Is This For Real???
Jonas Troy | 05/01/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I found this CD sort of by accident. I was looking for the old Treasure Island DVD (the one from the thirties, not the Disney flop) and some how I reached this disc. After hearing the downloads, I couldn't stop laughing, so I ordered it. Is this a real society? The whole CD is so much fun and wacky. I noticed that someone said it's great for children, it is, but I love it myself. The guy singing is so serious, yet he's talking about cheese (lots of it), bananas, monkeys, wenches, grog. In one song there is a list of different apples. Anyway the address on the CD is in California. Treasure Island is my favorite book, I've read it many times since I was a little boy, and even I didn't really remember the character Ben Gunn. Thanks to this strange CD, I went back and read it once more. Okay, that's it."
Not Just For Kids
A. Cowell | Knoxville, TN USA | 02/07/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I stumbled across the Ben Gunn Society on a Stoner Rock Internet radio station. I guess the association is due to one of the band members having been a web master for Fu Manchu. Maybe they dropped a freebie off at the station or something. Anyway, I really liked it. I'd never read Treasure Island, but I enjoyed the clear, melodic music, mostly acoustic and sometimes with a hammond organ. Good stuff. I really love Red X and Cosmic Wind. The singer's Russian accent is nice and adds distinction to the songs. Search for their home page, they have several full mp3s to download and listen to.
I don't remember if the Ben Gunn Society induced me to buy Treasure Island and read it to my children, but I did. Knowing the story of Treasure Island does help elements of the album, like the many cheese references, seem a lot less abstract. The kids really enjoyed the book, so on a lark I let them listen to the Ben Gunn theme from the website. They LOVED it!! I had to print out all the pictures for them to color and went ahead and bought the CD for them-- well, us. Their favorite song is Hey, Monkey!
It's not a children's CD, in my opinion, but seems quite enjoyable for the family. There are, just like Treasure Island, lots of references to rum and grog. The song True Pirates does include references to "wenches" and mentions they "make love." That's about all the most sensitive persons would probably find objectionable for kids.
P.S. My Feb '06 order included a note that they will soon be recording a new album."
Swashbuckling delight!
Melodie Martin | Richmond, VA United States | 07/09/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Why should pirates get all the glory? Finally, an album that gives due credit to a scraggly beach bum with the munchies!
"Ben Gunn" is chock full of fun, quirky lyrics and melodies that go down easy and are hard to shake. My 4-year-old really digs it and is getting into the whole pirate thing as a result. (Though I'll have to explain the references to rum and wenches later.) Not since They Might Be Giants' "No!" have we enjoyed listening to a new CD together. It certainly satiates a craving for indie rock that doesn't take itself too seriously, while keeping my little buckeroo happy, too. Great for car rides, a bad day at work and chillin' out with a bottle of Captain Morgan's."
Track Listings (17) - Disc #1