Search - Harry Nilsson :: Skidoo / The Point

Buy it for "The Point"

Greg Cleary | Marquette, MI United States | 02/26/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Skidoo" is mostly filler, i.e., instrumental soundtrack music. It's brassy, sort of like the filler music on the "Graduate" soundtrack. But the album does contain one great song ("I Will Take You There") and one good one ("Garbage Can Ballet") plus Nilsson's awe-inspiring rendition of the film credits, which is not something you will want to listen to every day but is an astounding feat of--for lack of a better term--musical athleticism. "The Point" is the real reason to buy this CD. It's a charming, whimsical children's story with several songs that wisely focus more on melody than on plot development. The alternating of narrative passages with songs does take some getting used to, but is worth it. I don't listen to "The Point" as often as my other Nilsson albums, because the story line makes it more like watching a movie or reading a book. Still, it is an impressive album that is historically significant because it closed out the first part of Nilsson's career, just before he moved into the more adult themes of the Schmilsson albums. Nilsson's narration of "The Point" reveals him to be a gifted comedian, and also provides some insight into his personality, particularly his love of the absurd. Now for the bonus tracks: "I Will Take You There" sounds quite similar to the original. (Unless you are a connoisseur of "alternate" versions of songs, which I am not.) "Girlfriend" is a bouncy, good-natured tune that I am glad to have here. "Down to the Valley" is a very good song that would have fit in well on "The Point." "Buy My Album" is incredibly annoying--a noisy joke that gets old very quickly. Be ready to leap for the controls before it comes on. The CD booklet, by the way, is thin and contains some brief but memorable liner notes. To sum up: This disc is a good value as long as it costs less than one-and-a-half of either of the originals. I would not want to waste my money buying "Skidoo" for its own sake, but it makes an interesting add-on to "The Point.""

Childhood Memories

Chalorial Moss | Token, England | 03/14/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is awesome!! When I was younger (I'm 19), my mother played The Point for my sisters and me all the time. Still to this day we sing the songs to each other. It's excellent that I could find this, as the original and everything....I'm totally impressed and overjoyed...:)"

BEWARE! WARNING ABOUT THE BRITISH PRESSING!

Gandalf | U.S.A | 10/09/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"On the advice of another reviewer here i chose the British BMG Entertainment International UK & Ireland Ltd. pressing of 2000, supposedly the best sound available. Unlike many reviewers here I bought it for the Skidoo soundtrack, a classic humdinger of a movie unavailable in video. Like many who have seen the film I felt Carol Channing singing the title song was not only unforgetable, but a standout. In fact to hear a clear unedited version was the reason I bought this CD. Unfortunately about half way through her song the master started to go pop...pop...pop... for almost 30 seconds. This is certainly a factory flaw. I tried playing my flawless brand new CD right out of shrink wrap on various high end CD players in different systems; the pops were still there! Maybe they used the master they did due to its otherwise crisp clean sound, but for me it was a heartbreaking disapointment i spent top dollar on and waited weeks for! I decided to give an extra 2 stars for the 2 splendid versions of I will take You There, and of course the wonderful story The Point, but try to buy the NON british version if there is one for the sake of what may be the best song on here; especially if you have seen the movie."