Search - Spacemen 3 :: For All the Fucked Up Children of This World We

Sense Music before the point was completely made

Mike Reed | 06/13/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The psychedelic era was not just about paisley shirts and flowery scarves. The mentality behind it was traveling without leaving; exploring space by staying in your living room. Spacemen 3 were able to expand that with old sounds filtered through a new mentality and new drugs. The mentality was that through repetition you could put the body into a trance; it was all auditory. This was where the experiment began. Spacemen 3 recorded these songs before they even had a record contract or more than 10 songs, but they allow glimpses of the greatness to come. If you have not heard any Spacemen 3, you may want to check out Perfect Persription or Sound of Confusion first to get a feel and then come back to this. This set of songs is where it all began for these Rugby lads. The songwriting is a a little choppy and the lyrics are repetive. But that was the point in the first place."

Spacemen 3 - 'For All The F***ed Up Children Of This World W

Mike Reed | USA | 01/26/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First hit the streets in 1984, as this is said to be Spacemen 3's first 'proper' album release. Believe up to now, I've only heard their live and compilation titles. Good neo-psych / space rock classic from the trio. Tracks I liked best were "2:35", "Fixin' To Die" and this title's exclusive cut (couldn't find it on any other CD) "T.V. Catastrophe". This CD reissue has two different edits of both "Things'll Never Be The Same" and "Walking With Jesus" (one of my personal favorites). Do keep in mind that 'For All The...' DOES in fact have a rather primitive sound to it, compared to their other numerous discs. Still, I personally feel it's a should-have."

Spacemen 3 in the beginning--this stuff is RAW

Dave | United States | 11/15/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Spacemen 3 allegedly felt that "The Northampton Demos" that appeared on the "Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To" CD (which came out in 1994 on Bomp Records) were "more representative of their sound" than the official "Sound of Confusion" album. Well, "more representative" is one thing, but "Sound of Confusion", with its massive guitar-heavy punch, is clearly superior overall. Maybe the band felt "Sound of Confusion" was too hard on the ears or something, too jolting for such a druggy band (although considering that the band would eventually unleash the relentless, pounding, firey "Suicide", who knows)--otherwise, it's hard for me to imagine anyone preferring the "Taking Drugs..." demo versions over the official "Sound of Confusion" versions. However, this "For All The F----- Up Children Of This World..." CD is a different story--here, I CAN comprehend finding these versions superior to their official album versions. The front cover informs us of what`s inside: "First Ever Recording Session, 1984". At this point, the band consisted of Jason, The Mainliner, & Gnatty. The Mainliner was Peter Kember`s stage name before renaming himself Sonic Boom (geez, talk about subtlety). That said, there`s no bass playing on here at all. "Walkin' With Jesus" sounds extremely different to both the "Walkin' With Jesus" EP version as well as the "Perfect Prescription" album version--here, it sounds like the Animals doing a John Lee Hooker cover. "Things'll Never Be the Same" sounds hugely different as well. "2:35" does sound basically the same as it does on "Sound of Confusion", & the instrumental "T.V. Catastrophe" would be 'reborn' as "O.D. Catastrophe" for "Sound of Confusion". "Fixin' To Die" is a version of a traditional song (Bob Dylan did a version of it on his debut album), & it lays the groundwork for "Come Down Easy" from "The Perfect Prescription". Spacemen 3's sound on this CD is extremely raw, & it really packs a punch--performance-wise it has a 'barely holding together' quality that adds gripping excitement. This album was released in 1995 on the Sympathy For the Record Industry label, & it also contains a 1984 review of one of Spacemen 3's live shows. It really is a fascinating document of a fascinating band--the pair of "alternate mixes" at the end of the CD are redundant, sounding barely any different than they do in their previous versions on here, but otherwise, this CD is essential."