Menace, melody, and surreal verse worthy of Dr. Seuss.
mdraine@juno.com | Boston, MA | 10/10/1998
(4 out of 5 stars)
"While the Residents' primary focus has always been the concept album, the group inevitably generates material that strays beyond conceptual restraints. In 1983, twelve choice out-takes, B-sides, and compilation tracks were released on LP as RESIDUE. RESIDUE DEUX augments the LP with eleven rarities, including two suites from the band's late '70s prime, "The Replacement," and "Safety Is a Cootie Woodie," a haunting meditation on the terrors of childhood. While RESIDUE aspired only to provide a home for "orphan songs," the updated RESIDUE DEUX takes on the character of an unintentionally revealing retrospective. An early '80s shift to digital working methods marked the loss of the exhilarating, instinctive primitivism that distinguished the pre MOLE SHOW Residents. The band's subsequent high-tech period is represented by four lackluster selections, including polite covers of the Monkees' "Daydream Believer," and Sun Ra's "Space Is the Place." The elision of the original liner notes suggests Residential reluctance to underscore the weakness of their post-1983 material by including recording dates. A few latter-day clinkers aside, RESIDUE DEUX showcases a mind-bending confluence of menace, melody, and surreal verse worthy of Dr. Seuss. --Michael Draine (appeared first in EXPOSE #16)"
Uneven, but great when it's great
Jim Owen | Seattle, WA USA | 12/27/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is a CD version of their Resideux album, which only contained the first dozen track sor so. Oddly enough, the added tracks are mostly much, much better, and makes Deux a definite improvement over the first one.The Toddler's trilogy, the San Francisco songs and Space Is the Place are all top drawer Residents, and they each occupy lofty spots among my list of favorites of all the Rez's works. But when I play the CD, I have to stay close to the skip button to pass over throwaways like Kamikaze Lady and Jailhouse Rock.One of the best things about "real" Residents albums is their ability to stay within a consistent style but still milk great variety within that style, so the album has a lot of variety but still sounds unified. Being a collection of residue, this CD doesn't have that, and styles jump pretty drastically in some places, making the already alarming music even more so. However, it would have been a shame to not let the best tracks here go unreleased, so I'm willing to put up with a little grab-bagness to get to hear them."
Track Listings (22) - Disc #1