket alone...!

This music depicts quite well a period of what can now be seen as a burgeoning political nihilism in England - a period when there was something like an undocumented and unofficial civil war - and when most of the national life was in tremendous turmoil. I don't know, and its very hard to tell, whether Nick was depicting his own internal landscapes in this, or trying to reflect the times, but from this perspective, i.e., the "aftermath", its very tempting to categorise him as that kind of artist, possibly a sort of figure like those at the end of the Soviet period, desperately composing something that needs the most urgent expression.
Hits
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Mr. Clarification
  • Something for everybody!
  • Blast Off!
  • Cutting
  • happy birthday.
Hits
The Birthday Party
Manufacturer: 4ad / Ada
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:
  1. Grinderman
  2. Live Seeds
  3. The Firstborn Is Dead
  4. Mutiny/The Bad Seed
  5. Junkyard

ASIN: B000007SPX
Release Date: 1998-07-07

Tracks:

  1. The Friend Catcher
  2. Happy Birthday
  3. Mr. Clarinet
  4. Nick The Stripper
  5. Zoo Music Girl
  6. King Ink
  7. Release The Bats
  8. Blast Off
  9. She's Hit
  10. Hamlet (Pow, Pow, Pow)
  11. Dead Joe
  12. Junkyard
  13. Big-Jesus-Trash-Can
  14. Wild World
  15. Sonny's Burning
  16. Deep In The Woods
  17. Swampland
  18. Jennifer's Veil
  19. Mutiny In Heaven
  20. Bonus Track

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Mr. Clarification.......2006-07-18

I'm not sure if Damascus "Damn" was being facetious or dead-serious with regard to his review--and I'm guessing I won't be the only one confused--so hopefully this will clear things up:

the Birthday Party is Nick CAVE's first band, originally called the Boys Next Door. They started up around 1977 and lasted until 1983, when Nick, Mick Harvey and others (including Einsturzende Neubauten's Blixa Bargeld) joined Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

The sound of the Birthday Party is challenging stuff: abrasive, menacing, sleazy post-punk noise, with lyrics full of dark, absurd imagery. Certainly not for everyone, though fans of Pere Ubu, Einsturzende, the Swans, and other "No Wave" acts should definitely check them out.

This compilation offers a pretty comprehensive collection of BP classics, though of course the original albums and EPs are available and highly recommended.

"Hee Haw" gathers everything from their early days as a proto-goth band, their two proper albums "Prayers on Fire" and "Junkyard" find them at the peak of their powers, and their final EPs "the Bad Seed" and Mutiny!" demonstrates their increasing interest in slow murky dirges. If you want to hear the roots of Nick's output with the Bad Seeds, these EPS prove to be quite fascinating blueprints for the early stages of his better known band.

Basically, take Damascus Damn's compliments and apply them to a band that's been gone for almost 20 years; their originality and influence becomes that much greater.

5 out of 5 stars Something for everybody!.......2005-12-15

Hearing that this was Nick Lowe's other band, I knew I was in for a treat! Boy was I ever. Having abandoned the cold suit-and-tie affair for a sound that may appeal to the younger generation a bit more, he takes on a much scarier approach here. The kids that listen to Marilyn Manson...beware! The Antichrist Superstar is like a particle board pedestal compared to the die-cast monolith of this artistic atavistic animal.

Now the songs. Oh my, the songs. I'll talk about my favorite songs, but all of them are good, really.

"The Friend Catcher" begins with a hellmouth puckering up to whistle...a prison of sound, indeed! It's actually guitarist Roland Howard (related to Clint and Ron...what a talented family) doing some cRaZy feedback on his guitar. This song is also an update of Green Jelly's "Three Little Pigs" that must be heard to be believed.

The next song is also a more relevant update of another universal song, the "Happy Birthday" song. Only their version has some obvious references to Quentin Tarantino movies and Cujo, complete with Nick doing his so-so impression of the rabid dog. Trivia: This song and the name of the band are about their publically expressed anger towards the original Happy Birthday song being copyrighted and no longer public domain, so you know these are performers for the people. FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT AND KEEP PLAYING, BOYS!

"Mr. Clarinet" is a Cyrano De Bergerac kind of story where Nick wants to learn the clarinet from a sort-of friend (you get the feeling he's actually mocking him behind his back, just like in Cyrano's story) to help him serenade a girl. Very touching, nonetheless.

The next song is a bit of a sleazy striptease song, obviously meant to get his female fans in the mood, and it's called "Nick the Stripper." It doesn't really do anything for me, but the music is really cool. I don't know, but it sounds like he says "incest" every once in a while. Hello, Dr. Freud? Nick, it's for you!

"Zoo Music Girl" is about a girl that listens to a lot of animal zoo sounds weirdo music that is driving him up the wall, like one of those girls that work at Pier 1 Imports or the Nature Shop in the mall. The only song I know of that's an ode to girlfriends playing music just to drive their boyfriends insane! Finally boys, we have an anthem. Be sure to thank The Birthday Party!

The next song about weird girlfriends is "Release the Bats." You know those girls that think they're vampires and try to sneak in a "love bite" or two and you end up missing a nipple, if you're lucky. We all do. Nick does too, I think.

Later on, following The Birthday Party tradition of updating old things anew yet again, they take on Shakespeare's "Hamlet." HAMLET! And just like Romeo and Juliet got a facelift in the 1996 movie with guns, the story of the Prince of Denmark and betrayal and DEATH DEATH DEATH get a gun facelift, too. Hamlet was a badass mf, kids. Very educational song.

Not to remain all hoighty-toighty and high-falutin with the Shakespeare homages, The Birthday Party throw us all a HUGE (no, not PARTY, lol) curve with "Dead Joe." "Dead Joe" is about the underground Sylvester Stallone movie "Driven" where he plays a washed-up driver named Joe Tanto that meets a tragic end in a race. It's an emotionally devastating movie that unfortunatly isn't carried in a lot of video stores (There's a petition out there to get it released to dvd).

On "Big Jesus Trash Can" Nick Lowe references his "Jesus of Cool" days from way back in the 70's. Except in our post-911 world, Nick's prophetic eye draws down upon a Jesus will not ascend from the heavens as most may expect, but rather barreling down the streets in a big, stinky garbage truck ala GTA San Andreas. SCARY.

Let me just say that bassist Tracy "Pew" can sure lay down the "funk" (get it?)! He adds that much needed spaghetti western flair to "Wildworld," or should I say, "Wildwest"! Clint Eastwood would be proud.

And I could just go on and on, but I will not. LOWLIGHTS: Even though they mess up really bad on what could have been a really good song, "King Ink," and sound like they lost all control of their instruments and stumble around the studio like raving lunatics, Nick's scream of frustration sets everything straight again, eventually. These boys just don't give up. It has considerable edutainment value for the Hamlet song, too, so it's a great studying aid for your homeschooled children!

Buy this cd if you like guns, ninja swords, fast cars, and cowboys.

My vote for album of the year. Thank you.

5 out of 5 stars Blast Off!.......2005-02-23

This compilation distills all the fury, depravity, and fun of The Birthday Party perfectly. If you can only afford one thing by The Birthday Party, make it this record (though after hearing it you'll probably want to buy or steal all their original albums...well, either that or you'll throw the disc out the window and run to the nearest church). The Birthday Party is known now as "Nick Cave's old band" and while it's true that the Birthday Party and The Bad Seeds share similar lyrical themes and influences, not to mention Mr. Cave's utterly unique vocals, the two bands are very different. The organ and piano that typify The Bad Seeds' sound are mostly absent here. Instead, there's dank, dirty, noisy guitars, heavily improvisational and rather brutal drumming, and on a few songs, twisted cabaret-like horns. The younger Cave on display here is also different from his more recent work. Cave is at once more frighteningly intense (that's a gross understatement, by the way) and more tongue-in-cheek. The Birthday Party might sing about lust, death, disfigurement, depression, death, self-loathing, and even more death, but there's always an apparent sense of theatre to it all. That said, "Hits" is not just one noisy rave-up after another. "Happy Birthday" grooves like a gothic Gang Of Four, "Mr. Clarinet" dances along quite beautifully, "King Ink" is a lumbering beast of a song, "She's Hit" and "Wild World" are both slow and undeniably sexy, "Junkyard" builds slowly, and "Deep In The Woods" is practically spoken-word. I could go on, as every song on this compilation is great, but I don't want to ruin all the surprises. Good old fashioned, evil fun all the way.

3 out of 5 stars Cutting.......2003-06-14

I must admit that even though I've known of Nick Cave's music for quite some time through film soundtracks and duets with Shane McGowan and Kylie Minogue, this is actually the first Cave featured album I've managed to acquire. Even though they were from Austraila, the Birthday Party's darkly Gothic music conveys the atmosphere of early 80's London, where I believe they settled for a while. They seemed to have developed feedback as a sonic aid to song construction a couple of years before Mary Chain's 'Psychocandy'. Great post-punk guitar piecies, 'Mr. Clarinet' reminds me of Keith Levine's guitar riff on 'Death Disco'. 'Zoo Music Girl' seems like a parody of early 80's British chart music's fascination with all things jungle-like ('The Lion Sleeps Tonight' anyone?). 'Release The Bats' like Joy Division's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' could have been a standard for Elvis. In fact Goth music at its best crystallizes the images and themes of the early 19th century literary form from which it gets its name and the hip-swivelling rhythm of 50's rock 'n' roll. Goth is a 50's parent's nightmare taken to its logical extreme. A fact not lost on Marilyn Manson. The clash of eastern style guitar sounds on 'Wildworld', the punk rock vibes of 'Swampland' and the driving bass of 'Mutiny in Heavan' would soon be left behind by Cave. Mary Shelley would have been proud of the poetics to come, in which 'Deep In The Woods' and 'Jennifer's Veil' are classical examples of his future career.

5 out of 5 stars happy birthday........2002-02-10

Hmm, my first and only Birthday Party release so-far. so good also. This album is split into FOUR QUARTERS. these i shall review.
Hee-Haw period: friend-catcher is symphonic, but nicky doesn't have his vocals perfect yet. birthday sounds gang-of-4-ish, but the real gem here is Mr Clarinet.
The next kiddies here are from Prayers on fire, slightly more impressive. Nick the stripper makes me wonder what kind of stripper nick is, paint maybe? zoo music, king ink, bat releaser and Blast Off! hit the spot like some sort of meshed stooges zombie elvis visigoth spectacular.
Ah, but the Junkyard tracks are spectacular, and rightly so.
I don't feel significant enough to talk about them, but you need them in your life, truly.
Mutiny/bad seed tracks are notibly heavier, slower and bluesier.
My favourite are jennifer's veil and swampland, just for the sheer brutality, deep in the woods slowly crawls no-where for three sour minutes before burning itself alive!. All in all, genuinely scary, unlike that misfits/slipknot [stuff].
...
This Album is good, but bu JUNKYARD, PRAYERS ON FIRE AND MUTINY themselves, you get more pure evil. sorry.
Birthday Songs: Games & Fun for Your Party!
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Birthday Songs: Games & Fun for Your Party!
  • Disney World Sings
Birthday Songs: Games & Fun for Your Party!
Disney
Manufacturer: Disney
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000001M2K
Release Date: 1997-03-11

Tracks:

  1. Happy, Happy Birthday To You - Michael Silversher/Patricia Silversher
  2. The Unbirthday Song - Mack David/Al Hoffman/Jerry Livingston
  3. Musical Chairs Medley/Following The Leader/It's A Sunny, Sunny Day!... - Ted Sears/Winston Hibler/Oliver Wallace/Debbie Gates
  4. The Hokey Pokey - Larry La Prise/Charles P. Macak/Taftt Baker
  5. If You're Happy And You Know It - Larry La Prise/Charles P. Macak/Taftt Baker
  6. Head, Shoulders, Knees, And Toes - Larry La Prise/Charles P. Macak/Taftt Baker
  7. London Bridge Is Falling Down - Larry La Prise/Charles P. Macak/Taftt Baker
  8. Pooh, Pooh, The Birthday Bear - Will Robinson
  9. Pin The Tail On The Donkey - Gary Powell
  10. Happy Birthday To You - Mildred J. Hill/Patty S. Hill

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Birthday Songs: Games & Fun for Your Party!.......2006-04-20

I bought this when my son turned 4. The first song, "Happy, Happy Birthday to You", I play every year on his birthday to wake him up. Tomorrow he turns 13, and as tradition carries on, I'll be carrying in the player to wake him up, with that special song along with me singing.

The entire tape has cute songs for birthday parties, or just for little ones to enjoy while playing by themselves.

5 out of 5 stars Disney World Sings.......2004-04-20

The songs are cute! Although I recommend Captain Zoom
Drew's Famous Kids Birthday Dance Party Favorites
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Drew's Famous Kids Birthday Dance Party Favorites
    Various Artists
    Manufacturer: Turn Up the Music
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

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    ASIN: B00005Y7Y5
    Release Date: 1996-12-10

    Tracks:

    1. Tutti Frutti
    2. Peppermint Twist
    3. The Name Game
    4. Candy Man
    5. The Lion Sleeps Tonight
    6. Lollipop
    7. ABC
    8. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
    9. Splish Splash
    10. Yakety Yak
    11. Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini
    12. Disco Duck
    13. Can You Tell Me How To Get To Sesame Street
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    16. Simon Says
    17. Limbo Rock
    18. Happy Birthday To You
    Vol. 4: The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party
    Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
    • One of the greatest of all records of guitar music
    • One of the all time greatest recordings
    • Fahey's First Symphony for solo guitar
    Vol. 4: The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party
    John Fahey
    Manufacturer: Takoma
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

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    ASIN: B00004Z3ZR
    Release Date: 2000-10-24

    Tracks:

    1. The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party
    2. Knott's Berry Farm Molly
    3. Will The Circle Be Unbroken - John Fahey/Flea
    4. Guitar Excursions Into The Unknown
    5. 900 Miles - John Fahey/Nancy McLean
    6. Sail Away Ladies - John Fahey/Mysterious Al Wilson
    7. Oh Come, Oh Come Emanuel

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars One of the greatest of all records of guitar music.......2001-01-24

    At last this magnificent recording appears on C.D. It is quite simply one of the greatest records of guitar music ever put together. The title track is a 19 minute tour de force, a tone poem, a saga of huge emotional range. Of all Fahey's extended compositions this is perhaps the most complete, the most satisfying and perfectly structured. There are moments of joyful optimism, gentle nostalgia, troubled uncertainty and sheer nightmare ( courtesy of some superb, haunting bottleneck). The piece draws to a close in the calm resignation of a simple, beautiful theme......but then the nightmare bottleneck returns right at the end, just when we think the darkness has lost its power. Incredible! The recording also features KNOTT'S BERRY FARM MOLLY, a gorgeous piece of Fahey nostalgia with some backwards guitar sounds thrown in. Also there is a memorable guitar/veena version of SAIL AWAY LADIES. Other highlights include a delightfully rambling GUITAR EXCURSIONS INTO THE UNKNOWN (if Charles Ives had played guitar it might have sounded like this) and Fahey's finest version of OH COME EMANUEL. On this kind of form Fahey is awesome and speaks with absolute authority. He extends the vocabulary of the guitar, and in so doing creates music of unforgettable beauty and originality.Here is a unique and gifted performer at his most inspired. Don't miss it!

    5 out of 5 stars One of the all time greatest recordings.......2001-01-13

    I am so glad to be able to finally listen to this without the crackles and pops on my vinyl to tape recording.

    This is the album that sets Fahey on a pinnacle of guitar virtuosity and creative genius. It is as much an exporation of sound as it is an emotional tour de force as Fahey zigs, zags, and pirouettes from the still center into hypersonic overdrive across a moody and melodic soundscape.

    I first heard this on an old Tom Donahue radio show on KMPX in SF in 1967. I was sitting in a parlor in Oakland and was just blown away completely and still am.

    I even like what some call "filler."

    When "Days Have Gone By" finally gets rereleased my Fahey void will be filled.

    4 out of 5 stars Fahey's First Symphony for solo guitar.......2000-11-04

    This music IS the Old South. Dusty country roads, cotton and tobacco fields. I am amazed this has not been used as a soundtrack!

    The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party (GSBBP) stands as Fahey's towering achievement, a Symphony for Solo Guitar (sonata sounds too confining). It is the first, most approachable and most coherent of his long works. I am not exaggerating when I say it is so good, it should be covered by other artists - John Williams? If complex blues works by Winton Marsallis can be called "Classical", certainly this can.

    It starts with a major key sunny Ragtime Gallop, and then descends into mysterious minor key in a musings and inventions sounding alternatively Spanish, Bluesy, Native American and even Raga-esque. It holds ones interest for the entire 20 some minutes (not like many of the other over-long jamming pieces of the 60's). His other two long masterpieces on America are somewhat more dissonant and take longer to develop. Fahey once said he trying to create a symphony for the solo guitar and he certainly succeded here!

    Guitar fanatics NOTE: all the sounds you here were created with one acoustic guitar, 4 microphones, a tape loop (echoplex) and a tape recorder. None of the zillions of gismos that today's guitarists use!

    Knott's Barry Farm Molly uses tape editing and backward tape (two years before the Beatles "Sgt Pepper's"). Fahey's Guitar turns to rubber and then back to a guitar!

    The liner notes state Fahey doesn't like this record.

    He played the Birchmere a decade ago, I sat in front of him (I tuned his guitar for him!) I asked him when this was going to be on CD. He also told me that night that he didn't like this recording. I guess it's because of the personal events happening to him when he recorded it. I guess Tacoma Park, MD, where Fahey grew up, was once a pretty wild place.

    However I must add, the rest of the album is filler. From amaturish to awful. That's why I can only give it fours stars. Maybe that's what he didn't like it. But GSBBP and Molly, are brilliant. There is 25 minutes of the best most musically satisfying stuff he ever did. Not short 4 minutes blues and ragtime, coherent exposition in a classical idiom.

    And you get Fahey's zany album notes written by one of his many alter-egos.

    And those parts definately worth having!
    Hee-Haw
    Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    • Black Candles
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    • dark, evil and catchy
    • Early Nick May Not Be Much of a Party to Some
    Hee-Haw
    The Birthday Party
    Manufacturer: Buddha
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

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    ASIN: B00004T0N8
    Release Date: 2000-05-16

    Tracks:

    1. Mr. Clarinet
    2. Happy Birthday
    3. Hats on Wrong
    4. Guilt Parade
    5. Friend Catcher
    6. Waving My Arms
    7. Catman
    8. Riddle House
    9. Catholic Skin
    10. Red Clock
    11. Faint Heart
    12. Death by Drowning
    13. Hair Shirt

    Customer Reviews:

    4 out of 5 stars Black Candles.......2007-07-31

    The prolific reviewer of unfashionable `lost' gems, has his work cut out yet again. Its not a huge challenge I suppose, sitting at a laptop listening to cracking music over and over again (that's when I'm not out hellraising you understand), trying to convey in mere words, what this stuff has meant over the years, and trying to impart a suggestion to any pop people out there in cyber land, what a certain group or sound is all about. Mere words.
    Any-one coming to the Birthday Party now, is in for a surprise. It'll come as no surprise to learn that I think (therefore its true!) this compilation of their early singles, bits and bobs and whatever, contains their best work.
    Vitally, it kicks off with a stormer; `Mr. Clarinet', and I dear reader, trusted friend, am struggling to illustrate just how good this song is. Screeching guitar and wild sax lead us into singer Nick Caves' wailing, haunting performance. He sounds as if he's in genuine pain, not just suffering for his `art'. First time I heard it, I thought the rest of the band were proper torturing him, you don't make noises like that, unless your bits are in a mediaeval device!
    Anyway, that out of the way, we are then treated to another 12 stand-out songs, each very different, but each defined by the obviously insane Caves' eerie vocals. Tellingly, and blatantly, he's coming from the Pere Ubu/ Cramps camp (former brilliant, latter tedious), and this is one of those numerous occasions when the pupil turns out cleverer than the mentor, `Guilt Parade' indeed!
    Later on, he has a nervous breakdown during, `the Hair Shirt', but that fabulous group(I was gonna say behind him, but I think they're more to the side.) just keep him this side of the abyss with some extraordinarily tight thrash and percussion. This is invigoratingly original and thoroughly modern rock music.
    Whether Cave is genuinely crackers is another matter entirely, but you certainly wouldn't invite him round for dinner on this form.(imagine if it was spaghetti!)
    Somebody told me the Birthday Party popped a bit when they came to England, (I always do), perhaps they should've stayed put in Oz. Clearly you shouldn't deprive a genius/mental of his inspiration.
    Anyway, the Birthday Party's early stuff. Nice and simple on a cd. Endearing and enduring.
    And not a donkey joke in sight.

    4 out of 5 stars Great Stuff.......2006-04-21

    This album is a collection of songs from from the very early days of the Birthday Party, many of which were recorded as the band "The Boys Next Door," (circa 1979) but this is definitely some good stuff. Songs like "the Friend Catcher" and "The Hair Shirt" definitely reflect the band's later darker direction. It doesn't end there; "A Catholic Skin," is a pounding rhythm-based jam, (read: deep, bass centered groove) as is the final track "The Hair Shirt,". For those looking for some great Post-Punk music this is an exceptional beginning. The Birthday Party were an intense group by design, and as an introduction into later, more chaotic works this re-release functions extremely well. Death rock owes much to these guys and I, for one, love them. Those who appreciate Nick Cave should get a lot out of this. Follow this album with the Mutiny/Bad Seed EP. The Birthday Party were immensely important, whether or not you like their insane songs. Listen. Learn and judge for yourself, no one else can say anymore than that.

    4 out of 5 stars Wow.......2006-04-03

    I must admit; I do not own all of The Birthday Party's Cd's but from the one's that I do own (Mutiny, Prayers On Fire, and Hee-haw) this one is probley my favorite. It feels so raw and outlandish...if you really like to hear a band "give it their all" I'd say you should deffintly think about picking up this album if you get the chance.

    5 out of 5 stars dark, evil and catchy.......2002-03-05

    i love this album for it's raw simplicity(i find i've been saying that a lot on here...i think it's my style...anywho ;-)...). the songs on Hew Haw(culled partly from when the Party was the Boys Next Door, and the rest from the first Party album) are very catchy, very...uh...gothic, indeed, and very punk. it's like the Banshees and Bauhaus' first albums...very jaggedly, staggering dark dirges and full-on Stooges-type jams set to a gloomy minor key. Cave's vocals and lyricism is(was at the time) abstract and benign, but most of the songs are metaphoric: clarinets, birthday parties, clocks, hats, etc. the names and content may seem forced and somewhat silly, but they grow on you quickly as a whole, creating a very cryptic pop sound. there is lots of atmosphere on this album...achingly sustained distortion painting scenes that linger, creep, rattle and ramble. my favs are probably "The Friend Catcher", "Death By Drowning", "The Red Clock" and "Riddle House", but i usually listen to the album as a whole, so i guess everything is pretty great. don't get this album if you are looking for a "Nick Cave album"...this was before Nick Cave found Nick Cave; just think of it as a great debut for a great post punk group.

    3 out of 5 stars Early Nick May Not Be Much of a Party to Some.......2001-04-24

    And so here it is, (minus the Boys Next Door's 1978 'Door Door' album) for all practical purposes the beginning of Nick Cave's enigmatic, three decade long career. It's hard to imagine, listening to this 40 some odd minutes of noise and vile, that the very same person would be, twenty-two odd years later, mentioned in the same breath as Bob Dylan and easily considered the "Dark Laureate" successor to Leonard Cohen. As you may gather, just because it is first does NOT make it the place most will want to start. Once you're more familiar with Cave, however, it puts many puzzle pieces into place.

    Not really an album proper, this release (originally co-credited to the Boys Next Door AND the Birthday Party) gathers a Boys Next Door ep and single, and two Birthday Party singles recorded in late 1979 and early 1980. What's the difference between the two bands you might ask? Almost nothing. The band personnel (and it is one of the great post-punk lineups) is the same, though the biggest difference is the move in early 1980 to London where the name change occurs and the latter singles are released. It's those last singles that you encounter first on the cd, and that's fair enough. Here the band collects its messy Swell Maps/Fall/No Wave inspired clatter into a genuinely catchy sound. "The Friend Catcher" and "Mr. Clarinet" (both as lyrically obtuse as they sound) are bonafied art-punk classics. The final Boys Next Door single ("Happy Birthday"/"Riddle House" not credited in the liner notes!)is just behind these two, finding our Aussie expatriates learning their craft well. At the end of it all, we are, uh, "graced" with the 'Hee-Haw' ep in its chaotic entirety. A good history lesson I suppose, but mostly lots of Rowland S. Howard's feedback with little of the hooks he'd soon have down, and Cave taking that shriek of his just a little too far, too often. Not bad,necessarily and perhaps best served as the soundtrack to late night car repossessing.

    Overall, an interesting introduction to one of the major songwriters of the last twenty years and a painfully good time to those who like their music heavy on the LOUD.
    The Cat in the Hat
    Average customer rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
    • Getting Better? How about Get Back.
    • WHAT AN IDIOT
    • WEIRD NAME FOR A SOUNDTRACK
    The Cat in the Hat
    David Newman
    Manufacturer: Decca
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

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    ASIN: B0000DZE4X
    Release Date: 2003-11-18

    Tracks:

    1. Main Title - The Kids
    2. Getting Better - Smashmouth
    3. The Cat
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    5. Military Academy Seduction
    6. Mrs. Kwan - Mom Leaves
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    10. Oven Explodes - Clean Up This Mess
    11. Things Wreck The House
    12. Larry The Slob
    13. Birthday Party
    14. S.L.O.W. Drive
    15. Rescuing Nevens
    16. Clean Up - Mike Myers

    Amazon.com

    Hollywood's typical formula (Well-Known Literary Property + Star Power + Mega Marketing Muscle=Box Office Dynamite) is anything but a sure thing, as the merciless reviews for this Mike Myers take on the Dr. Seuss classic attested in droves. But lost beneath the cat-suited Myers endless schtick and a creative tack that even dared forego Seuss' patent rhymes is a wonderfully inventive, endlessly exuberant orchestral score by David Newman. Essentially treating the material as live-action cartoon, Newman has concocted an updated take on the traditional animation score that consistently bristles with energy and musical surprises. While young Newman's cues here occasionally lean on some of brother Thomas' patent rhythmic hoodoo and a little of cousin Randy's bittersweet pastoral arrangements, the whole is distinctive and entirely his own: a great score for a lousy movie. Smashmouth contributes a faithful, equally upbeat cover of the Beatles' "Getting Better" while Myers musical mugging is kept to a merciful minimum. --Jerry McCulley

    Customer Reviews:

    1 out of 5 stars Getting Better? How about Get Back........2005-05-12

    The 'Getting Better' Beatles cover is a disgrace. I brought a young child to the movies to see this film, which is my excuse for attending this piece of doody, and I was horrified to hear 'Getting Better', a Beatles cover, which was performed by Smashmouth.

    I don't know about any other Beatle fans but when I hear their songs being used in advertisements or movies, I immediately take a mental note to never buy their product. I suppose they're trying to target 59 year old housewives that will go "god I used to love that song ..volvo huh"

    This is all topped off by the fact that the guy from Smashmouth has got the most annoying voice on the planet. It's almost as if he's TRYING to sound like he's got his privates chopped off in a woodchipper.

    God help all of us. Down with large corporations. Buy from the Amish. They contribute to society through spreading peace, so instead of rushing out to Wal-Mart to buy the Cat in the Hat soundtrack, take a ride up Lancaster County PA instead and buy some apple pies to throw at war mongers and homophobes.

    1 out of 5 stars WHAT AN IDIOT.......2004-04-12

    That kinda crap? What are you people thinking?? The Cat in the Hat Motion Picture Soundtrack?? sheesh... For one, this Cat in the Hat's a complete disaster! and for two, they've recently made an excellent Cat in the Hat cartoon in 1994, and I found it a perfect cartoon. to whomever disagrees and loves this piece of mindless bullshi*, find something more constructive to do.

    5 out of 5 stars WEIRD NAME FOR A SOUNDTRACK.......2003-12-07

    WEIRD NAME FOR A SOUNDTRACK

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