The Good: Funny, Clever, Amusing introduction
The Bad: Production of "laugh track," Mostly old material
The Basics: Despite being repackaged live works of previously released songs, and the appearance of this album in a superior anthology, this is a good album.
There is something terribly clever about Tom Lehrer in the way he made his recordings. Lehrer was a musical satirist for only a few years, producing new material that made for a surprisingly enduring musical comedy career. His ability to repackage his own material and get it re-released is rather incredible. Indeed, sometimes it is impressive to consider that he only released three albums of original material in his repertoire. The rest of his albums were "live" renditions of his studio recordings. One such live album is Tom Lehrer Revisited.
Tom Lehrer Revisited is a recreation of Songs By Tom Lehrer (reviewed here!) with all twelve of the songs from that album presented in a live format with a brief introduction before each song. Also includes is a comedic introduction for Tom Lehrer, wherein he introduces himself as the greatest creative mind of the 20th Century in a clever, funny introduction. The net effect is that this recording has the feel of being in the auditorium to watch . . . or listen to . . . Tom Lehrer perform. But essentially, this is material from his prior studio recording represented with a mildly different sound and feel.
With fifteen tracks, clocking in at 41:02, the compact disc reissue of Tom Lehrer Revisited wisely adds two bonus tracks - studio recordings from Lehrer's tenure on The Electric Company - to give additional value to the live album. This works to suck the otherwise unoriginal album out of the purely mediocre territory and earns it a faint "recommend." The thing is, one of the aspects I do not enjoy about most live albums is the noise of the audience. On comedy albums, this has the net effect of providing a laugh track and that insipid device is troubling no matter where it pops up.
That said, it is easy to see how Tom Lehrer rose to the success he had; Lehrer is electric and his asides before the various songs are fresh and funny. For example, when introducing "The Hunting Song," Lehrer's observation that every year there are stories of hunters being shot by their fellow hunters, perhaps "under the impression that he was a deer, with a red hat . . . [or] a large, flesh-colored squirrel" ("The Hunting Song"), makes me smile every time he delivers the line.
Lehrer is a comedian and quite an adequate one at that. His lyrics are funny and on Tom Lehrer Revisited, he focuses mostly on universal topics. Following his "Introduction," Lehrer sings about the United States ("I Wanna Go Back To Dixie," "The Wild West Is Where I Want To Be"), academia ("Fight Fiercely Harvard") and his take on love songs ("I Hold Your Hand In Mine"). Lehrer's perspective is one that clearly seeks to break up the mundane by exposing his version of truth. He does this by singing about love, politics and American pastimes and institutions.
Lehrer writes all of his own material and on Tom Lehrer Revisited, he does choose some of his best works. Perhaps one of his most twisted is "I Hold Your Hand In Mine," where he sings, "I hold your hand in mine, dear, / I press it to my lips, / I take a healthy bite / From your dainty fingertips. / My joy would be complete, dear, / If you were only here, / But still I keep your hand, / As a precious souvenir." His aside following this rendition is charming and the love song that involves slaughtering one's love is certainly an underrepresented niche that Lehrer alone might have filled.
He is unafraid to try anything for musical comedy, though and this includes presenting a lullaby to drug dealers. He wrote and on this album sings, "Ev'ry evening you will find him, / Around our neighborhood. / It's the old dope peddler, / Doing well by doing good. He gives the kids free samples, / Because he knows full well / That today's young innocent faces / Are tomorrow's clientele" ("The Old Dope Peddler"). More than making judgments, Lehrer makes musical observations and that serves him well for his comedy.
The two bonus tracks on the compact disc version of Tom Lehrer Revisited are educational pieces, "L-Y" and "Silent E." On this live album, these two very produced studio tracks stand out, also for their lack of real humor. Instead, the listener is treated to a lesson on the effect that adding "-ly" has to a word. Similarly, Lehrer manages to make a song that illustrates the power of adding an "E" to the end of words. He sings, "Who can turn a cub into a cube? / Who can turn a tub into a tube? / . . . He took a pin and turned it into a pine / He took a twin and turned him into twine . . . A little glob becomes a globe instantly, / If you just add Silent E" ("Silent E"). He does succeed in being both educational and amusing . . . it just does not fit this particular album that well.
Musically, the listener can expect some diversity of style, but this is essentially a man and his piano on stage and is limited mostly to that. Lehrer has a smooth singing voice and the album sounds good, despite the interruptions from audience laughter - which, despite being true, sounds terribly produced on this album. Because most people who are reading this review might already be familiar with some of Lehrer's works, choosing whether or not to get this album might come down to knowing which songs are on it. Essentially, this is mostly already released material and the only reason one would have to pick this up would be because they like these particular songs (or self-deprecating comedy, which comes in the "Introduction") but not the desire to hear any of Lehrer's other songs.
For a humor album, this holds up remarkably well and it has a timeless quality that some other humor albums do not have, making it worthwhile. As a fan of Tom Lehrer's works, I would be remiss in simply recommending this disc when there is the definitive boxed set of Lehrer's works. That is The Remains Of Tom Lehrer - reviewed here! - and it includes this album - including the two bonus tracks - as the rest of his works in one place, making it an even better deal!
Tom Lehrer Revisited works as a brief escape from the ordinary and has humor that can still be appreciated today, making it part of a worthwhile body of work. Anyone who likes to laugh and who likes classic comedy - Lehrer pioneered quite a bit of humor in terms of political and musical humor - will find something to enjoy with this album.
The best track is "I Hold Your Hand In Mine," the least inspired track is "The Wiener Schnitzel Waltz."
For other comedy albums, check out my reviews of:
Songs In The Key Of Springfield - The Simpsons Soundtrack
Monty Python Sings! - Cast Of Monty Python’s Flying Circus
Family Guy Presents Live In Las Vegas - Family Guy Cast
5.5/10
Check out how this work stacks up against all other musical works I have reviewed by visiting my Music Review Index Page where the reviews are organized from best to worst!
© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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