353 - The Yardbirds - Having a Rave Up

Hey, look! It's another album of previously released UK songs repackaged in an album for an American audience! Because this album has been repackaged a lot of different ways through the years, I decided to stick with the original track listing for my review. While the album is a nice lean size and contains some of their best songs up to that point, it is a bit schizophrenic. What you get in this collection is a sample of Eric Clapton-era songs and some Jeff Beck-era songs. The first side is a collection of singles and b-sides with Beck driving the sound. Side 2 is a selection of four tracks from a live album that was released a year before with Clapton's blues dominating. What was tremendously annoying to me was that I got attuned to the fuzzy, loud guitars with psychedelic flourishes and treatments along with vocals that at times seemed almost Gregorian chant-like....then you flip over to side 2 and get a collection of Clapton-era blues hits played loud and fast. I actually found myself doing my later listens by doing the side 2 songs first and then going to side 1. It seemed to make a lot more sense to my ears.

Bickering about the song order aside, the album was interesting to me. It was intriguing to hear the guitar work Beck did with the band. I liked the fuzz and how he attempted to simulate a sitar. The songs certainly illustrate an evolution from British beat to psychedelic rock. Although, interesting, the album didn't do much for me. Nice lesson, but not an album I would put on for my own enjoyment.

Songs I knew I liked: None

Songs I didn't know but now like: "Mr. You're a Better Man Than I," "Evil Hearted You," and "Train Kept a Rollin"

Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: I wouldn't be sad to not hear any of these tracks again, but there are none that I would actively avoid.