One of the great overlooked bands of the 90s
There are a few rock and roll bands that are overlooked while they are together only to be seen as visionaries after they have disbanded. The Move, The Merry-Go-Round, and Big Star come to mind. Jellyfish also falls into this category.
What do you get when you combine the best elements of Queen, ELO, Cheap Trick, The Move, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, and Paul McCartney? You get Jellyfish. Masters of power pop, Jellyfish received little to no airplay in the U.S. when they were together (late 80s to mid-90s). This stands as proof of the wasteland corporate playlists have wrought upon the airwaves. If you can't immediately categorize or fit music into a genre, then it is not played. That is why Revolver, Sgt. Peppers, or Pet Sounds would not be played today. And so it goes with Jellyfish.
Jellyfish released only two full-length CDs--Bellybutton and Spilt Milk. Both are classic albums, similar in sound but differing in scope. Spilt Milk has some moments that out-Queen Queen. The proof is on this album, Fan Club.
The four-disc box set Fan Club includes two studio albums and two live albums--the demo and live album for Bellybutton and the demo and live album for Spilt Milk. The proof of a band lush with studio production is a live concert. Can they nail the vocals, the nuances, the subtleties of music live in four minutes that took them hours to create in the studio? The question is rhetorical. One only needs to listen to The King Is Half-Undressed from Disc 2 - The Bellybutton Tour to get the answer. First listen to the studio version, complete with "Good Vibration" like acapella harmonies. Then listen to the version on the live album. Few bands have the talent or the guts to pull off live songs like this. In front of a crowd of tens of thousands, you can sense and feel their anxiousness. Similar to Springsteen's '75 Hammersmith Odeon concert, songs are played quicker than the studio versions, not no purpose but because this great band gets to prove itself in front of thousands. After the acapella portion of the song, you realize you are listening to something amazing and special that only comes along once or twice a decade.
Individual descriptions of each song would bore. There are 80 tracks on the four discs. Some of the tracks are interview snippets and others are promos for the band. There is enough music to satisfy for hours. Not as polished as the studio discs, this box set is more important in some ways. It shows where they came from (sparser studio demo versions) to where they could go (scorching live performances of intricate studio productions).
If you consider yourself a fan of good music (little to none of which you can hear on broadcast radio), Jellyfish needs to be a part of your collection. This box set was released in limited numbers and is now out-of-print. Do yourself a favor and spare no expense on this collectors' album. If you see available somewhere, buy it. You won't be sorry. In the meantime, enjoy their studio albums.Read full review
