Golden Earring - Contraband

Import remastered reissue of the long running Dutch rock act's 1976 album that's out-of-print domestically. Album Description

Classic Golden Earring

Contraband / Mad Love was the second GE album I heard. It is one of my three favorites along with Moontan and the 1977 Live album. The songs Bombay, Mad Love's Comin', Sueleen, Con Man, and Fightin' Windmills are 70s rock gems. The guitar work on this album sound great - especially the opening riffs to Bombay and Mad Love's Comin'. Fightin' Windmills get bonus points for referencing Don Quixote.

Other favorites: Moontan (U.S. version), Live, The Naked Truth, Seven Tears, Grab It for a Second.
April 26, 2006

Their worst album

I must apologize as I realize that this is a much-loved album. But my question is: why? Don't get me wrong-I'm a big Golden Earring fan. But Contraband is, in my opinion, a junker. It only contains 7 songs, and I can honestly say that I don't enjoy a single one. Time's Up is garbage. Fighting Windmills is dull and pointless. Con Man is as weak as a water popsicle, and Mad Love's Coming is extremely overrated. The best song on the album might be Bombay-and that's saying alot, as Bombay is as mediocre as mediocre comes.

I hate to do this to my favorite band, but Contrand is a real dud. Don't waste your money unless you thouroghly enjoy the "Grab It For A Second" and "Switch" albums. In my opinion, the mid-late 70's was GE's big down period. Their 1980 and newer albums I find much more appealing, as I do Barry Hay and George Kooymans' 1987 solo albums, "Solo" and "Victory Of Bad Taste", both of which are rarer than an F5 tornado in LA. You'll have to keep an eye on ebay for those two. If you want QUALITY GE, go for "Bloody Buccaneers", "Millbrook USA", "Cut", "Prisoner Of The Night" "The Last Blast Of The Century" "Moontan" "The Hole" "Keeper Of The Flame" "Seven Tears" "Face It" and "Something Heavy Going Down". I myself am partial to these over "Contraband" "Grab It For A Second" and "Switch". May 5, 2004

this flows smoothly...like B.O.C's "agents of fortune"

i like the different textures this album offers,from "bombay" to "mad love" to "time's up" and everything inbetween is excellent.not a recommended first purchase for the neophyte,but of course essential for the diehard!.i like to pair this album with blue oyster cult's "agents of fortune" for some odd reason.another textbook reason on how G.E. knows how to floats outside the realms of hard rock into interesting territory i never get tired of!!!,yet it still can rock pretty well. June 7, 2003

Half and Half

Like the other 70s GE albums, this one is half really good and half really average. Btw, this album was originally released in the US as "Mad Love" and had a different track order and a few different tracks. Still I think it is worth it for the good tracks. September 14, 2002

Easy does it,easy does it.

After trying to make everybody happy,but themselves(maybe),
GE hires a slide guitar player,and lets loose.The result is
a relaxed sounding, easy flowing ,totally GE sounding cd.
Bombay bounces,Sueleen swings and Mad Loves keeps coming at
ya.The other 4 tracks are solid GE too.If you like GE this is a solid addition to your collection,and if you are real fan you probably already have this.But me being the only one to review,
some of you out there are losing out. May 2, 2002

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