The Camper Van Beethoven Albums Poll

whoa was just listening to them!

def underrated, they were one of the most important bands in my world as an ado. it's hard to trace where their lineage goes. like I REALLY hate They Might Be Giants but Campus isn't a million miles away, and yet

so hard, I love the 3rd, 4th and 5th albums almost equally

I think they had a tangential influence on Americana/alt-country, at the very least

of the first six the only one I'm not considering is II/III, just b/c I didn't get a copy until later

Vampire Can Mating Oven!

on the whole my favorites are the first two - production/synth choices bug me on CVB and OBRS. Key Lime Pie is half-great.

mmmmm "Sweethearts"

yeah side one of KLP really makes me wish Lowery had gone further down that road, not dumbed down so much in cracker

have only ever heard II & III so it feels wrong to vote, but i loved the shit out of that at the time

side 2 of key lime pie has pictures of matchstick men which blew my mind in 6th grade

xp DUDE get yerself over to albums 3, 4, and 5 ASAP

also, this was one of the best live bands I ever saw

is this stuff even on spotify? oh okay yes

hmm looks like there will be little consensus here

KLP for me all the way, a rare case of the "funny" band making a "serious" record that is actually really well done

and side 2 has the best song on the album "All Her Favorite Fruit" (tho "Sweethearts" is close)

yeah that is probably my fave if I get really objective about it, but man did I love the S/T and OBRS when they came out

otm

I heard Pictures of Matchstick Men on a fellow camper's mix-tape when I was maybe 11 or 12? Asked him what it was and he told me it was RUSH. Several disappointing album purchases later, I somehow finally figured out that it was Camper Van Beethoven, but I bought II&III first because it was in the cut-out bin for like a buck.

Key Lime Pie wins it for me though. Side 2 has the best song on the album "June", imo.

"She Divines Water" is a classic too; a spiraling song that I don't understand literally ("which was Zion") but that's only a minor matter as the vodka sinks in and she dances

yes yes yes

Yeah KLP is kind of in its own league in terms of atmosphere and lyrics and sheer drama in the songs, even if there are a few that are tiring to listen to.

"Borderline" is wonderful as well.

when the end comes to this old world
the rats will cry and the rest will curl up
and god won't take the time to sort your ashes from mine
because we zig and zag between good and bad
stumble and fall through right and wrong
'cause the tumbling dice and the luck of the draw just leads us on

---just the fuckin best lyric, I can type it from memory

She Divines Water was definitely one of my favorites for a long long time. The sound collage on "Tusk" is pretty great as well. I never listened to the whole of New Roman Times because I heard a couple of tracks and got turned off (hippie chicks, that gum you like). Anyone have any experience with their recent albums?

and yes, that is the best lyric, no doubt.

I never really listened very closely to "The Humid Press of Days" bc it's kind of ugly and slow but someone (maybe Nabisco) posted the lyrics in an earlier thread and reading them when my grandmother was nearing the end of her life hit me pretty hard.

OBRS has good stuff on it - it opens and closes well - but I agree w croup that there are some not-so-great production choices, it sounds tinny and thin and very late 80s in a way most of their catalog does not

xp

I think "Humid Press Of Days" is amazing fwiw, one of my favorites on the album, love the way the dynamics swoop and roll

wow what a great poll. I'd totally vote Vantiquities or Mating Oven if given the chance, but lean S/T or OBRS.
I love Key Lime Pie, but to me you definitely hear the absence of Segel, usually filled with over the top guitar solos that haven't aged particularly well.

ouch, tough but fair

Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart has some of my favorite violin/fiddle parts in rock. Love "One of These Days."

one of the first 3 i think

The band I was in from 89-90 copped a lot of riffs and "sound" from the eponymous 3rd LP. I remember we did a total ripoff of "Stalin's Cadillac" called "Hindu Chevrolet." Such a great album, bursting with terrific songs and ideas (which we totally lacked).

side 2 of key lime pie has pictures of matchstick men which blew my mind in 6th grade

ditto! well, 4th i think. iirc first saw it on mtv at a sleepover, two of us being blown away, the rest being fairly indifferent. Didn't place song to album until 6th, though, by which point i think cracker was a thing. kinda hilarious in hindsight that it was just a status quo cover.

despite that early brush with lowery i don't think i heard any other camper album until the 00s

yeah I remember Lowery at the time noting what a stupid song it was, how the cover was a goof etc.

had a kerosene hat t-shirt bought at the mall tho! xpost

II & III narrowly over CVB. They lost the magical weirdness by the Virgin albums though they still could write some kicking pop gems.

Might pick the live album Greatest Hits Played Faster if it was on here. Has the best versions of the Virgin-era tunes.

I don't like those live versions as well but I loooooove the opening orchestral "All Her Favorite Fruit"

xp: I don't know if I prefer it to the studio versions, but it also has My Baby Just Got Out of Jail and James River.

i think i prefer the played faster version to the revolutionary sweetheart versions, but that's an album i've kinda avoided due to immediate sonic distaste - if you heard the studio cuts first and plenty before the live takes it'd be a very different experience

After nearly 15 years with the Our Revolutionary Sweetheart versions it was a breath of fresh air.

voting for telephone free, if only for the mind-blowing drum fills in the ska instrumentals.

can I just say

crispy derson

incredible band. my favorite '80s alt group I got into via the '90s work of a more mainstream follow up (filed alongside sugar/husker du, westerberg/replacements)

KLP by a mile. I can listen to the pedal steel intro on Sweethearts on repeat.

man I totally forgot Garth Hudson plays on KLP

Can't choose just one. CVB were the most important planet in my orrery for a good chunk of the 80s and 90s.

I can listen to the pedal steel intro on Sweethearts on repeat.

yes. It's the song that got me into pedal steel.

II & III - it may seem strange but this album seemed pretty radical at the time mostly because indie/alternative/whatever music then was mostly derived from the punk and post-punk canon and this felt like it came out of nowhere. I think they were a big influence on a lot of Scottish bands at the time (BMX Bandits and Teenage Fanclub covered them, Pastels cited them) and certainly the gig they played in Glasgow back then felt like a huge epiphany...like hey you can be a great musician in a more or less traditional way and not have to reinvent your instrument or be confrontational, self-conscious about your limitations and all that other stuff that was going on at the time. Just being creative and entertaining with normal instruments seemed...unusual. (Maybe it was just me.)

The first Camper Van Chadbourne album is actually my favourite but correctly not included here. It's part of the Eugene Chadbourne oeuvre.

Ah, Garth Hudson is "Interlude".

http://www.davidlowerymusic.com/300-songs-blog/blog/59-stairway-to-heavan-sic-in-praise-of-half-baked-ideas-and-unfinished-things-the-importance-of-not-being-earnest

Come on Darkness is a better album closer than Closing Theme.

I saw Victor Krummenacher play at the SF Eagle maybe a dozen years ago; he was a teen jailbait cutie in '85.

http://hys2d3ayt6x6b7ts22ypg68p.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/CVB-with-Morgan.jpg

II & III has "(Don't You Go To) Goleta" which was very important to a younger me

Also "(We're a) Bad Trip." And "Sometimes."

Goleta was an early favorite of mine, but I didn't understand it at ALL.

learned me how to say La Jolla

Goleta was an early favorite of mine, but I didn't understand it at ALL

UC Santa Cruz fight song ie all the other UC campuses suck

Yeah, I picked that up eventually.

"Sad Lovers Waltz" (II/III) ftw

I was in high school from 93-97, so when they were inactive, yet they were probably my favourite band. I love all of their original records so much but voted for KLP because of so many songs that personally brought the teenage me from someone who appreciated novelty and humour to someone who saw beauty in art: the aforementioned 'June' especially, but 'Sweethearts' and 'Come on Darkness' kill me to this day.

I listen to them still a good bit and find inspiration across all of them. 'Form Another Stone' on II&III is an amazing deep cut, it's like the most wicked psych jam they ever did. OBRS sounds big and 80s but has some stunning fucking songs.

Speaking of Crispy Dersen, interesting factoid: as far as I can tell, "Key Lime Pie" is one of the very, very few rock albums to feature no ride cymbal. Lots of weird fills and china crashes and stuff, but no ride, as best I can tell.

Another, more high profile example? "Back in Black!"

I think Throwing Muses generally shunned ride cymbals, at least on their early records

Might be true for sort of high strung tribal stuff like early Cure, too. Though CVB by that late stage is more conventional than both, which makes it absence more conspicuous.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I love Monks of Doom too. "Meridian" was my favourite album in 11th grade and I still listen to it occasionally, and it holds up fairly well though maybe that's nostalgia.

I only ever had the Insect God ep. I'll have to check out the rest sometime soon. Here's a really good blog post I just found.

http://artintodust.blogspot.com/2008/06/monks-of-doom.html

^primarily the reminiscences of Victor Krummenacher.

Saw em for the first time in Detroit, summer 1988, with Mekons opening up. Crispy and the guitarist were hanging out at a table before the show and I gave them a tape. Very nice guys. It was a classic, epic Mekons performance (at the height of their "fame," with Ghosts of American Astronauts on MTV). They blew the place out, ending completely covered with orange silly string. When CvB came on stage, I remember Lowry saying something like, "I hope you realize that you just saw one of the greatest bands of all time," as if he couldn't believe that *they* were not headlining. And of course CvB was good too. It was a super cool night.

Wow, that Monks recollection was great, thanks for that!

Listening to OBRS right now. Started w/side 2. Fuck, so so good.

I had no idea Key Lime Pie was so well loved. I remember feeling deeply disappointed when it came out. Also very surprised that OBRS didn't get more love.

ditto

u guys r sellouts

Key Lime is pretty spotty, but the run from "Sweethearts" to "Borderline" is my favourite from any CVB record

They're playing Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart in full on some west coast dates:

https://www.facebook.com/CamperVanBeethoven/videos/10153199614402539/

i'm seeing these guys on Friday night at the World Famous "Whiskey A Go Go" on the Sunset strip in Hollywood. looking forward to this and hope they are good live. anyone seen them before, what can i expect?

are any ILXor's going? i would like to say hi if so...

Great live band! Or at least they were in 1989, dunno about these days. Probably better!

They are more pro now, slightly less character, but the songs remain the same: awesome.

They are the only reunited band I have enjoyed live

Saw them live in 2003 and they were everything I wanted. They have a decent collection of recent shows up on archive.org

https://archive.org/details/CamperVanBeethoven

I saw them in the late 80s. They were ok, they sounded a little bit like the American Pogues at the time. They mixed several styles with a focus on folkrock and punk.

I saw them at the Knitting Factory in New York right after they first reunited and they were pretty good. I have not seen any of their shows in the subsequent ten or so years. It is kind of lame that they always tour with cracker as well, because I don't want to see cracker. Also, I missed camper van Beethoven drummer, who barely plays with them these days.

I saw them in like '87, and they were a killer live band with Led Zep covers zinging here and there, and the best version of Pink Floyd this side of Syd Barrett. Probably one of the top live bands I've ever seen, especially given that they didn't have any gimmicks/light shows/etc.

I'll add that Key Lime Pie winning this poll is just insane. The self-titled album is one of the best things in the history of R&R.

Huh. One of my favorite bands of all time, but self-titled might be my least favorite of their formative albums.

I think they were pretty fully formed by self titled. They were touring on that album when I first saw them, and if ever there was a band that was just firing on all cylinders, they were it. Like I mention the Led Zep covers, but they were doing *great* Led Zep covers, when other indie bands...weren't. And we all know their Floyd cover slays the original. I was kind of knocked out; front row at Bard.

Camper Van Beethoven:

Waka
Pictures of Matchstick Men (Status Quo cover)
Mao Reminisces About His Days In Southern China
The History of Utah
White Riot (The Clash cover)
Wasted (Black Flag cover)
Shut Us Down
R 'n' R Uzbekistan
Take the Skinheads Bowling
I Live in LA
L'Aguardiente
Northern California Girls
James River (Cracker cover)
Tania
Eye of Fatima (Parts I & II)
Too High for the Love In
All Her Favorite Fruit
S.P. 37957 Medley

Key Lime Pie is by far my favorite. In my youth I was really pushing to name a band I was in after that album. The others didn't go for it.

Cracker Whiskey A Go Go (Dec. 30, 2016):

Loser (Jerry Garcia cover)
Almond Grove
One Fine Day
Gimme One More Chance
Where Have Those Days Gone
California Country Boy
Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)
Redneck Mother (Ray Wylie Hubbard cover)
Wedding Day
Low
Euro-Trash Girl
Someday
Beautiful
Get Off This

Encore:
King of Bakersfield

i actually liked Cracker better. CVB seemed a bit more gimmicky and old, everyone had gray hair. Cracker came on and seemed to have some youth on more profession to their set, totally different guys outside the singer. i just liked the dad rock stuff better this night but my friend liked CVB better. so go figure.

plus Cracker opened with Loser and it lasted like 20 minutes and totally rocked, but most people left as it was really late.

sorry for bumping this thread instead of today but i already had CVB set list on this thread.

old, everyone had gray hair.

Join the club! These kids today, with their Cracker and youth ... bah.

Show was great, people were indeed old. We had the same setlist you posted, more or less. The medley at the end was half "Hava Nageela," with a bit of "Kashmir" and "Dazed and Confused," and the opening harmonics of "Roundabout" thrown in (which made some dude behind me yell "do it!!!"). Best was me listening in the back toward the beginning of the set, struggling to see the band and noting that Frank had put some extra effort into playing drums like the album. And then David introduced everyone, and ... it was Chris Pederson back on drums this tour! He lives in Australia and rarely plays with the group these days. He's one of my fave drummers of all time, so it was such a treat to listen to him, if not see him.

Whoah nice!

"She Divines Water" is a classic too; a spiraling song that I don't understand literally ("which was Zion")

Other times they sampled/repurposed their own work: on II and III, one of the songs (is it “Circles”?) is the another of their songs (is it “Ambiguity Song”?) backwards, with some overdubs. I think there’s a version of “Processional” or “The Fool” with lyrics, under a different title. I think there were a bunch more examples, but I haven’t listened to them seriously in probably 20 years & my auld memory is shot.

"Five Sticks" uses a different (drum-free) mix of "Ambiguity Song" played backwards with overdubbed (forwards) acoustic guitar and tambourine.
"Circles" uses the chorus of "Oh No!" ("Oh no, here it comes again, that funny feeling") played backwards.
"Border Ska" (instrumental) and "Heart" (which has vocals) are both ska songs with very similar guitar melodies, if that's what you're thinking of.
The beginning of "Stairway to Heavan" is a somber version of "Processional."

Ernest comes through! Another one that comes to mind is the they recycled some of the background vocals from “Peace and Love” into “Eye of Fatima Part II” (“Cowboys on acid”, “No-one ever conquered Wyoming”).

It’s actually pretty astonishing how productive they were during their few years together the first time. Five LPs, an EP, enough outtakes and B-sides to make a whole other LP, not to mention 2 Monks of Doom records and 3 albums of Camper Van Chadbourne stuff, was all written & recorded between ‘84 and ‘89.

"We're All Wasted and We're Wasting All Your Time" features backwards stuff from "Devil Song" and "Take the Skinheads Bowling."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-kguFNwwko

It's on that "Camper Van Beethoven Is Dead. Long Live Camper Van Beethoven" comp, which is itself pretty confusing, since some of it is old and some of it is new, but it's not always clear which is which. For example, this track features parts of "Devil Song" backwards, but "Devil Song" didn't show up until "Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart." But this "Wasted" mishmash also appears on the reissue of "Telephone Free Landslide Victory." So who knows.