Yardbirds - Having a Rave Up (22 tracks) +Album Reviews

1965, not 1966

Wendy D. Cohen | NY | 04/11/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Having a Rave Up" actually came out in late 1965 ... "Heart Full of Soul" was a hit in London during the summer of that year (I know from personal experience). I bought this album without hearing it on the basis of comments made by Clay Cole in the December 1965 issue of 16 magazine ... he said that, "if you were a guitar fan, Jeff Beck was the best one out there (even George Harrison and Keith Richards said so!)." He was right.

This album changed my life. It redefined rock & roll, and was the first (and one of the all-time best) examples of what can happen when musicians push the envelope. Beck has gone on to create some of the most interesting and innovative music imaginable; his recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was long overdue.

Buy it. You won't be disappointed!"

I got this album when it first came out ...

W. D. Cohen | NYC | 06/25/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It was December 1965, and after reading a music column by Clay Cole saying that Jeff Beck was the best guitarist out there, I knew I had to have this album. I will never forget the first time I heard "The Train Kept A-Rollin" ... I couldn't believe a guitar could sound like that. This album changed my life; it made me realize that rock and roll could be intense, improvisational, virtuoso, and hot."

Inspirational!

freedom78 | Indiana | 02/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Considered by many to be The Yardbirds' best, whether it is or is not true, hardly matters. It's good. That's all that really matters.

The opening track, "Mr. You're a Better Man Than I" serves as evidence of this, as it manages to be, simultaneously, catchy, bluesy, slightly psychedelic, and pretty heavy (especially for its time). The album is full of such songs, with a bluesy feel over very heavy bass and drum lines, making it both rock and proto-metal, while maintaining a psychedelic, progressive feel. Thus, in one album, The Yardbirds balance a good number of future trends in rock/metal music, and it's easy to see in this one album the precursors to Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Cream, as well as Jeff Beck's solo material.

The number of artists influenced by this, either directly or through one of the above bands/artists, must be staggering!"

Essential Yardbirds

Mark L. Mckenzie | San Francisco, CA USA | 10/27/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This LP, I bought the vinyl way back when , was such a wonderful experience. The band played with the fringe element of Psychedelic rock and perfectly infused the blues element they were known for.I live in San Francisco and most garage bands at that time couldn't cover the intricate vocals of say the Beatles. But they could play the Yardbirds. Not that they were simple songs but they were just so much darn fun to play and expand on. This is the real deal and no other album of this period was so well done in its melding of genre's... do yourself a favor and buy it.. you won't be sorry , even happenings 40 years on it sounds Fab !!!!"

Strange Track Listings But Still Good Blues Rock!

Frederick Baptist | Singapore | 10/08/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Coming after a great debut album "For Your Love", "Rave Up" signals a band seeking to improve itself and to not rest on its laurels. Some of the Yardbirds' best tracks are on this album such as "Mr. You're...I" in which Beck plays a great solo that starts at a low octave and slowly slides all the way up the neck of the guitar and not a pull-off to move up the neck as the previous reviewer assumed (trust me, I'm a guitarist and if you listen closely you'll hear that it's all done with a finger sliding up the neck), "Evil Hearted You" which uses slide guitar and "Train Kept a Rollin'" which is an early rock guitar classic played by both Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, guitar legends themselves.

What's intriguing about this version of the album is that the live tracks "Smokestack Lightning", "Respectable", "I'm a Man" and "Here 'Tis" a.k.a. the entire original side 2 of the record (ask your dad what these are)are missing. For purists looking to get an improved version of the original lp, you are going to be disappointed. As for me, I'm happy with this because if you have heard the live recordings, you'll know they sound very bad as the masters themselves are terrible and so I'm glad with this new track line up which excludes the pissed poor live tracks and replaces them with 16 bonus tracks which are all great. Those live tracks are beyond redemption even with remastering and perhaps that's why they decided not to spoil the rest of the album by including them.

Other than the track changes, this version of the album has been pretty well remastered although most of the tracks are in mono just like the original lp and the mini-lp sleeve design is okay although surprisingly not as well put together as the one for "For Your Love". The cardboard used is thin and of lower quality although otherwise faithfully replicates the original lp sleeve design. Also included is a 24-page booklet with all the lyrics in English and Japanese. Fans of 60s blues rock and aspiring blues rock guitarists have to get this album as essential listening material. If you want the live stuff, you'll need to get "Five Live Yardbirds."

Recommended."

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