{{Short description|1969 album by Blue Cheer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = New! Improved! | type = studio | artist = [[Blue Cheer]] | cover = Blue cheer new improved.jpg | border = yes | alt = | released = {{Start date|1969|03}} | recorded = 1969 | studio = Amigo, North Hollywood, California | genre = *[[Hard rock]] *[[psychedelic rock]] *[[blues rock]] | length = 31:25 | label = [[Philips Records|Philips]] | producer = Milan Melvin | prev_title = [[Outsideinside]] | prev_year = 1968 | next_title = [[Blue Cheer (album)|Blue Cheer]] | next_year = 1969 }} '''''New! Improved!''''' is the third album by American [[rock music|rock]] group [[Blue Cheer]]. Released in March 1969 by [[Philips Records]], it is their first without original guitarist [[Leigh Stephens]]. The album features songs recorded by two different group lineups: in addition to bassist and vocalist [[Dickie Peterson]] and drummer [[Paul Whaley]], side one includes Bruce Stephens (no relation to Leigh) on guitar and [[Ethan James (producer)|Burns Kellogg]] on keyboards; while side two includes [[Randy Holden]] on guitar and vocals.<ref name="liner notes">{{cite AV media notes | year = 1969 | title = New! Improved! | type = Album notes | others = [[Blue Cheer]] | location = | publisher = [[Philips Records]] | OCLC = | id = PHS-600-305 | at = Back cover }}</ref>
The two lineups contribute very different material. With Holden, the approach is closer to the previous psychedelic hard rock of Blue Cheer albums; with Kellogg and Peterson, they explore more understated [[blues rock]] and [[country rock]] styles.<ref name="Deming">{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/new%21-improved%21-blue-cheer-mw0000272234 |title=Blue Cheer: ''New! Improved!''{{snd}}Review |last=Deming |first=Mark |work=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=2020-03-17}}</ref> Also, unlike their earlier albums, Peterson plays a smaller role. Holden wrote and sings the songs on side two, while Kellogg and Stephens contribute most of the material on side one.
''New! Improved!'' was slightly more successful than the group's previous album, ''[[Outsideinside]]'', and reached number 84 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] album chart.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/blue-cheer/chart-history/tlp/|title=Blue Cheer Chart History: Billboard 200|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|access-date=March 15, 2020}}</ref> One single "West Coast Child of Sunshine", backed with "When It All Gets Old", was released, but did not reach the charts. The album has been reissued several times and a 1994 release by [[Repertoire Records]] includes two songs first released in 1969 on a non-album single. The Holden compositions "Peace of Mind" and "Fruit & Icebergs" appear on several Blue Cheer compilations, such as ''Louder Than God: The Best of Blue Cheer'' (1986)<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.allmusic.com/album/louder-than-god-the-best-of-blue-cheer-mw0000319114| last = Anderson| first = Jason| title = Blue Cheer: ''Louder Than God: The Best of Blue Cheer''{{snd}}Review| website = [[AllMusic]]| access-date = March 24, 2020}}</ref> and ''The History of Blue Cheer{{snd}}Good Times Are So Hard to Find'' (1988).<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.allmusic.com/album/good-times-are-so-hard-to-find-mw0000651698| last = Jeffries| first = Vincent| title = Blue Cheer: ''Good Times Are So Hard to Find''{{snd}}Review| website = [[AllMusic]]| access-date = March 24, 2020}}</ref>
==Critical reception== {{Music ratings |rev1 = [[AllMusic]] |rev1score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref name="Deming"/> |rev2 = ''[[Martin Popoff|Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal]]'' |rev2Score = 7/10<ref name="martin">{{cite book | last1 = Popoff | first1 = Martin |author-link1= Martin Popoff | title = The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 1: The Seventies | publisher = [[Collector's Guide Publishing]]| date = October 2003 | location = Burlington, Ontario, Canada | isbn = 978-1894959025| page=52}}</ref> }} In a retrospective review for [[AllMusic]], Mark Deming gave the album three and a half out of five stars. He emphasizes the two very different musical styles: terms such as "rootsy", "country rock", and "percussive boogie" are used to describe the songs with Kellogg and Stephens, while Holden's "contributions feel a lot more like the group's formative work [and] suggest an evolution from the towering proto-metal of ''[[Vincebus Eruptum]]'' and ''Outsideinside''".<ref name="Deming"/>
==Track listing== Album details taken from the original Philips album liner notes and may differ from other sources.<ref name="liner notes"/> {{Track listing | headline = Side one
| title1 = When It All Gets Old | writer1 = [[Ethan James (producer)|Burns Kellogg]] | length1 = 2:51
| title2 = West Coast Child of Sunshine | writer2 = Bruce Stephens | length2 = 2:35
| title3 = I Want My Baby Back | writer3 = Stephens | length3 = 3:12
| title4 = Aces 'n' Eights | writer4 = Kellogg, [[Dickie Peterson]], Stephens | length4 = 2:43
| title5 = As Long as I Live | writer5 = Peterson, Stephens | length5 = 2:18
| title6 = [[It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry]] | writer6 = [[Bob Dylan]] | length6 = 3:13 }} {{Track listing | headline = Side two
| title1 = Peace of Mind | writer1 = [[Randy Holden]] | length1 = 7:17
| title2 = Fruit & Icebergs | writer2 = Holden | length2 = 6:05
| title3 = Honey Butter Lover | writer3 = Holden | length3 = 1:21 }} {{Track listing | headline = Bonus tracks on 1994 Repertoire re-issue
| title1 = All Night Long | writer1 = Kellogg | length1 = 2:06
| title2 = Fortunes | writer2 = Peterson | length2 = 2:20 }}
==Personnel== '''Side One'''<ref name="liner notes"/> *[[Dickie Peterson]]{{snd}}bass, 12-string guitar, [[vibraslap]], vocals *[[Paul Whaley]]{{snd}}drums, percussion *Bruce Stephens{{snd}}guitar, tortoise shell, [[Woodblock (instrument)|woodblocks]] *[[Ethan James (producer)|Burns Kellogg]]{{snd}}piano, organ *Gene Estes{{snd}}"percussion stuff" '''Side Two'''<ref name="liner notes"/> *[[Randy Holden]]{{snd}}guitar, vocals *Dickie Peterson{{snd}}bass *Paul Whaley{{snd}}drums
'''Production''' *Milan Melvin{{snd}}producer *Hank Cicalo{{snd}}engineer, mixing *[[Greg Irons]]{{snd}}cover art and lettering
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Blue Cheer}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:Blue Cheer albums]] [[Category:1969 albums]] [[Category:Philips Records albums]]