Electric Prunes

I give up on trying to speak English, here's a graph instead   /\ enjoyment                                                    5 |                                                                       4 |                                                                       3 |  __                       ___                                      2 |      \              ___/      \                                    1 |        \__/\__/                \__/\__/\/\____             0  --------------------|--------------------> time                          ~7th song                                 

Some songs were good, some were just completely out of pocket. Felt very dated in sound. I will use Toonerville Trolley as punishment for people who have wronged me in the future.

Never heard of them before, but really dug the first tune “I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night).” Great song and great lyrics. How have I never heard this before? The second track “Bangles” again drew me in right away. I want to see this lady’s dressing room and vanity. Fantastic fun lyrics. “Onie” took it down a notch into a pleasant, dreamy tune that I liked a lot. Made me wish I was wandering through the streets of a new town gazing into shop windows wearing boots and a mini skirt. After changing my name to ‘Onie’ of course. Clever lyrics abound. “Are You Lovin’ Me More (But Enjoying it Less)”. Great sixties sentiments like “Sold to the Highest Bidder” and “The King Is In His Counting House”. A delightful cover of “About A Quarter to Nine”. Some quality sexy time with “Luvin’” and “Try Me On For Size”. And a couple of transportation songs, “Train for Tomorrow” and “The Toonerville Trolly”. Speaking of… “The Toonerville Trolly” is a generous helping of Cool Whip on this fabulous album! I started literally laughing out loud on a public bus - so much fun! But I found myself wondering if ‘ridin’ the Toonerville Trolly’ might be a euphemism for something else… and imagining all the possibilities. Throw in the artsy album cover featuring the band in the same pose as a modern art rendition of them and it’s pretty much everything I could ask for in a 60s album. So glad to have been introduced to The Electric Prunes!

People seem to think irony as a pop-culture phenomena was a 90s thing, but I’m realizing that there was a whole wave of it in the late 60s as psychedelic bands inexplicably made entire albums of joke songs with ragtime piano. I’m guessing everyone was burnt out by the end of the 60s. I feel like I should like this but it’s just lame, the whole side B is especially kind of unbearable. Favourite track: “I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)”

My left ear enjoyed this one. Cool sound.

i’d never heard of electric prunes but i was pleasantly surprised! love it!

Starts as a psychedelic fever dream but then kinda goes all over the place, ending on a bizarre sarcastic joke. If the material were more consistently psychedelic like the opening track or "Get Me to the World on Time" it'd be 4 stars but I have to round down to 3 for the jarring tone shifts.

A true cornerstone of psychedelic rock, the self-titled Electric Prunes album delivers haunting, dreamy vocals intertwined with swirling guitars and ethereal production. Amidst this sonic landscape, one also discovers heartfelt, tender tracks that add depth to the album's aura. Seamlessly blending psychedelia, garage rock, and avant-garde experimentation emblematic of its time, this record conjures an entrancing and otherworldly atmosphere. 10/10!

This would considered a Psychedelic classic were it not for the significant drop in quality on the B side. I still enjoyed it a lot, and it deserves more credit than it gets, but it's clear the longer the album goes on the less ideas the band has. I have no idea what they were thinking with that last song

Fun and standout psych garage, this honestly surprised me. There was more chaff here than I'd normally allow for a four star album, but the kernels of wheat that came out really were golden.

Another that had a few good tunes, interspersed by Nursery rhymes and rubbish

WHAT IN THE FUCK IS THE TOONERVILLE TROLLEY I HATE IT SO MUCH. There are some really sorta... creepy at times psychedelia goodness in here, mixed with filler songs. I really enjoyed stuff like "I had Too Much to Dream", and "Get me to the World on Time", "The Highest Bidder" a solid 3/5!

I liked the short songs. not enough people writing 2 minute songs these days

How have I never heard of this band? That’s because they suck.

I really enjoy this band's name

I love a good 60s garage rock.

I really enjoyed this one. It was like... a darker version of the Beatles and the Beach Boys, kinda the way the Wiki page described.

A mix of excellent tracks and the absolute nightmare of The Toonerville Trolley. Jesus.

What an odd little album. I rather liked some of the tracks and others seemed silly, like songs for children.

The biggest crime that 60’s psych bands perpetrated was convincing people that cabaret songs and show tunes could somehow be considered “psychedelic”.

This album feels quite manic, some cool songs and some others I really don't care for at all. First track might be my fav, the rest are sorta meh. Like Toonerville Trolley is sort of horrible. An interesting debut for sure.

Interesting contrast to the Animals.. they focused on politics, prunes focused on girls with more than a touch of misogyny...

Good album which has a lot of missed potential unfortunately, would have wished that the more exotic and medieval sounding songs were more plentyful

Especially liked 'Sold to the Highest Bidder'. Some really fun fast moving tracks on this one. At points it felt like it was straddling the edge of being endearingly goofy and annoyingly so

Pas terrible

It's the now sound, it's what's happening! I first came across the Electric Prunes via a compilation cassette from my mate Peter. He used to often include on his mixtapes a commercial for the Vox wah wah pedal featuring the Electric Prunes. It was made in 1967 and tacked on to the end of Glen A. Baker's excellent 2LP compilation 'Songs of a Psychedelic Age'. Check the commercial out here: https://youtu.be/17h773ldGds?si=SDtPFwACcyQwmceI My next exposure was the track 'I had too much to dream last night', which was a highlight of the famous and influential Nuggets compilation. It is a great piece of 60s garage rock and a longtime favourite track of mine. It's weird and rough and catchy. But the rest of this album is just another mediocre example of the 1960s cult psychedelia that Dimery is obsessed with. I found the rest of this record pretty forgettable. I swear I own at least one Prunes album (possibly even this one) but I can't find it anywhere, and I can't remember the last time I might have played it; probably about 30 years ago. Maybe I sold it and can't remember. "I had too much to dream last night" is a moment of accidental genius that the Electric Prunes never came close to matching. They deserve to be remembered for that (and possibly the wah wah commercial), but on compilations, comfortably nestled between tracks from other similar one song wonders. It's ok if a band only ever produced one song of real lasting value. That's one more than most of us ever manage. And those songs should be remembered and celebrated in a suitable manner; compilations, playlists, mixtapes, radio, DJ sets, placement in tv or movies or videogames or whatever. There are lots of places where a single dong can be heard and enjoyed. But please, Dimery, don't make us sit through whole mediocre albums on the basis of one great track.

Yet another entry in the "too many '60s psych rock albums" category. I definitely don't hate this one, and wouldn't say it's bad, but good lord I never thought I would be this OVER IT. We get it, LSD right? Hippies? Okay, cool, whatever. You'll never be the Doors, or Jimi Hendrix, or any of the other 15-20 more impressive psych rock acts that we've certainly had on here. We do not need to be this far in the weeds, especially when there are way better albums out there. Favorite tracks: Train for Tomorrow, Luvin. Album art: Band photo, looks cool, they look pretty cool but also kind of square. I dig it. I like the inset, art within the art, kind of thing going on. Wish I wasn't so fatigued about '60s rock to enjoy this more, then again, there's better stuff out there. Cover's cool though. 2.5/5

Tired of 1960s Kinks sounding bands right now.

Na ja, die Zeit ist rum.

Probably the most uneven album yet. Some good cuts and some abominations. 2/5

I could see putting Nuggets on this list (maybe compilations aren't included in the list?) or Too Much To Dream if you were doing a similar list of songs but a whole album by The Electric Prunes? C'mon. This is just cookie cutter generic late 60s psychedlia. It's not even as if I'm not a fan of this genre, Piper at The Gates of Dawn absolutely belongs so does Forever Changes. I won't even argue with the 13th Floor Elevators album but to me this is like putting a Strawberry Alarm Clock or Chocolate Watchband album on here.

Boooooooring

Who the hell chose this? This album blows.

I am struggling to find anything to say about this album. Its just such a blatant doors ripoff. I got through the album no problem but cant say that I would want to go back to it. The Toonerville Trolley is a real piece of shit and is a star demerit.

Actually thought it started ok but quickly descended into some truly awful noise. Some music is timeless. This mess is not.

Gets one star for the effort of actually going to the studio and recording this pish

This is definitely one of my favorite ’60s psychedelic albums. The vocals are echoed, reverbed, and hazy, while the guitars are fuzz-heavy and distorted, giving the album a surreal effect—not to mention all the experimental studio techniques of the time. On the flip side, much of their material was influenced by producers and songwriters rather than being entirely self-written, making their sound more structured. That’s why I think this album is a great introduction to psychedelic music. It captures all the best elements of the genre but presents them in a more polished and structured way, whereas many other albums of the era leaned more into improvisation.

4.5/5 Beautiful guitar work, a clear cohesive sound which is fantastical and dreamlike, and charming, delicate vocals. This album is pretty amazing. It starts crazy strong, but the second side is definitely if not weaker then more inconsistent. I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night) 5/5 (FAV) Bangles 5/5 Onie 5/5 Are You Lovin' Me More (But Enjoying It Less) 5/5 Train For Tomorrow 4.5/5 Sold to the Highest Bidder 3.5/5 Get Me to the World on Time 5/5 About a Quarter to Nine 4/5 The King Is in the Counting House 3.5/5 Luvin' 5/5 Try Me on for Size 5/5 The Toonerville Trolley 3/5 (LEAST FAV)

Fun novel sound,, interesting throughout

Some delightful very sixties rock. They were the first band to use a wah-wah pedal, but not much evidence here.

Love! It’s pretty old so I feel like the fact that I like it and it’s old makes me like it more.

I loved it. Precursor to heavy metal

my shit

The quintessential 60s vibe. I remember it in my childhood. Instant hope and wonder about life and my world. I love this.

Surprisingly fire guitar tones

Listened to this on the way to the zoo and everything is making me feel like an excited kid. Really interesting first song. Fuck it, 5 stars

Great early psych rock with some baroque and garage elements.

My kind of music

Psychedelic masterpiece!

So funky and fun!

based on the cover and concept alone this feels like it's gonna slap, but let's see if it delivers The description said garage rock but because of the harmless looking 60s dudes in bowl cuts and turtlenecks i was not expecting full on cock music. really feels like the beginning of dudes in their garage just singing songs about getting laid. Still, it also has some deeper tracks with interesting instrumentation, such as About A Quarter To Nine. Toonerville Trolley is like a Fleischer Animation fever dream. Dark and ambienty, but also rough. Strong 4, if not 5. I've listened to this album 4 times in a row back to back tonight from how much i like it. once i fix my speakers i might try to hunt down a physical copy. Rounding to 5 because I've had this on repeat all week.

Loved it.

cool

Super fun album that almost sounds like a Beatles greatest hits album. No skip, 5 stars

The essence of psychedelic music

I’m so torn between a 4 or a 5 for this one. I absolutely love it. It’s heavy, it’s psychedelic, it’s eerie. But just about every song is so great. A really overlooked album.

Excellent 60's music.

Ah, grata sorpresa.

Wow! Sometimes, this project really surprises me with this kind of thing: An album and even an artist or band that I never heard about before and became a fan instantly. The first song sounds a little bit ~strange~ but when I got the vibe for it, it's a great album with the right number of songs and an excellent set (more songs could be too much)

Εxcellent album

This album was not available on my music streaming service. Instead, I listened to the second album "Underground". Which was quite good.

I love this album

Genuinely trippy and surreal. The creative highs come in tracks like I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night, with this distinctive vespine buzz oscillating between channels creating a distinctive psychadelic sound. Small decisions like reverbing the band on Get Me To The World On time are similarly effective on what could otherwise be generic rock and roll. I dislike the nightmarishly dour The King is in the Counting House, which is how I imagine it sounds to be dosed with LSD and wheeled through the royals exhibit at Madame Toussads with your eyes stapled open. So this isn't perfect, but it's a rare psychadelic rock album that lives up to the name.

I liked this album a lot. They get pretty raucous on a couple of tunes, which made me like it more than a lot of psychedelic rock. There were a few snoozer tracks, but overall I thought it was pretty great. 3.7/5

Really good songs

Psychedelia is a Genre that's always appealed to me. I love music that keeps me guessing. Sadly, my experience with it hasn't been as in-depth as I'd want, though I've still listened to a decent amount. This is to say that I can't say for certain if this is truly unique and great or a whatever piece of Psychedelic Rock. I mean, 1967 also had the Doors, Sgt. Pepper, Jimi Hendrix, and more of the most beloved Psych Rock Acts. What if I just like this because I haven't heard better stuff like it? At the end of the day, though, I can't review based on a future possibility. In the present, I did quite enjoy this album. It's only around 30 minutes so it's short but sweet. I don't think anything could prepare me for Toonerville Trolley. That song was actually crazy. It's a super fun and interesting album Also I very much thought they said the N word during Toonerville Trolley, but thankfully they apparently were saying "knickers" 8/10, sorry if the first paragraph sounded pretentious.

I had to much to psych last night

Great bit of psychedelia

Really enjoyed this. Had never heard of the band before which is surprising. Need to listen again. I'll give it 3.75 (7.5) and round up to 4

Nice discovery

"Too Much to Dream" is an essential single from the wild west era of psych rock. Underground is probably the better album from these beleaguered boys, who remain a cautionary tale of record label meddling. Those unconverted to goofy-ass early psych are best served by Nuggets or uh... the pack-in CD from the June 2003 issue of Uncut, both excluded by the list's bogus no-comps rule. It's worth checking out the two lysergical, er, liturgical albums credited to the band but mostly performed by studio musicians, if only as a curio. They swap the late 60's silliness for late 60's self-seriousness, to a detriment. Free the Prunes!

poppy american psych rock who's main strength is just, rly rly strong and economical songs actually HFJFSHJFSH. i kinda miss the noddling and heavy indulgences of other similar records but it does make this record v distinct. theres also just in general a gritter, grimer, sometimes outright dark edge that kind of cuts thru the Whimsy inherent to the style...its not the velvets or anything but its a more than solid Seedy Underbelly type of record. v enjoyable album, didnt blow my mind but every song hit with a relatively equal amount of mental clarity which is a minor feat of pacing and delivering raw musical information

Good album but I feel like it's missing something that makes other 60s song special

Didn't know these guys. Great Floyd like, but American based.

Some cool tunes on here, but overall kinda mid?

Am a sucker for 60s Garage Psychedelia, and this is a fine example of it. The more whimsical bits, whilst seemingly an integral art of that style and era, are the only things stopping me giving this 5 stars. 'Dream' is worth 4 stars on its own.

Not the Beatles.

Psychedelic folk blues rock. Very approachable.

I like this kind of unhinged psychedelic rock but this isn’t quite as good as 13th Floor Elevators.

Holly damn time signature changes. In a very tasteful manner. Extremely good

Fun album. So short, but I really enjoyed it.

Psychedelic and Garage Rock feeling all over the place with haunting, dreamy vocals to annoying stage shouting intertwined with swirling guitars and ethereal to country atmosphere. Some Tracks are good enough to revisit others annoy the hell out of me.

Better than I thought it would be. Some pretty interesting early psychedelic and garage. Ranges all over the place and made for a good listen. An interesting window back into the 60's. Unexpected bangers: Sold to the Highest Bidder, Bangles, Try Me on For Size.

Like it.

Again, short songs redeem the whole. This is a well-produced album with creative percussiveness, rich, impactful guitars, and a compression to save it from going too far, too dreamy, too heady. The lyrics are the weak point, not difficult or pretentious, but in fact unmemorable, too steady, not wordy enough. But this is a good find, and in the end, I’m down with it. Especially beautiful: 'Onie'; especially tasteful: 'Train for Tomorrow' and 'Luvin''; heavy lifting in LA: 'Try Me on for Size'; not good: 'The Toonerville Trolley.'

A really fun album that felt a little like a blend between Beatles and Doors.

Love it :)

Solid psychedelic rock

Pretty good album for 60s rock. Lyrics were entertaining and some of the songs were pretty creative in their instrumentals.

Quite quirky, very sixties and a much stronger opening half than closing half. Probably a 7/10 but I'm feeling generous.

Fun, classic 60s psychedelia

Very important early psych rock / alt rock

Quite a surprise in its mixture of vibes and styles.

Classic 60s fare slightly twee but very endearing. Some very strong songs in the first half too especially the first 2

I don’t think I heard of The Electric Prunes before. It’s quite hard to define them, seemingly mushing together rock, jazzy psychedelia with a touch of added zaniness. I fully thought that The Toonerville Trolley was The Tuna Belt Trolley when I was listening. I didn’t really have a clue what was going on, but it was fun. That’s the important bit after all.

While being a little generic in places, I dig these sorts of psychedelic tunes, so this is getting a 4.5 bumped down to 4.

This was a cool vibe, never heard it all the way through before. Some weird stuff happening on that Toonerville Trolley though, tell ya what.

nice 60s rock

Had to listen to it twice, but I really dig it.

The Electric Prunes, sometimes referred to as I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night), is the debut album by the Electric Prunes, originally released in 1967. I first heard about the Electric Prunes when I was getting into psychedelic music. I picked up a copy of Nuggets, which is a compilation of lesser known 60s psychedelic/garage tracks. The opening track was I Had Too Much to Dream. I still remember that feeling of hearing that opening tremolo-drenched guitar riff for the first time. I knew I was hooked on psychedelic music. I immediately sought out a copy of their debut record. I was able to grab a mono copy for fairly cheap. Side A of the record is great. It strikes that perfect balance between psychedelic and garage rock. Side B is where this record falls a bit flat. It still has some good garage tracks like "Get Me to the World on Time" and "Try Me on for Size". The rest of the tracks are pretty week and were essentially used as filler. Still giving 4 stars due to the weight of that opening track alone.