Midnight Ride

N/a

Decent actually. The melody song was cool

Displayed some themes that other bands would build on later but despite that this album didn’t do much for me on its own. Repetitive melodies and trite lyrics.

ehhhh

Early psychedelic work. Frank Zappa vibes. Pretty good, but I’m not crazy about it.

Kinda boomer-y, like the kinds of songs my uncle has been jamming and singing to himself for 20 years. Not terrible though.

nice... soft...

Solid, fun to listen to classic rock.

I’ve heard the Beatles. I don’t need another one.

This is mostly banging. Enjoyed much more than I expected.

Pretty solid little 60s rock album

I've got a horse right here / his name is Paul Revere / and he's amply supported by The Raiiiiiiiders / They're gonna sing some songs / in as many 60s styles as possible / and some of them are going to be fiiiiiiiiiine.

Did they want to be The Beach Boys? it was ok.

Only listened to "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone". I didn't like it but I like the singer's voice

"Paul, Revere, Jack and John Raider, thanks for coming to see me. Sit down and I'll cut to the chase. We got your demo, liked it and want you to cut a record. Something in the modern day vernacular that sounds like you made it burning the midnight oil. Something that sounds both a part of and apart from the current generation. You dig? That's what our research says gets the kids off these days. They want to rebel but they also want to be their parents. Don't ask me, I don't understand. My daughter's doing all sorts of... but never mind that. Keep the yowls, we like them, but add more bottom. You know, drama, atmosphere, both ends burning. And don't take it easy on the girls either. Name them, call them out - 'Little girl' this, 'What'cha doin' girl?' that. But don't actually name them. Keep it general. Don't take this the wrong way, but you guys aren't the strongest when it comes to specifics. Leave that to [redacted]. Speaking of which, we picked out a few records for you to listen to, just for a bit of inspiration. One each by [names redacted]. You got it? Good. Now bring me a hit!"

Not bad- definitely getting Beatles vibes. 3 stars.

His has all the right vibes from the period: blues, rock, and whatever we want to consider the beach boys. I feel like if I were a teen during their heyday I could really be a fan girl.

Girl in the 4th row was hella creepy... Maybe I'm missing some context there.

Really enjoyed this. Nice variety and every song has a great hook

Mix of styles from kinks beatles doors and some songs you know. 4 is generous but hey

It was ok, and I learnt a little bit about 18th century American history.

Melody for an unknown girl ruined this for me. Solid 3 star except for this song.

Surprisingly decent - or maybe I’m desperate for this for awful run of albums to end and this was simply better than the rest recently

Not to be revered

I find the inclusion of this album on the list interesting. I always thought of Paul Revere and the Raiders as a disposable bubble gum band. Perhaps their critical rehabilitation has something to do with Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, which featured their "Hungry" in the soundtrack, and even a discussion of how underrated they were. Well, listening to Midnight Ride, PR&TR seem to be a workmanlike pop band with a decidedly garage-y orientation, and that's true enough. Boyce & Hart's I'm Not Your Stepping Stone fits the group like a pair of stone-washed jeans whereas the Monkees were just playing at (however convincingly) being a garage band. Paul Revere & The Raiders can also whip up a pure pop chorus if the mood strikes them. But they are much more than a poppy garage band. There She Goes and Take A Look At Yourself are convincing takes on the country pop/rock of the Gosdin Brothers. SS 396 and Corvair Baby are expert nods to the Beach Boys. The group even picks up on the then current trend of raga rock here and there. Less compellingly, there is the wan balladry of Little Girl in the 4th Row and the dad schmaltz of Melody for an Unknown Girl, which could almost be a Perry Como cover. Nonetheless, the overall effect is workmanlike rather than inspired, as compared to the Monkees. That's an unfair comparison in that the Monkees had the cream of professional songwriters pumping out tunes for them and were backed by the best studio musicians money could buy, whereas PR&TR mostly relied on the native talent of the group, but the band invites it the comparison with their genre hopping and occasional poppy choruses. I wish PR&TR had shown a little more discipline and toned down their garage band tendencies a little, emphasized the poppy choruses, and jettisoned the ballads and schmaltz. I think they probably had a solid album in them, but this isn't it.

3.5/5 strong beatles vibes, relisten

The only 2 songs I was familiar with on this album are Kicks and I'm Not Your Stepping Stone. The later more because of the Monkey's cover. I like the album, but it feels like pretty generic 60s pop rock and I'd rather listen to The Beatles

Mid-sixties pop. How were groups like this meant to keep up with The Beatles and Bob Dylan at this point? They couldn't so the produced bog standard stuff like this. BT: Kicks, (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone, Louie Go Home

Disco mediocre, puro filler. Sin embargo, Kicks, There's Always Tomorrow, Louie, Go Home y Stepping Stone son clásicos del garage y la verga.

Ild always generally avoided Paul Revere and the Raiders due to their ridiculous revolutionary war garb. “Really? That’s pretty stupid” thought little Johnny when he was 10 or 12 years old. The band is better than the outfits, but nothing spectacular. I like “kicks” and also “I’m not your stepping stone”, but the rest average. 3.5 stars and rounding down for sartorial silliness.

I thought this was a cool album for sure! I liked the vibes and felt that it was quite silly but in a fun way. I really appreciate how it wasn't as serious as a lot of the other albums from this decade that we've gotten (looking at you Bee Gees)

This one was fun! I especially liked the last song, thought it was a very silly but fun premise. Would like to listen to the full album, as I only found it on youtube and some songs were unavailable :(

Pues sí, sí apruebo. Muy entretenido de escuchar, vibras doorsianas en muchas canciones, intervenciones de country, rock psicodelico, 70s' shit en los 90, chidito, aunque no mucha variedad de moods, salvo la ocasional balada. Mis favoritas fueron: there she goes, que tiene una vibra Grease, I'm not you Steppin Stone, que es una de las más Doors-sound-alike y Take a look at Yourself. Mood: Fake-Hippies

Estilo rockabilly. Bastante parecido a The Byrds. Ritmos sencillos típicos de la época. De los inicios de lo que vino siendo posteriormente el pop. Fácil de escuchar, sin sorpresas

Rock and roll, 1966. Un poco country rock&roll.

Nein

Muy beatlesco para mi gusto. Hay canciones entretenidas como "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone" que me parecieron entretenidas. Asimismo, hay buenos guitarrazos de repente y momentos muy buena onda, frescos. No obstante, no es un disco al que regresaría. 7/10

Meh.

Generic 60's pop rock. I love/hate how often they committed to the Paul Revere/minutemen costumes in performances and other promos tho.

Beach boys vibes, without the fun. 60s vaguely psychedelic pop/rock. Not my jam.

ok.. niente di che

Kicks is great

Meh

false

mmm catchy. ‘melody for an unknown girl’ best track. this was cool cos there was range and it felt really well composed. OG stepping stone whaaaaaat?!

Lovely stuff

It's fine

Nice 60s Rock

How many songs can you write about cars. Paul Revere Dick was the founding fathers' favorite pick-up line, right after "the Brits aren't the only ones who will be coming"

borrrrringgggg

Has a few of this group's great songs, but in total album was only ok

It starts off really strong, but it falls off pretty hard the last few songs, especially the last two. 3/5

What a unique intersection of rock and roll

It was interesting (apparently their gimmick was revolutionary war uniforms during the "british invasion"!) and pretty decent. Sometimes I forget there's 60s music that isn't the Beatles, but it's never quite as good.