Tom Lehrer - The Remains of Tom Lehrer
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Free Music Notes for The Remains of Tom Lehrer
Free Music Review: Pretty much a complete collection of his works.....
Hit: 5 Stars
Okay, I was also annoyed at some of the repetition, but if you look carefully (and check wiki), you will find that the repetition was the result of them adding on a couple of complete live albums. They put 5 of his albums on the CDs, and added a few of his more recent songs. It may seem like they are just randomly tossed on the CDs, but they are simply his complete albums in order followed by the more recent stuff. The albums include:
Songs By Tom Lehrer
More of Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer Revisited
An Evening Wasted with Tom lehrer
That was the Year that Was
Then they added the Richard Hayman Sessions from 1960 which are 4 songs from other albums, and they added 9 more recent songs that weren't on any of his albums.
So, it is about 4 albums worth of unique music. Plus 2 live albums playing the same music. Plus a cool book with lyrics and a case. Admittedly, I'd like to have the albums separated each on their own disks, but I wouldn't want to pay extra for it.
The amazing thing to me about Lehrer is that his work stands the test of time. 'That was the year that was' should have been dated after a decade, but the themes apply well to modern problems 40-50 years later.
Free Music Review: Contains Adult Themes and Language
Hit: 5 Stars
No, not swear words. Really adult topics.
Like religion, prejudice, politics and chemistry. If you've never heard Tom Lehrer, and God knows, he doesn't get much airplay, you've missed the most influential comic musician of the last century. The Simpsons, Weird Al, Animaniacs, South Park -- all their creators have acknowledged a debt to Lehrer's intelligent but bitter humor. (Don't compare him to Mark Russell - that's like saying if you've never heard the Beatles, they sound a lot like the Backstreet Boys.)
While most of this music is over 40 years old, the irony has not rusted. (Ooh that's good! I'm copyrighting that phrase!) His pointed barbs at society and church are as sharp as ever. Consider the Vatican Rag, at one time banned on most stations as vehementally anti-Catholic: "Get into that long processional, step into that small confessional, then the guy who's got religion'll, tell you if your sin's original. If it is then play it safer, drink the wine and chew the wafer, 2-4-6-8, Time to Transubstantiate."
Lehrer's clever rhymes were non-pariel - who else could create lyrics consisting solely of the names of the elements? Check the Rhino website for the Tom Lehrer chat.
But don't miss this set.
Free Music Review: Satirist for the ages
Hit: 5 Stars
The first time I heard a Tom Lehrer song was in one of my classes in junior high school circa 1972-73-Later on,I started listening to Dr.Demento's nationally syndicated radio show & found out that Lehrer is a regular fixture of that program-This box set is fantastic!!!-Lehrer is truly possessed with a rapier like wit & he's one hell of a songwriter-Certainly if a DJ were to play some of the more salacious songs like "Smut","I Wish I Were in Dixie","My Home Town",& "Masochism Tango",he would probably be out of a job (Excepting Dr.Demento,of course)-Disc 3,which is comprised of songs that Lehrer wrote for the short-lived TV series "That Was The Week That Was",are obviously dated by today's standards,but they're still quite hilarious-I also enjoyed the book that came with this set-The Dr.Demento bio on Lehrer's career makes for great reading-It's too bad that Lehrer has packed it in for good-Just think,he could've come up with more topical material such as Watergate,the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky affair,Reaganomics-the possibilities are endless-Anyway,lovers of satire,take heed & purchase this boxed set-You won't regret it.Free Music Review: Tom Lehrer is THE best musical satirist of the 20th century!
Hit: 5 Stars
Tom Lehrer hasn't written a song since 1990 and hasn't performed in public since 1967, but, despite having only written some 50 or so songs, he is undeniably the best musical satirist of all time. Spike Jones is good in his own way, and Weird Al is pretty good, but Lehrer, with his clever wordplay, rather savage parodies, twisted sense of humor, and, sometimes, witty social commentary, doth triumph o'er them all. For one thing, whereas Weird Al parodies specific songs, Lehrer parodies entire GENRES of songs, thus providing a broader type of parody. Some topical references on the "That Was the Year That Was" album contained on the third CD might go over the heads of some, but the rest is great. Not always laugh-out-loud, George Carlin/Steve Martin FUNNY, but still, it's the best humor you can expect from a Harvard undergrad. I have almost all the songs memorized. If you've never heard Lehrer, caveat emptor. Some of his twisted little ballads and waltzes may be stuck in your heads for days. You will never, ever, ever view such topics as nuclear bombs, math, love songs, Christmas, Armageddon, and, everyone's favorite subject, poisoning pigeons, among others, ever again!Free Music Review: Quite possibly the funniest set EVER
Hit: 5 Stars
I bought this set BLIND. I read about Tom Lehrer in some Dr. Demento liner notes and was intrigued. The man is a genius. Imagine George Carlin crossed with Elton John. He can play anything on the piano and reduce any topic to something funny and thought provoking. At times he seems a bit arrogant and elitist, but that is part of the charm here. Rather than "dumb down" his lyrics and his wit he challenges the listener to catch up to him. I even learned a bit of history trying to figure out some of the jokes. This set is not timeless. Much of the jokes are dated and there are a few duds. But the second disc, which is Lehrer playing live is as funny as anything you will listen to ever. His patter between the songs is often funnier than the songs. In short, you can't go wrong with this set if you like funny songs. The only regret you will have when you finish listening to the three CDs is realizing that he did not do more.