Fish Heads / Barnes & Barnes Greatest Hits:Barnes & Barnes

Artist: Barnes & Barnes

Date Released: 1982

Label: Rhino

Produced By: Barnes & Barnes

Tracklisting:
 * 1) Fish Heads
 * 2) I Had Sex On TV
 * 3) Swallow My Love
 * 4) Work The Meat (written and performed with Bill Frenzer of Ogden Edsl)
 * 5) Party In My Pants (edit)

Review: One of the highest-selling Barnes & Barnes discs, and reportedly the hardest to actually play -- it's a fish head-shaped picture disc, see. I don't have a copy of this, but I've heard the songs (as all but "I Had Sex On TV" have been reissued on or were taken from other releases). I've also heard that the sound quality was pretty lousy, as picture-discs often are. Still, though, a pretty decent mix, I suppose. Two cuts from Voobaha and one from Spazchow, plus two new songs. The first new song is another of the "I Had Sex With..." ones, and the second is recorded with the lead member of Ogden Edsl (as they're commonly known by, as their full name is insanely long and I never get it right -- "The Odgen Edsl Mondo Blues Wahalia Band"? Something like that.  Just call them Ogden Edsl) of "Dead Puppies Aren't Much Fun" and "Kinko The (Kid-Loving) Clown" fame. "Work The Meat" is a catchy, fun little number, though lyrically, it doesn't seem that it's sure what it wants to be -- it starts out using a butcher shop as a sexual metaphor, but then takes a weird turn into almost being a horror/cannibalistic song (the dialogue in the bridge can be taken either way, particularly the "You got a new girl workin' for you?/Yeah, and the old one's on special!/Great, gimme a pound of her!" part). Still, though, it's a catchy, bouncy song with a great melody, and who says there's anyting wrong with a little ambiguity? Probably not a great starter, though, given that there's so few songs, and the audio quality isn't great, and it's apparently hard to get the stylus on the disc. Yeah. has most of these songs anyway, so just go with that, if that's what you're looking for. - Rev. Syung Myung Me