The Yardbirds - Roger the Engineer [JVC Japan]

Title: Roger the Engineer [JVC Japan] Artist: The Yardbirds Release Date: 7/15/1966 Re-Released On: 12/5/2005 Label: JVC Compact Discs UPCs: 4988002475827, 498800247582 Genre: Rock Styles: Rock & Roll, Blues-Rock, British Invasion, Psychedelic, Contemporary Pop/Rock, British Blues, British Psychedelia, Regional Blues Moods: Confident, Energetic, Gritty, Passionate, Bravado, Brittle, Confrontational, Earnest, Freewheeling, Knotty, Reverent, Sexual, Street-Smart, Stylish, Swaggering, Messy, Playful, Rambunctious, Rousing, Self-Conscious, Visceral, Amiable/Good-Natured, Organic, Whimsical, Druggy, Eerie, Raucous, Reckless, Rollicking, Rowdy, Trippy, Volatile Total Copies: 0 Members Wishing: 2 Number of Discs/SwapaCD Credits: 1

1. Lost Women
2. Over, Under, Sideways, Down
3. Nazz Are Blue
4. I Can't Make Your Way
5. Rack My Mind
6. Farewell
7. Hot House of Omagararshid
8. Jeff's Boogie
9. He's Always There
10. Turn into Earth
11. What Do You Want
12. Ever Since the World Began

Year Type Label Catalog # 2005 CD JVC Compact Discs 62987

No other editions were found for this album.

Once Jeff Beck joined the Yardbirds, the group began to explore uncharted territory, expanding their blues-rock into wild sonic permutations of psychedelia, Indian music, and avant-garde white noise. Each subsequent single displayed a new direction, one that expanded on the ideas of the previous single, so it would seem that Roger the Engineer -- Beck's first full album with the group and the band's first album of all-original material -- would have offered them the opportunity to fully explore their adventurous inclinations. Despite a handful of brilliant moments, Roger the Engineer falls short of expectations, partially because the band is reluctant to leave their blues roots behind and partially because they simply can't write a consistent set of songs. At their best on Roger, the Yardbirds strike a kinetic balance of blues-rock form and explosive psychedelia ("Lost Woman," "Over, Under Sideways, Down," "The Nazz Are Blue," "He's Always There," "Psycho Daisies"), but they can also bog down in silly Eastern drones (although "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" is a classic piece of menacing psychedelia) or blues tradition ("Jeff's Boogie" is a pointless guitar workout that doesn't even showcase Beck at his most imaginative). The result is an unfocused record that careens between the great and the merely adequate, but the Yardbirds always had a problem with consistency -- none of their early albums had the impact of the singles, and Roger the Engineer suffers from the same problem. Nevertheless, it is the Yardbirds' best individual studio album, offering some of their very best psychedelia, even if it doesn't rank among the great albums of its era. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

No credits were found for this album.