101. The Electric Prunes - The Electric Prunes (a.k.a. I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)) (April 1967)

1. I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)*

2. Bangles

3. Onie*

4. Are You Loving Me More (But Enjoying It Less)

5. Train for Tomorrow

6. Sold to the Highest Bidder

7. Get Me to the World on Time*

8. About a Quarter to Nine

9. The King Is in the Counting House

10. Luvin'

11. Try Me on for Size

12. The Toonerville Trolley

B-

This is another headscratcher. It's not that it's a bad album, just that it's a mediocre one. And when there are so many great albums that have been left out of the book, its inclusion is pretty weird.

Let's start with the good. The Electric Prunes (such a terrible, terrible band name) have a great sound. There's a lot of effects, a lot of reverb, some genuinely solid and innovative playing, and even a few primitive electronic flourishes in the form of keyboards and tape effects. The whole album has a dark, weird sound, loose and jazzy sound to it that obviously helped to influence the dark, vaguely gothy sound of a lot of punk and post-punk. Unfortunately, the material is just not up to the sound. In fact, (and, to be fair, the band were forced to record a lot of these songs instead of their own material) often the full-blown psychedelic sound is at odds with the more conventional songs. 

There are a few exceptions, of course. The title track/opener just kicks ass. It starts with a fuzzed-out, reversed, oscillating guitar that sounds like something from outer space. This slams into a hard, dark, totally rocking number that sounds like nothing else, and is basically all hook. Yeah, the lyrics are stupid, but they're also pretty trippy. It's a great song.

Another good song is the pretty ballad "Onie", which is about someone growing up too fast and not enjoying their youth. Musically, it's basically just a 50s-style ballad, but the Prunes' dark and mysterious sound warps it into something rich and strange. 

And then there's the kick-ass, Bo Diddley-swiping "Get Me to the World on Time", another stellar rocker that actually plays to the band's strengths as psychedelic exploraters instead of sticking them into a pop-rock straight jacket.

Otherwise, it's mostly just weak songs with nifty production, and there are even a couple of outright stinkers in "The King Is in the Counting House" and the execrable "Toonerville Trolley".

So is this a bad album? No. But you're basically only listening to it because the title track was on the first nuggets compilation. One great song does not an indispensable album make. I get that this was not the Electric Prunes' fault - they were hamstrung by their producer, who insisted they perform songs written by his pet songwriters. It's pretty good, but fails to meet the standard of being one of the 1001 albums you should hear before you die. Especially when (and I'll gripe about this forever) albums like Homogenic, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Aquemini, and I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One were left out of the Book. But hey! Two Supergrass albums and Billy Fucking Joel, so it's alright. 

Anyway, here's "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)", to save you the trouble of listening to the album: