Pink Hotel Burns Down

Rating:
Summary: A Firesign fan? You?ve got to have this!
Review: Sure, every fan of the groundbreaking comedy troupe The Firesign Theater is glad they're still in business, making great new albums for Rhino...but what about the old stuff that never appeared on their albums, classic routines we've only heard about? If you're a Firesign completist, especially of material from their glory days of the 1970s, you *must* have this album. It's not linear as a classic FT album is--this consists of early sketches and live performances by the guys, brief improv pieces, and even their classic and long-unheard radio spots for Jack Poet Volkswagen! While Firesign fanatics will recognize in these pieces the seeds of such albums as "In the Next World You're On Your Own" and "Don't Crush That Dwarf," the highlight is a long Sherlock Holmes parody (genesis for the classic "Giant Rat of Sumatra" album) that pays homage and tribute to the surrealistic British cult radio comedy "The Goon Show," right down to a Spike Milligan reference. As a Milligan *and* Firesign fan, this entire piece, unpolished as it is, is bliss to me. By no means should this be your *first* exposure to FT--it's a collection of unreleased pieces, and doesn't have the polished brilliance of "true" albums like their classic "How Can You Be in Two Places at Once..." or "Don't Crush That Dwarf..."...but one you're hooked, tune in and go forward into the past for a great peek between the "official" record releases to see the FT that was, and which has remained in hiding...until now.

Rating:
Summary: A Firesign fan? You¿ve got to have this!
Review: Sure, every fan of the groundbreaking comedy troupe The Firesign Theater is glad they're still in business, making great new albums for Rhino...but what about the old stuff that never appeared on their albums, classic routines we've only heard about? If you're a Firesign completist, especially of material from their glory days of the 1970s, you *must* have this album. It's not linear as a classic FT album is--this consists of early sketches and live performances by the guys, brief improv pieces, and even their classic and long-unheard radio spots for Jack Poet Volkswagen! While Firesign fanatics will recognize in these pieces the seeds of such albums as "In the Next World You're On Your Own" and "Don't Crush That Dwarf," the highlight is a long Sherlock Holmes parody (genesis for the classic "Giant Rat of Sumatra" album) that pays homage and tribute to the surrealistic British cult radio comedy "The Goon Show," right down to a Spike Milligan reference. As a Milligan *and* Firesign fan, this entire piece, unpolished as it is, is bliss to me. By no means should this be your *first* exposure to FT--it's a collection of unreleased pieces, and doesn't have the polished brilliance of "true" albums like their classic "How Can You Be in Two Places at Once..." or "Don't Crush That Dwarf..."...but one you're hooked, tune in and go forward into the past for a great peek between the "official" record releases to see the FT that was, and which has remained in hiding...until now.