(Psychedelic Humor) The Firesign Theater - Waiting For The Electrician Or Someone Like Him - 1968 - 2001, FLAC (image+.cue) lossless

The Firesign Theatre's debut album is quite impressive. It's a tad more conventional than subsequent releases, where the surrealist side of the quartet would flower, but it is as funny as the best of their material. The record crackles with the excitement that occurs when four novices realize that they're onto something completely new and innovative. The performances are some of the strongest they've ever commited to record, as if they figured this thing just might be a one-shot deal, their 15 min. of fame.

Side one presents three clean, clear-eyed satirical pieces. All are complete and whole in and of themselves; no cross-referencing or "runners" occur from cut to cut. The first deals with the past - primarily the sad fate met by the Native Americans at the hands of the Conquistadors and European pioneers. The second finds us in the present, smack dab in the middle of a hippie commune, complete with gurus, love children, and a psychedelic Lone Ranger. The third casts an eye toward the future, where everyone (from goverment on down) has collectively dropped out, tuned in, and turned on. All three pieces are very straightforward in the messages they're trying to relate, the last two being especially critical of the then-new "flower power" which was fast dividing generations. Never again did a Firesign album deal so blatantly with the notion of psychedelics and hippies - later releases would feature similar character types and drug themes would recur, but never has that particular aspect of the culture been taken so head-on.

Side two consists of the titular piece, the group's first attempt at a long-form piece. It is the stream-of-consciousness journey of a man trying to get out of some nameless, hostile Eastern-European country. Along the way, he encounters secret agents, political prisoners, and govermental goons of all types. Because this is the first time they undertook such an extended piece, they get an "A" for effort. However, the track is rather hit-or-miss, though it does feature some hysterical lines and one of their all-time best game show parodies, "Beat the Reaper!" The chief problem seems to be that the protagonist, "P (Austin)," is not clearly defined. He's an anonymous, somewhat confused voice whose motivations and ultimate destination remain obscure. Their next attempt at a long piece featuring a character going on a journey (on "How Can You Be...") would prove to be more successful, as that character's goals were evident from the beginning (even if it the goal is just "to get away from it all").

Even on this first album, it's clear that the four see the importance of taking the listener on a journey in order to engage them. All of their most succesful albums have this in common, whether it be the car ride of "How Can You Be...," the TV channel surfing of "Don't Crush That Dwarf," the past-present-future trek of "Everything You Know Is Wrong," or the jaunt at the Future Fair in "I Think We're All Bozos On This Bus." This record is basically the Firesign Theatre's blueprint for all future work... and an incredibly strong one, at that!

-- Phil Buchbinder