The Fabulous Ventures – THE VENTURES***

Needles & Pins/Runnin’ Wild/Eleventh Hour/The Cruel Sea/Scratchin’/Tall Cool One/Only The Young/Journey To The Stars/Fugitive/Ravin’ Blue/Walkin’ With Pluto/Pink Panther Theme

The Fabulous Ventures was a combination of covers and original compositions. Many Ventures fans would have preferred more of the latter even though it would have meant fewer albums. (US:32)

“The Ventures continued the trend of altering their basic surf sound. The band had recently begun using the Mosrite guitar exclusively, and its fuzzy glory is found all over this album including the brilliant Journey To The Stars. The guitars on Only The Young, coupled with the female background vocals, sound absolutely majestic."

“The Ventures were in transition on this album, as the surf was ebbing and the tidal wave from England was crashing onto shore, and they proved, as they would do throughout the rest of the 60s, that they were the kings of instrumental music.”

“It's their standard fare, but with some surf driven selections this time, as well as some early fuzz guitar. There are a lot of really good ideas on this one, that ultimately fail to materialize as promised.”

“Does not deserve consideration among the group's most stellar outings. Relies too heavily on filler to be successful.”

“This is one of The Ventures' most famous albums. Perhaps the most well known song on this album is Journey To The Stars. It certainly sounds like a 'space' tune, just the name of it alone. Some great stuff here.”

“The Fabulous Ventures combined six original compositions including the single Journey To The Stars. It also includes six cover versions of popular songs from the era. In general The Ventures' albums have stood the test of time and hold together well, especially the ones that follow a particular theme.”

“The Ventures kept on becoming better songwriters by the minute, as evidenced by originals like the hyperactive Runnin' Wild, the creepy Eleventh Hour, the silly Scratchin’, the odd chord sequenced Ravin' Blue the ugly stupid Walkin' With Pluto and the picture-perfect surf/spy classic Journey To The Stars, which is one of the best known and most cherished songs ever recorded in this genre.”