Roger the Engineer

Good ol' Yardbirds, I know them for the song "For Your Love," and of course for incubating three legendary rock guitarists: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. This album is post-Clapton, pre-Page, all Beck, and you can hear him flexing his ability. There are some cool songs on here, but plenty others that feel very derivative and indistinct. Wikipedia says this is "psychedelic rock"--I'm not so sure. Maybe half the tracks are tinged with psychedelic elements (mostly the better ones), but the rest strikes me as imitative blues filler. I mean c'mon, "What Do You Want" is such an obvious rip-off of Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love." This album comes from an era of white British rockers essentially doing cosplay of black American blues/rock artists. Beatles, Stones, Led Zeppelin, they all did it at points. At least those bands had the STONES to do covers and openly credit the pioneers. I would imagine Yardbirds evolved into psychedelia, and I'd rather hear that stuff, but this album does very little for me. Favorite tracks: Lost Woman, Hot House of Omagarashid, Over Under Sideways Down. Album art: Very creative drawing, and I love the font. Looks like it would be right at home in a Shel Silverstein or Scary Stories book. Apparently this is a doodle that one of the band members made of their engineer, Roger. I don't know if that's endearing or just plain mean. I'll leave that up to Roger, he's famous now. 2.5/5

No Jimmy Page or Eric Clapton on this album, which is fine considering I always think of The Yardbirds as Jeff Beck's band. To compare the 3 guitar legends, it's best to liken them to the 3 greatest home run hitters in Major League Baseball history. Jimmy Page is Babe Ruth, forever deified with legendary riffs and solos. Clapton is Barry Bonds. He puts up great numbers, but he's such an asshole that it demeans his accomplishments. And Jeff Beck is Hank Aaron, the steady, consistent great who's never as flashy as Page or Clapton but overall stakes a legitimate claim as perhaps the best ever. I guess that would then make Jimi Hendrix Willie Mays (best all around player), and Eddie Van Halen is Mickey Mantle (mythical talent that was taken too soon by alcohol abuse). I could go on but we're talking about the Yardbirds here. This album is a joy. It dances with seemingly every genre available at the time, and has a sort of magic that makes it sound like it's right out of 1966 and like it could have been produced yesterday. I even ride for the bonus coverage you get with alternate versions here (especially "I Can't Make Your Way"). Right there in the 4.5 category, but "Over Under Sideways Down" is reason enough to curve up.

Respect all the musicality of the Yardbirds, and this feels like a 3.5 for me, but I have to go four because I gave that to Korn yesterday and it'd feel gross.

Fine. All rock of that era sounds basically the same. I'm sure it was more exciting at the time. Clapton's a piece of shit though

If you ask 100 people who are leaving a rock concert who Jeff Beck is a majority will know the name. If you also ask them if they know who Keith Relf is you will not need your second hand to count the number of yesses. You probably won't even need your first hand.  (Before reading on, I'll let you in on a secret: he was the Yardbirds' lead singer.) Great guitar players need a lead singer who can do two of the following three: 1) sing, 2) entertain, and 3) write music. All three are not needed but  two of the three are.  Pete Townshend found Daltrey who could do 1 and 2. Keith Richards found Mick who can do 2 and 3 and Jimmy Page found Plant who can do 1 and 2. Keith Relf couldn't do any of the three. The result is excellent guitar playing (Jeff Beck’s in the case of this album) being stranded in a wasteland of songs that, from all other perspectives, are painfully mediocre.  To finish with a cherry on top, the best song on the album is "Jeff’s Boogie". It has no vocals. I rest my case.

Birdshit

A recording to ignore the green areas of music of the time and influence many future sounds. I liked that it covered so many genres in the one album

This is the third blues-rock album that I've had chosen in the last week, and provides an interesting contrast with the other two (Shake Your Money Maker and Cosmo's Factory). This album has a very 60s feel to it, but not in a way that is confined to any specific genre. There is a definite psychedelic influence, but there's also rockabilly and early 60s pop influences. This album at once sounds like more authentic blues than the other two but at the same time strays further away from the blues. Jeff Beck's guitar does a lot to pull this album together and make it an interesting listen. It's cool, groovy, and it goes by quickly. 4/5

great album. Lost Women has such an awesome bass grove.

British Beach Boys but not good

Garbage - found this really hard work

Another timeless classic

For more than 5 years I used to work the sound board at a radio station every week inserting local ads for a 3 hour national oldies radio program. In that time I probably listened to more than 1000 hours of 60s music. What a shame that I recall NOTHING from this album ever making it into those weekly shows! How refreshing would some of this have been to add more dimension to those programs?! I’ve heard talk about how important The Yardbirds were - after all their members included Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page - but all I recall hearing from them before this is “For Your Love” and “Heart Full of Soul”. Maybe I should have been more proactive… Even the Wikipedia article is woefully light on detail about this album. No mention at all of where that great album cover comes from? Or the Deluxe and Super Deluxe editions that I find on Apple Music? It seems as though there is a level of 60s music that is wildly interesting that lies below the usual stuff we hear today in the mainstream. A total gem with an amazing band (Jeff Beck!) doing great, interesting songs. I’m thankful again for this web site and the 1001 book!

This is The Yardbirds' only studio UK album and third US album. It is the only album with Jeff Beck on all tracks and, boy, does he bring it on most of the songs. I've never dug extremely deep into the Yardbirds, kind of always thinking of them with that lead harmonica and guitar combination and a bluesy feel which eventually led into Led Zeppelin. Well, you hear that here too but a whole lot more as well. There is a heavy psychedelic element to a lot of these songs. A few, slow sing-along type songs, a heavy percussion-based song with chanting and some straight-forward rock songs. Black Sabbath was without a doubt listening to their last song, "Ever Since the World Began," at least the intro. Definitely, a more varied album than I was expecting. "Lost Women" starts the album in a very bluesy way and sounds kind of "quenessital" Yardbirds. It then kicks in with a long harmonica solo and Beck ending it with a Bo Diddley-esque guitar riff. The second song "Over Under Sideways Down" is the only single from this album and introduces a pyschedelic guitar intro and chorus to basically a blues beat. Outstanding. "The Nazz Are Blue" showcases Beck as lead singer and especially his bluesy guitar as it just rips. "What Do You Want" is their most straight-forward rock sounding song and ends with a searing guitar solo. Jeff Beck is a highlight of this album but this is also a very, very good band. Outstanding and innovative. A great time finally digging into this.

anything jeff beck touches is magical

I had written a Toppermost article (https://www.toppermost.co.uk/the-yardbirds/) on the yardbirds and after it was published I realised something. Apart from the three important guitarists who made up the lineup - Clapton Beck and Page - they weren’t a terribly good blues band. They were however a pretty terrific pop band particularly on this album. Jeff Beck, one of the greatest rock guitarists, never stopped developing as a player. The songs on this are terrific. Over under upside down is amazing. The Nazz is blue led one David jones, under his more renowned stage name, to describe the character of Ziggy Stardust. It also led Todd Rundgren to name his band. This is worth a listen. Though nearly all members would go on to to other interesting and important things. Not all the songs are bangers. But those that are slap hard. Vale Jeff. (And Keith).

Very cool blues album I had never heard. Biggest downside is that it is very long. Love the album cover.

Good album. Can definitely hear how this album influences other music down the road. 3/5 Might listen again

Good music, but the singing and lyrics don't work for me.

It was OK but hasn't aged well

Boring

Blues, blues, blues. Jeff Beck can play the blues. This album was released shortly before Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin joined the band. You can tell that they loved Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, that whole Chicago Blues scene. A lot of English kids did. This album has some incredible tones for 1966 and still rips when I throw it on today. Psych Blues supergroup that split to spawn solo careers and other famous bands. Favorite song: The Nazz Are Blue Least favorite song: Hot House of Omagarashid

Sorry don't wanna write anything rn

Un album que tout guitariste devrait avoir écouté dans sa vie! Un classique du genre et précurseur du Blues Rock britannique des Années 60. 5*

Qué bueno que al final sí lo escuché. Me gustó todo el disco, buenas percusiones, bien la guitarra, bien el bajo. Mención especial a las dos primeras canciones, muy energéticas, álbum variadito y divertido. No me lo esperaba

Tip top bluesy rock, as to be expected from such a lineup. Listened to most of the (31 track!) "album" this site sends you to and then found the original album/tracklist and listened to that, which listens sooo much better as an album.

Bit rock and roll- I liked it

Fantastic

Excellent album

So gut wie einflussreich!

Great album full of near-legendary tracks.

1966 - English blues rock band

Decent.

Psycho Daisies 👌🏻

No surprise here; a well-regarded 60s rock band was indeed good.

Very nice driving blues rock. Didn't know any of the songs but lots of good ones on here. Good good fun.

The bass line of the first track really pulled me in. I loved the jam of this album. A couple of tunes left me a little flat, but overall an awesome listen!!

Without Dimery's list (which I was able to find online), I would never have discovered this wonderful record, one of those rare kinds of albums that transcends its day and age while fully sounding *from them*. Like mostly everyone interested in sixties music, I knew (and liked) famous Yardbirds stuff such as the Graham Gouldman-penned "For Your Love" and "Evil Hearted You". But "Roger The Engineer (The Yardbirds)" is so much more than that... Contrary to what a few reviewers with a short attention span have written here, Clapton was already out of the picture when the band recorded this album--and it was a good thing: Clapton was then way too "conservative" at the time with his blues orthodoxy to let "Roger"'s adventures happen (the man also proved how obnoxious he could be on many occasions during his later career--but that's a story for another time...). The end result here is that the band then used Jeff Beck to replace him, and this to great effects if you're a fan of good guitar playing--see for instance the technically impressive "Jeff's Boogie". Yet all of this wouldn't be worth a rat's ass if the birds hadn't embraced the psychedelic shenanigans of those days in such an orginal and varied way. From the bizarre yet mellifluous fuzz riffs of hit "Over, Under, Sideways, Down" to the groovy basslines of "Lost Women" and "Hot House Of Omagarashid", the mood is definitely "shaggadelic, babe!" at an Austin Powers-on-LSD level of intensity. Yet as fun as those tracks are, they never fully forget that Chicago blues inspiration either. "Roger The Engineer" just allows you to hear that sound evolving to become... something else. And that something else is the future of rock'n'roll. You can obviously smell whiffs of Led Zeppelin here and there (Jimmy Page is indeed the young guitarist who will replace Jeff Beck not long after this record). You can even behold the seed that would be soon sowed in Iommi and Osbourne's twisted minds not long before they created Black Sabbath in the mystical "Turn Into Earth" and "Ever Since The World Began" (especially in the latter's long introduction). This closer actually sums up the scope of moods embraced by the album, from a droning lament to a lively booter shaker to cap things neatly and nicely. For this album, I highly recommend the 1987 Impact Record edition, because it includes the killer single "Happening Ten Years Time Ago" *within* the tracklisting (and not in the end, as a bonus, as in the online links provided here). That single is simply a masterpiece and deserved to be part of the feast anyway. French alternative rock fans will find its riff, quickly descending half tone after half tone, familiar. That riff was actually ripped off by Noir Désir for their hit "Tostaky" (directly or indirectly), their stroke of genius being that thay also gave it an *ascending* counterpart. But apart for this riff, the single has many other assets to boast about, so don't forget to give it a spin too... So here it is: "Roger The Enginner". More than a psychedelic doodle, it is a fully realized vision--adventurous, fun yet ambitious in its scope and moods. A hidden gem that deserves each and everyone of its five stars. Number of albums left to review or just listen to: 883 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 62 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 29 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): 27

I really like it. It feels like it was inspiration for King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Some songs are feeling a little out of place and the whole album is somewhat incoherent, but I had fun listening to it.

A surprisingly good album! The first time I’ve been pleasantly surprised by an album I’ve not previously heard of

Rock n roll af. “He’s always there” was sampled for Pussycat dolls “When I grow up”

cool

One of my all time fav records! Genuinely holds up and slaps so hard

some nice instrumentals

Great album.

I loved this one. Quite varied as well with the first half of the album being more blues-rock and the second half psychedelic rock, but easier to listen to than psychedelia sometimes tends to be. Also amazed by how much the first minute of "Ever Since The World Began" sounds like early Black Sabbath. Must have been a huge influence for them. So yeah, The Yardbirds are somewhere between The Beatles and Black Sabbath, combining some of boths' greatness. With the appropriate skill to back it up, that's a 5 in my book.

This was super cool

Didn’t realize how many of these songs I already knew. Really awesome music

VERY sixties, and I love it. Just a comfy album to strap in and listen to. Smooth, catchy, and enjoyable, I don't know what else to say about this album that hasn't already been said. So nice, I played it twice (mono and stereo). Just a rocking, great listen.

Really enjoyed this eclectic mix of tracks, especially the more psychedelic tinged ones Saved tracks: Lost Women, Jeff’s Boogie, Over Under Sideways Down, Turn Into Earth, What Do You Want

Second half of the album really kicks off - plenty to like. The instrumental breaks and jamming are good fun and help keep the album interesting. Lots of tight riffs and memorable lyrics. I'd heard a fair amount of these tracks before but couldn't tell you who did them. Now I can. Farewell, Jeff's Boogie, He's Always There, and What Do You Want stood out the most for me. Another 4.5, but again I'll be kind. Definitely returning to this.

Great mid 60s sound. Really enjoyed

Jeff Beck, Jeff Beck, some Jimmy Page. What can go wrong ?

10/10 can’t go wrong with The Yardbirds, holy shit

if you like this album, quite frankly, you know ball

I can't say that this is a masterpiece, it isn't, but I sure enjoyed it and that's what counts. It's a forward-moving product of its time and that's a good thing. This is a solid 4.5 in my book and the only album so far that I've wanted to listen to twice before deciding where to land with it. This one just squeaked into a 5 spot since I can't give it a half-star and it's better than a 4.

Great Rock

Everything about this is so good. I’m upset I’ve not heard it before.

Super!

This is another fun one. A real window into 60's psychedelia with some of the best guitarists in history. Jeff Beck shows what an absolute monster he is. Just so many good tunes here. And this was all new to me. I basically knew the Yardbirds from "For Your Love" and because they birthed Led Zeppelin and Clapton. This was a whole new trip. Definitely enjoyed! Unexpected banger(s): Over Under Sideways Down, Rack My Mind, Farewell, Jeff's Boogie

Groovy!

Really great album

This was great. I know all the musicians and the band but have never heard this album. Great stuff here, even back then their playing was awesome

This is an important part of music history when blues rock was evolving into psychedelia. But it's much more than that. You can hear how they influenced so many bands to come and also pop culture in general. The opening track Lost Women, with that bass line, could easily be on a Tarantino soundtrack. He's Always There was sampled by the Pussycat Dolls. Black Sabbath was obviously inspired by Ever Since The World Began.

Very cool record! I liked lot how they where not just playing plain blues but also opened them up for other influences

Yes, there were songs that didn’t inspire but I am impressed by how well this album stands the test of time. Excellent musicians

Must have been revolutionary for its time. Still full of good songs

This was definitely a good find for me. Another awesome garage rock and psychedelic album with strong blues influences. It also has a nice raw and gritty sound to really bring out the garage rock feel.

I liked it from the start, but it actually got better with every track. I may gush here. I didnt know the Yardbirds, and I am slightly restless as I cant find the words for their groove - how could you keep still in the 60s with this around? I very much like the pace and energy - its full vibrant blues/rock and really fun to listen to. Feels like I found a perfect musical windows into a little secret performance in the late 60's by the talented ahead-of their-time players who actally showed off their mastery of instruments and styles in a way that only highligts the best of the era - tyhe stuff you'd still want to hear 50 years later - it DELIGHTS (unlike so many 'off-piste' annoying experiment garage projects in this list). These players have the energy, the fun and soul or zeitgeist of the era bottled to perfection. Even "Farewell" which could be naff folk on any other album, is basically a hilarious sing along which brings to mind Michael Palin. Damn, now I need to go find some restored stereo Yardbirds to listen to (unless there is a reason mono is better). Ha, got you thinking. Its okay, I will just binge on whatever I can stream for now, but if I see a good Yardbirds LP, you know, one with low odour and mould levels, I will be procuring it forthwith. 5+

Great

Best album by The Yardbirds! Jeff played all the tracks and this album is gold!

Just the right amount of camp. And it's about an engineer? Fuck yeah.

Solid entry. A bit pretentious at times but what do you you expect? It's The Yardbirds. Fun listen, though.

4.5

Really good, see the influence to so many things

Nice album full of psychodelic songs that work well as a whole album

good, but short

The wobble board sound in Hot House or Omagararshid is hilarious if you think about the dude playing it through the entire track. Jeff's Boogie is great, the stereo version of Turn Into Earth is psychedelic and very trippy with headphones on.

This is one of my favorite albums so far.

Real good, nice, rock sound

Good variety from more traditional blues to more modern sounding songs. Doesn't really work as a complete album.

What a fun album, totally a mix of The Beach Boys, Beatles, and the clash.

Another solid classic!

Great 60s album that covers all sorts of sounds and vibes that ended up evolving into many other genres. Farewell in particular touched me a lot.

A great band, underappreciated. Never heard the full album but I enjoyed it all the way, especially the blues.

Guitar at its best

Fresh rockandroll style, with lots of progressive touches

Rock psicodélico sesentero.

Every song rolled into the next

Adorable. Way more interesting than one would expect, despite no songs I was familiar with going in.

weird punk, feels very creative lyrics are nore important than music

Pues no lo escuché todo, not even sorry. Y no es que estuviera malito, solo que es rock clásico y así. Una fórmula muy probada porque sí funciona(ba?) pero pues es eso

A solid '60s rock album. 8.0/10

Music history lessons are always cool

Really cool guitar work, especially when you consider that this came out in 1966.

Old western vibe, reminds me of red dead redemption

Surprisingly good for something from this era. Really enjoyable album.

Good tracks all round.

well made album, but I found it kind of boring/repetitive

Classic