Customer Rating: 
Summary: C'Mon, Steve....
Comment: Another excellent album. I just hope that Steve will pull his over-inflated head out of his *ss and realize that the grass was greener WITH pavement.
Gee, Steve... I am sorry you had a 'disagreement' with the band. Boo freakin' Hoo.
That band MADE you.
Show the fans (who pay YOUR bills) some respect and do the 'reunion' thing. And I don't mean the "Led Zep" reunion with one or two shows. I mean a full-blown tour. Hey, if you need to bring your 'other' band along, charge us another $5 per ticket. We'll do it & more. Just don't be a dork.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Mostly Concerning the Extras
Comment: Love the album -- 5 stars.
The extra padding is worth the extra (4) dollars (I paid) from a normal, bonusless CD. As has been mentioned already, the bonus tracks help illustrate what the band was trying to do with this album, SM writing in the liners that most of these songs were created through a loose, experimental process with not much in mind as far as end results go.
Of course, with a plethora of extras comes some unnecessary bonus... no, bogus tracks. However, IMO, there are some diamonds among the 32 extra tracks that would have sounded fine on the album. Was it a problem with running time? Maybe something SM could have indicated in the liners...
I like the Peel sesh.
I like how they don't throw in a ton of songs already present on the album.
An easy purchase.
Customer Rating:
Summary: the album in constant rotation on the jukebox in my brain
Comment: i imagine that everyone has a record or two that they know every note from beginning to end, not a wasted nanosecond. from the moment that i hear that opening Eminor chord, i'm whisked away on the Nostalgia Magic Carpet back to my freshman year of high school, emphasis on the former. i can practically smell the hacking-coughed exhales of after school bong hits, shooting pool w/'brinx job' in the background, swearing that the vocal effect on the last few seconds sounds exactly like "Twin Infinitives" era Royal Trux, catatonic on the couch in statuesque bliss by the time 'at&t' comes on. In a time when insecurities both internal and physical were abound, the brilliance of this album was one thing i was absolutely sure about. the best part of the re-issue is the inclusion of the b-sides from the 'rattled by the rush' single. the 'give it a day' single is included as well. it's not as "groundbreaking" as "S&E," and lacks the instant confectionery appeal of "CRCR," but this is the album that marked their creative peak. it takes at least 5 listens before its genious slowly reveals itself, but trust me--invest that time in Wowee Zowee.
Customer Rating:
Summary: This album goes up to 6
Comment: My favorite Pavement record (and quite possibly my favorite album of all time. Right up there with The Clash's London Calling and Built To Spill's You In Reverse), re-released, with and additional 32 tracks! Few things, in this world are capable of reaching this caliber of awesomeness.
This album is absolutely every face of Pavement. From their noisy roots, to their folky love, to their jazzy experiments, to... Well... Almost every kind of rock n' roll you can think of.
The album starts with "We Dance", a song full of mindless lyrics, with absolutely no sense of meaning, that still seems strangely emotional. "Father To A Sister of Thought" is a progressive masterpiece with folk rhythms and harmonies. "AT&T" just makes me smile every time I hear that openning gasp, followed by "Lately... Someone's gonna save me... My Heart Is Made of gravy...". I don't know what it is about that lyric, but it just makes me happy.
This is, however, an album for fanboys (like me) and music geeks (like me), that are in love with diversity and experimentation, and can't stand songs that sound like they fit perfectly into a genre. So, if you are a punk, jazz, or folk purist, just be warned that you will be disappointed with a large portion of these cd's.
For the rest of us, not only is this my favorite Pavement album, it's also my favorite re-release, so far. The bonus tracks here are genuinely great songs. Especially "False Skorpion", "Sensitive Euro Man", and the short but sweet "I Love Perth".
P.S. I heard a rumor that the band might get back together for a tour!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Great Reissue of a Great Album
Comment: Wowee Zowee is one of the most impressionistic rock albums that I have ever heard. The lyrics appear to be complete nonsense, the music is unstructured and chaotic, and the album as a whole is inconsistent and uneven. You could consider all of these things drawbacks, and for a typical band, they are. But Pavement is different. All of those negatives I mentioned are what define Pavement and what make them great.
Wowee Zowee is probably the most difficult of Pavement albums. It's incredibly scattershot and some of the songs are downright goofs that don't really click. But the best of the bunch are classics. Grounded, We Dance, Rattled By the Rush, and Half a Canyon are all great songs. Songs like Brinx Job and Flux=Rad are not bad necessarily, they just seem like half formed ideas or goofs that the band decided to record.
The Sordid Sentinels addition continues the great run of Pavement reisssues. If you're looking to purchase this album, then go with the deluxe addition. It's relatively cheap for a two disc package with a huge booklet, and there are several gems scattered throughout the b-sides like Sensitive Euro Man.
For a Pavement newbie I would recommend Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain first. I think that's there best album and the song structures are coherent and some of the lyrics (though not many) even make sense. I'm hoping for similar two disc treatments for Brighten the Corners and Terror Twilight in the next few years.
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