The Cryan' Shames' debut album was typical of the more thrown-together
rock LPs of the era: both sides of their first two singles and a bunch of cover versions. The singles, actually, were pretty good, including their most well-known song,
"Sugar & Spice," a cover of a
Searchers hit that actually was more memorable and imaginative than the original. Its B-side,
"Ben Franklin's Almanac," was a respectable original with shades of
the Byrds,
the Yardbirds, and California harmonies; the second single,
"I Wanna Meet You," was a decent meld of
Beatles-
Byrds jangle with
Beach Boys harmonies; and its flip,
"We Could Be Happy," was an OK
soft rock number. Throw in the sole original composition not from a single,
"July" (one of the better 1966
Byrds sound-alikes), and you have half a decent (though not great) period
pop/rock album. The problem is, though, that the cover versions that fill out the record -- including songs written and/or popularized by
the Beatles,
the Byrds, and
the Animals, along with
"Heat Wave" -- are neither too creatively done nor even imaginative selections.
"Sugar and Spice" and all four of the originals appear on the
Legacy compilation
Sugar & Spice, which makes this album superfluous if you already have that anthology. The 2002 CD
Sundazed reissue is bolstered by six bonus songs: their 1967 single
"Mr. Unreliable" (different from the LP version) and its laid-back B-side
"Georgia," a cover of
the Beatles'
"You're Gonna Lose That Girl," and three previously unreleased 1969 tracks that found them going into a mellow
folk/
country/
soft rock direction. ~ Richie Unterberger
![Revolution [Deluxe Expanded Mono Version]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/5013929065321_p0_v3_s90x140.jpg "Revolution [Deluxe Expanded Mono Version]")
