Plan 9 "Ham And Sam Jammin'" 1989

All the songs have nice hooks, melodies occasionally touching the sublime. With a keyboard reminiscent of Gary Numan's 'Cars', a smoking guitar and blues harmonica, this album is a nice mix of hard rock, blues and new wave sensibility. From 1989, this is not at all a bad buy. Recommended. - green manalishi
Fans of the band Plan 9 are generally dismissive of this album, which they say makes the band sound too modern and mainstream. This is true but misses the point; on this album Plan 9 obviously wanted to get away from the '60s revival band rut, and they succeeded in that very well. Ham and Sam Jammin' sounds like an album by a talented but erratic garage rock band capable of mini-masterpieces like the 47-second opening cut and catchy straight-ahead rockers, but also of some truly dreadful filler. The first half of the album has the best material and greatest variety, with the second half sounding like outtakes and half-realized ideas. There is plenty of character and talent here, which makes it more of a shame when it is squandered. Eric Stumpo had his moments both as a lyricist and arranger, but regrettably not necessarily at the same time. Ham and Sam Jammin' had lots of character and virtuosity, along with a quirky sense of humor and some catchy songs. What it didn't have was a coherent sound, and that was what doomed it. - Review by Richard Foss
trax:
1 Weapon 2 What - Said 3 36-24-36 4 The Mambo Night 5 Wishful Thinking 6 A Visit From Sal 7 Shecky's Monologue 8 Find Some Truth 9 Blue 10 Shecky's Dream 11 Power Of Love 12 Immaculate Consumption 13 Top Of The World 14 I'm Really Mad
...served by CrazyLegs...