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Customer Reviews of Remote Control

One of the Top-Ten Albums of All Time
Unlike the Tubes' uneven earlier and later works, this album, produced by Todd Rundgren, contains song after song of incredible, energetic pop-progressive-rock. Of the songs on this album, "Prime Time" received the most radio air play, but its mellow, bland, mainstream-pop sound is atypical of the other songs on this album, which sizzle with energy, funky rhythms, melody, harmony, and catchy chord changes that are so sadly missing in today's music. The lyrics often convey classic Tubes tongue-in-cheek humor as they ridicule American consumerism and TV. By far the best Tubes album, and one of the best rock & roll albums ever made.

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TUBEopia!
The Tubes were licking their wounds from the dismal dismissal of their highly experimental "Now," when they decided to pool all their strengths and shoot for a concept album. It made perfect sense that they would create a grand satire of pervasive media, since most of their best work lampooned that topic with gleefully broad strokes. This time, however, The Tubes brought on board a secret weapon in the person of Todd Rundgren. He was running hot as a producer at the time, coming off the huge success of Meat Loaf, solo albums, and the breakout of his band Utopia.

What Rundgren did to "Remote Control" was to slicken the sound to a commercial sheen that the band had lacked in the past. For their part, The Tubes came forth with a very strong batch of songs, all tied together with the Marshall McLuhan styled "medium is the message" theme. The protagonist of "Remote Control" wanders the album becoming increasingly absorbed/dissillusioned with the fact that his life isn't matching the programs he's watching, from the desire for instant gratification in "I Want It All Now," to the terrific ballad "Love's A Mystery (I Don't Understand)," featuring a superb vocal from Fee.

Perhaps the most interesting moment here is the instrumental "Get Overture," which had the band showing off their musicianship in a way that was only hinted at before (though it also bears the very heavy hand of Todd). It proved once and for all that The Tubes were more than just comical music pranksters and had more to offer than the shocking stage antics of their live shows. It's hard for me to decide which Tubes CD is really their finest, but between "Remote Control" and "The Completion Backwards Principle," I'd give this disc the higher scores for composition. "TCBP" was a sleeker musical effort, but in their desire to land that elusive hit single, had a damper lyrical bite. However, in all things Tubular, you really need both.

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The TUBES Finest Hour ...
Here are some of the The Tubes best written and performed songs: "Turn Me On," "I Want It All Now," "No Way Out," "Love's A Mystery (I Don't Understand)," and "Telecide." This recording is so uniformly strong from beginning to end that A&M Records included EVERY SONG in order (the entire record, in other words) when they issued the 2-CD Tubes compilation "Goin' Down The Tubes" in Europe several years ago. If you liked the way producer Todd Rundgren commandeered XTC's sometimes-elusive talents on their classic "SKYLARKING," chances are you will enjoy TR's meticulous production and song sequencing here on "REMOTE CONTROL."

Lead singer Fee Waybill never sounded better. Words like "synergy" and "brilliant" are often so overused as to become meaningless, particularly when used in the context of pop music. That aside, "REMOTE CONTROL" as performed by The Tubes and produced by Rundgren is a very special musical statement, one that truly displays synergystic properties. This long-overdue collaberation brought together a very talented band of musicians with a legendary rock producer who was able to effectively harness the band's abundant talents while downplaying their renouned lack of discipline in the studio. What ultimately emerges is a cohesive, thematic album built somewhat loosely around the general theme of television and its impact on society. A secondary theme about the elusive search for love is also tied in effectively throughout. In short, it ALL works.

Much as he did with XTC, The Psychedelic Furs, Meatloaf, Bad Religion and others, Rundgren gives The Tubes and their overall vocal sound and arrangements a significant upgrade. One of Rundgren's strengths as producer has always been an ability to chip in his own significant talents as songwriter, arranger, and vocalist in order to compensate for a particular band/client's most glaring shortcomings. Here he contributed a measure of all three, with an emphasis on songwriting help. He is co-credited as songwriter on 2 of the 11 songs here, and his disciplined influence is abundantly evident throughout. But make no mistake, this is The Tubes - at their very best.

Hopefully, someday soon "REMOTE CONTROL" will be the beneficiary of the kind of remastering treatment embellished upon other classic pop records in recent years. The sound here is good but unspectacular. Regardless, "REMOTE CONTROL" remains a classic pop/rock record.