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Rating: Among the masterpieces of psychedelic rock from the past 30 years, "The perfect prescription" definitely ranks among the best and most innovative ever.
Jason Pierce and Pete Kember truly seem like the spiritual sons of the "Red Krayola" and the "13th Floor Elevators", as they revive the sonic foundation and filter it with the edgy sounds of the "Velvet Underground" and the "Jesus and Mary Chain", creating an ultra-expanded psychedelia in a whirlpool of experimental and garage rock but more in the form of a hypnotic noise trance than a frontal assault.
"The perfect prescription" is their second album, in my opinion also their pinnacle, capable of giving new life to the ailing English rock of the mid-'80s, a hallucinated music lost in a heroin fog yet at the same time, with creativity that has few precedents in the history of rock.
The ten tracks of the album are the musical representation of the path of an overdose. Notable is the arrangement created to connect the super experimental Ecstasy symphony with "Transparent radiation" (Red Krayola), while "Walking with Jesus" is a kind of unreal psychedelic country, "Take me to the other side" which opens the album is pure radioactive garage with hypnotic feedback in loop, perhaps the most explosive track on the album, "Ode to street hassle" is the homage to "Lou Reed" where Pierce perfectly reproduces the voice of the former Velvet, "Come down easy" and "Call the doctor" are two avant-garde blues, while the finale is a homage to His Cosmic Majesty Sun Ra with the incredible cover of "Starship". Some pieces are retrieved from previous works, among them stands out the graceful Feel so good, here with a new arrangement.
The group will go on to follow with other masterpieces, but practically all the psychedelic noise from the '90s onward is all in this album.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Take Me to the Other Side (04:39)
I have a passion sweet Lord
And it just won't go away
I have it each and every day Lord
Sure as the sun comes up each day
Come on take me for a ride
Take me to the other side
Come on take me for a ride
Come on baby take my hand
And we'll walk across the sand
We'll go to places we ain't been
See all the things that we ain't seen
Come on take me for a ride
Take me to the other side
Come on take me for a ride
I have a passion sweet Lord
And it just won't go away
I have it each and every day Lord
Sure as the sun comes up each day
02 Walkin' With Jesus (05:09)
I walked with Jesus and he would say
"Oh you poor child, you ain't comin' to me no way
You've found Heaven on Earth, gonna burn for your sin"
But I think I'll be in good company down there with all my friends
Well I got around to thinking 'bout what Jesus said to me
Cos if Heaven's like this, then that's the place for me
Long, long time between now and my death
And I gotta have my fun so I've chosen what's best
Well, here it comes
Here comes the sound
The sound of confusion
The sound of love
So listen sweet Lord, forgive me my sin
‘Cos I can't stand this life without all of these things
Know I done wrong, but I've Heaven on Earth
Know I done wrong, but I could have done me worse
Well, here it comes
Here comes the sound
The sound of confusion
Well, here it comes
Here comes the sound
The sound of love
Here it comes
Here it comes
Here it comes
The sound of love
The sound of love
The sound of love
Jesus please meet me at the centre of the earth
Cos these wings are gonna fail me and I could have done me worse
Yeah I could have done me worse
Yeah I could have done me worse
03 Ode to Street Hassle (04:00)
Well I've been to some far out places
I've read the writing on the wall
But today I walked with Jesus and together
Together we walk tall
And as we sat there talking
Jesus turned to say to me
"You'd better learn and love this life ‘cos there's things
There's things that are hard to see"
And as I sat there thinkin'
Once again he turned to me
He said "I've given you temptation but these things
These things have got to be"
So I just sat and listened
To what Jesus said to me
‘Cos sometimes you gotta listen, if there's things,
If there's things you just can't see
And while we were out walking
Once again he turned to me
And as I looked into his eyes his thoughts
His thoughts just came to me.
Well some people never listen
You know some people just won't see
But I can see and hear these things
These things have got to be.
05 Feel So Good (05:30)
Don’t it feel so good
Lord I feel so good today
Don’t it feel just fine
Lord I feel so fine
Takes me out of my mind
Lord…
Takes me out of my mind
Don’t it feel so good
Lord I feel so good
Don’t it feel just fine
Lord I feel so fine
Takes me out of my mind
Takes me out of my mind
….so good today
Don’t it feel so good
Lord I feel so good today
Don’t it feel just fine
Lord I feel so fine
Takes me out of my mind
It takes me out of my mind
Don’t it feel so good
Lord I feel so good today
Don’t it feel just fine
Lord I feel so fine
Lord I feel so good today
Lord I feel so fine
Lord…
‘Cos it feels so good
Lord I feel so good today
Yeah it feels so fine
Lord I feel so fine
Takes me out of my mind
Lord…
Takes me out of my mind
…goin’ down today
Lord I ain’t goin’ down
Lord I ain’t gonna die today
Lord I ain’t gonna die
Lord I ain’t goin’ down today
Lord I feel so good today
Ba Baba Ba-ba ba-ba ba-ba Baba Ba-ba ba-ba ba-ba
Baba Ba-ba ba-ba ba-ba Baba Ba-ba ba-ba ba-ba
Don’t it feel so good
Lord I feel so good
Don’t it feel so good
Lord I feel so good today
Don’t it feel so good
Lord I feel so good today
Don’t it feel just fine
Lord I feel so fine
Takes me out of my mind
Lord I feel so good today
Takes me out of my mind
Lord I feel so fine
Takes me out of my mind
Lord…
Everything’s just fine
That’s just fine
Lord I ain’t goin’ down today
Lord I ain’t goin’ down
07 Come Down Easy (06:48)
by Kember/Pierce
In 1987 all I wanna do is fly
All I want for you to do is reach up to the sky
Well well well, and come down easy
Well well well, and come down easy
Lord I'm gonna shake it
Lord I'm gonna make it
Sure I'm gonna take it
‘Cos I feel, yeah I feel, alright, alright
In 1987 all I wanna do is get stoned
All I want for you to do is take my body home
Well well well, and come down easy
Well well well, come down easy
Lord I'm gonna shake it
Lord I'm gonna make it
Sure I'm gonna take it
‘Cos I feel, yeah I feel, alright, alright, alright
Meet me children meet me
Meet me at the top of the sky
All I want for you to do
Is take yourself a little higher
Well well well, and come down easy
Well well well, come down easy
Lord I'm gonna shake it
Lord I'm gonna make it
Sure I'm gonna take it
‘Cos I feel, yeah I feel, alright, alright, alright
Yeah I feel alright, alright, alright
Take it down, take it way down low
Down, down, down, down, down
Take it way down low
About as low as you can go
I don't know
I don't know
I don't know, but…
I don't know, but I shake it babe
Shake it babe, shake it babe
Shake it baby, shake it babe, shake it babe
Yeah so I can fly
Yeah, just take it a little higher now
Yeah, come down easy
Lord I'm gonna shake it
Lord I'm gonna make it
Sure I'm gonna take it
‘Cos I feel, yeah I feel, alright, alright, alright
Shake it babe…
Jesus Christ I was only shakin', Lord…
Shake it babe
Shake it baby
Shake it baby
Shake it babe
08 Call the Doctor (03:50)
Call the doctor pretty baby, you know I'm near to my last breath
You'd better hurry now honey, or you're gonna be my death
You'd better throw away the spoons and all the other dirty things
Cos when the law arrives this evening, I don't think they'll wait and ring
Call the doctor pretty baby, tell him he's gotta rush and run
Cos I think I've had too much babe, tell him it ain't no fun
Hey there's the door now pretty baby, see who's on the other side
Tell them to back up with the wagon now I think I'm going for a ride
Tell them I did it to myself babe, and I lived a life of sin
Tell them black ain't always white babe, and without sure ain't within
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Other reviews
By nino
"This record is revolutionary and militant where most angry rock is at best liberal."
"Spacemen 3, like all great rock... are revolutionaries: this is their great manifesto."
By CosmicJocker
The Perfect Prescription brought to life one of the most interesting works of psychedelic music in the ’80s.
It’s as if the drug intake reaches its peak concerning the stimulation of our psychic and emotional centers.
By Cervovolante
"The Perfect Prescription is a cosmic trip that immerses the listener into the deepest recesses of their own mind."
"Music becomes a means to explore the infinite and beyond, an experience that will forever change the listener’s perception of music itself."
