Customer Reviews
Where is Foot Foot? - By: James N. R. Goad, 06 Sep 2004 
If you find yourself being bored with pop, annoyed by Nu-Metal, sick of whiney Indie, hate Dance & wonder what is happening with modern musicin general, buy this. The Shaggs deliver a slice of fresh sounding, late 1960s, innocent Teen-Angst & a very alternative approach to music.
On first listen, they just seem to be making a disorganized racket but their inner logic & weird melodies soon come shining through the chaos (just don't expect musical virtuosity). This album is a rare gem to be treasured by anyone with an open mind or ataste for avant garde.
The Shaggs are truly unforgettable - By: , 26 Feb 2003 
This album has passed into legend & now it's widely available on CD after it's re-releasein the mid 90's. Most people know the story of the Shaggs - their Father practically forced the girls to form a band despite a total lack of musical ability. They recorded this albumin the 1960's despite protests of the studio engineer that they weren't ready to record. Most copies disappeared & were impossible to find until the reissue. Frank Zappa liked them. This is the original first album on CD & it is the best release out of all to buy. Their later albums an compilations include more polished songs which spoil a lot of the appeal.
What does Philosophy of the World sound like? It sounds bad. Really Really dreadfully bad. The guitars are always out of tune & follow little discernable pattern, the vocals are deadpanin grating strong New England American accents, & the drummer doesn't seem to manage to drumin time once on the whole album. At first it sounds like a complete mess of atonal droning sounds. You have to forget about standard convention when you listen to this album. There are songs about the girl's parents & their cat called Foot Foot. My sister is still convinced that the album is a hoax & the girls on the cover are really menin drag.
The album is a big grower, the melodies are hummable & the lyrics are uplifting & full of hope. The Shaggs often wrote sad songs but they never give up hope. The whole album is full of naive charm & it makes me feel happy to listen to it. Every song has the purity of emotion & simple feeling behind it. Whether you like or hate this album it's well worth listening to because it really is truly unforgettable.
Some people get into this album because they decide that it is a radical new musical experimentationin the mould of microtonal music or free jazz such as Ornette Coleman. I disagree, they are simply a band who REALLY can't play. But the Shaggs are real & honest & they offer more passion & soul than the manufactured & overproduced music made today. This childish & shambollic incompetence has become more popular over the years with bands like Half Japanese or Beat Happening doing similar things. This album could be said to have invented lo fi indie music many years ago.
Whatever you think, listen to this album. It's totally unique & no on else will ever sound like the Shaggs, or make an album like Philosophy of the World. This is a beautiful uplifting experience & it's an album to be treasured.
