Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Download not available
Before his time of Anglo teen dream stardom with Arrows, or the Vodka Collins phenomenon that helped blueprint glam rock, Alan Merrill was a teenage idol in Japan -- the first foreigner ever to merit that status; the first, in fact, to even claim success in a ferociously parochial domestic market. And this welcome reissue is where it all began, a solid blaze of distinctly Anglo-beat influenced pop songs that, above and beyond the expected Beatles/Badfinger/Move flavored stylisms, paint Merrill as an extraordinarily gifted songwriter. His melodies grab you first, but the lyrics quickly follow. "Movies" foreshadows Ray Davies' later "Celluloid Heroes" so deftly that it almost makes the Kinks' song redundant; and, if you can sometimes hear a bit too much Beatles in the eclecticism of the arrangements, still you can only applaud the fact that he pulls it off so successfully. Indeed, one wonders what he might have wrought had he only remained on this particular course. But a second solo album was abandoned after just a handful of demos (two appear among this set's bonus tracks), and Merrill strode off instead to form Vodka Collins, a new direction for a new decade.
© Dave Thompson /TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From $16.65/month
Alan Merrill, Composer, MainArtist
2006 Alan Merrill 2006 Alan Merrill
Alan Merrill, Composer, MainArtist
2006 Alan Merrill 2006 Alan Merrill
Alan Merrill, Composer, MainArtist
2006 Alan Merrill 2006 Alan Merrill
Alan Merrill, Composer, MainArtist
2006 Alan Merrill 2006 Alan Merrill
Alan Merrill, Composer, MainArtist
2006 Alan Merrill 2006 Alan Merrill
Alan Merrill, Composer, MainArtist
2006 Alan Merrill 2006 Alan Merrill
Alan Merrill, Composer, MainArtist
2006 Alan Merrill 2006 Alan Merrill
Alan Merrill, Composer, MainArtist
2006 Alan Merrill 2006 Alan Merrill
Alan Merrill, Composer, MainArtist
2006 Alan Merrill 2006 Alan Merrill
Alan Merrill, Composer, MainArtist
2006 Alan Merrill 2006 Alan Merrill
Alan Merrill, Composer, MainArtist
2006 Alan Merrill 2006 Alan Merrill
Alan Merrill, Composer, MainArtist
2006 Alan Merrill 2006 Alan Merrill
Alan Merrill, MainArtist - John Stewart, Composer
2006 Alan Merrill 2006 Alan Merrill
John Lennon and Paul Mccartney, Composer - Alan Merrill, MainArtist
2006 Alan Merrill 2006 Alan Merrill
Alan Merrill, Composer, MainArtist
2006 Alan Merrill 2006 Alan Merrill
Alan Merrill, Composer, MainArtist
2006 Alan Merrill 2006 Alan Merrill
Album review
Before his time of Anglo teen dream stardom with Arrows, or the Vodka Collins phenomenon that helped blueprint glam rock, Alan Merrill was a teenage idol in Japan -- the first foreigner ever to merit that status; the first, in fact, to even claim success in a ferociously parochial domestic market. And this welcome reissue is where it all began, a solid blaze of distinctly Anglo-beat influenced pop songs that, above and beyond the expected Beatles/Badfinger/Move flavored stylisms, paint Merrill as an extraordinarily gifted songwriter. His melodies grab you first, but the lyrics quickly follow. "Movies" foreshadows Ray Davies' later "Celluloid Heroes" so deftly that it almost makes the Kinks' song redundant; and, if you can sometimes hear a bit too much Beatles in the eclecticism of the arrangements, still you can only applaud the fact that he pulls it off so successfully. Indeed, one wonders what he might have wrought had he only remained on this particular course. But a second solo album was abandoned after just a handful of demos (two appear among this set's bonus tracks), and Merrill strode off instead to form Vodka Collins, a new direction for a new decade.
© Dave Thompson /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 16 track(s)
- Total length: 00:46:23
- Main artists: Alan Merrill
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: MEC Records
- Genre: Pop/Rock Pop
2006 Alan Merrill 2006 Alan Merrill
Improve album informationWhy buy on Qobuz...
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalogue with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.