I recently re-discovered Fu Manchu after noticing that they've announced a tour in September. What seems like a very long time ago, I bought this record and a couple of other albums of theirs and enjoyed them. I think I knew their name from reviews in Kerrang! and I was aware of their connections to other stoner bands like Nebula. I suspect I may have even had a song on a sampler cd that came with Kerrang! but to confirm that would take more research than I was planning on doing for this post.
Anyway, when I started university (the first time) I made a particular effort to visit other towns and cities near-by to see what record shops they had to offer (although as more and more of my money was going towards alcohol, this didn't last very long). Very early on I caught the train to Preston with the hope of finding some good ones. Unfortunately, if there had been any decent shops, they'd closed down by then and I was left with an HMV and a couple of cheap cd places. However, the HMV did have a surprisingly good selection of vinyl and I picked up this one, despite not knowing much about the band (other than some positive reviews and a possible song somewhere). I have a vague memory of there being a sticker on the sleeve telling that the vinyl was coloured, which may help me in knowing what colour it actually is - my colour-blindness is hindering me here, but I'm going for either green or orange. I suspect the colour vinyl, relative cheapness and lack of other record shops all played a part in this purchase. I hadn't taken my record player with me the first term, so had to wait until I went home at Christmas to play my purchases.
But anyway, I'm very glad I bought it. Musically it was the stoner rock I had expected and enjoyed. The album is a collection of their early 7"s along with one new song (Simco, which has a monster riff). The songs are generally a bit heavier and more Kyuss-y than their later albums, but that is quite the positive. Don't Bother Knocking and Pick-Up Summer are both huge songs and the outro to Space Sucker makes you want to play side one all over again just so you can listen to it again.
I bought some other Fu Manchu records over the years, but somehow ended up not listening to them all that much. I remember my cd of In Search Of... getting a bit scratched on a road-trip in Australia shortly after I bought it (the perils of not taking cd-r's in a car), but I guess I was just getting my stoner fix from Kyuss. However, I have more time in my life for stoner-rock than just four albums. I've been spinning a lot of Fu Manchu over the last weeks and I've been appreciating them greatly. Maybe absence does make the heart grow fonder.
Format: 12", insert
Tracks: 9
Cost: £9 new
Bought: HMV Preston
When: 30/10/03
Colour: Orange?
Etching: none
mp3s: no
