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Album Details

• Artist: Blue Cheer
• Album: Live In Japan
• Label: Track
• Year of Release: 2003
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2005-08-25

The beast lives! While the missing ingredient to Blue Cheer's "success" in the sixties is missing-guitarist Leigh Stevens' and his barely competent but fearsome guitar blitz-this is one of the better stories of aging 60's cult band lore. In fact, it seems, the Cheer have been around right along, releasing records that die in America but still attract interest abroad. The ver-changing lineup is always anchored by bassist/vocalist Dickie Peterson, who still is able to belt out a raunchy number. This live show finds Andrew "Duck" McDonald manning the buzzsaw guitar, and the result it s surprisingly glorious feast that even Mastodon would love to pull off.
The Cheer always got a free pass from punks, since their aesthetic was so at odds with much in late '60's, as were other bands like the Velvets or Mothers. They were the first band to really make the point that anyone could to it if they could. The average pimply high school kid could not set up in his basement and produce a Sgt. Pepper, but anyone with a rudimentary concept of a few chords could do "Summertime Blues," "Doctor Please" and other cheer chestnuts. Those tunes are here, as are killers like "The Hunter", "Urban Soldiers", and "Out of Focus", which remind one as nothing less than the second coming of Fudgetunnel or early Mudhoney. This is not geezer-rock but something as vital and ear-shredding as anything this decade. In a perfect world, they will be playing this summer for $5 right down the street from the stadium where the Stones are vacuuming your wallet for $150 +. For some, getting old is certainly not a drag.

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