# New! Improved! > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/New!_Improved! > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/New!_Improved!.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New!_Improved! > Source revision: 1292833870 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 1969 album by Blue Cheer New! Improved! Studio album by Blue Cheer Released March 1969 (1969-03) Recorded 1969 Studio Amigo, North Hollywood, California Genre Hard rock psychedelic rock blues rock Length 31:25 Label Philips Producer Milan Melvin Blue Cheer chronology Outsideinside (1968) New! Improved! (1969) Blue Cheer (1969) ***New! Improved!*** is the third album by American [rock](/source/Rock_music) group [Blue Cheer](/source/Blue_Cheer). Released in March 1969 by [Philips Records](/source/Philips_Records), it is their first without original guitarist [Leigh Stephens](/source/Leigh_Stephens). The album features songs recorded by two different group lineups: in addition to bassist and vocalist [Dickie Peterson](/source/Dickie_Peterson) and drummer [Paul Whaley](/source/Paul_Whaley), side one includes Bruce Stephens (no relation to Leigh) on guitar and [Burns Kellogg](/source/Ethan_James_(producer)) on keyboards; while side two includes [Randy Holden](/source/Randy_Holden) on guitar and vocals.[1] 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](/source/Blues_rock) and [country rock](/source/Country_rock) styles.[2] 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](/source/Outsideinside)*, and reached number 84 on the [*Billboard* 200](/source/Billboard_200) album chart.[3] 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](/source/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)[4] and *The History of Blue Cheer – Good Times Are So Hard to Find* (1988).[5] ## Critical reception Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating AllMusic [2] Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal 7/10[6] In a retrospective review for [AllMusic](/source/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](/source/Vincebus_Eruptum)* and *Outsideinside*".[2] ## Track listing Album details taken from the original Philips album liner notes and may differ from other sources.[1] Side one No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "When It All Gets Old" Burns Kellogg 2:51 2. "West Coast Child of Sunshine" Bruce Stephens 2:35 3. "I Want My Baby Back" Stephens 3:12 4. "Aces 'n' Eights" Kellogg, Dickie Peterson, Stephens 2:43 5. "As Long as I Live" Peterson, Stephens 2:18 6. "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" Bob Dylan 3:13 Side two No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "Peace of Mind" Randy Holden 7:17 2. "Fruit & Icebergs" Holden 6:05 3. "Honey Butter Lover" Holden 1:21 Bonus tracks on 1994 Repertoire re-issue No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "All Night Long" Kellogg 2:06 2. "Fortunes" Peterson 2:20 ## Personnel **Side One**[1] - [Dickie Peterson](/source/Dickie_Peterson) – bass, 12-string guitar, [vibraslap](/source/Vibraslap), vocals - [Paul Whaley](/source/Paul_Whaley) – drums, percussion - Bruce Stephens – guitar, tortoise shell, [woodblocks](/source/Woodblock_(instrument)) - [Burns Kellogg](/source/Ethan_James_(producer)) – piano, organ - Gene Estes – "percussion stuff" **Side Two**[1] - [Randy Holden](/source/Randy_Holden) – guitar, vocals - Dickie Peterson – bass - Paul Whaley – drums **Production** - Milan Melvin – producer - Hank Cicalo – engineer, mixing - [Greg Irons](/source/Greg_Irons) – cover art and lettering ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-liner_notes_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-liner_notes_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-liner_notes_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-liner_notes_1-3) *New! Improved!* (Album notes). [Blue Cheer](/source/Blue_Cheer). [Philips Records](/source/Philips_Records). 1969. Back cover. PHS-600-305.{{[cite AV media notes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_AV_media_notes)}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_others_in_cite_AV_media_(notes))) 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Deming_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Deming_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Deming_2-2) Deming, Mark. ["Blue Cheer: *New! Improved!* – Review"](https://www.allmusic.com/album/new%21-improved%21-blue-cheer-mw0000272234). *[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)*. Retrieved March 17, 2020. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Blue Cheer Chart History: Billboard 200"](https://www.billboard.com/artist/blue-cheer/chart-history/tlp/). *[Billboard](/source/Billboard_(magazine))*. Retrieved March 15, 2020. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Anderson, Jason. ["Blue Cheer: *Louder Than God: The Best of Blue Cheer* – Review"](https://www.allmusic.com/album/louder-than-god-the-best-of-blue-cheer-mw0000319114). *[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)*. Retrieved March 24, 2020. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Jeffries, Vincent. ["Blue Cheer: *Good Times Are So Hard to Find* – Review"](https://www.allmusic.com/album/good-times-are-so-hard-to-find-mw0000651698). *[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)*. Retrieved March 24, 2020. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-martin_6-0)** [Popoff, Martin](/source/Martin_Popoff) (October 2003). *The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 1: The Seventies*. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: [Collector's Guide Publishing](/source/Collector's_Guide_Publishing). p. 52. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1894959025](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1894959025). v t e Blue Cheer Dickie Peterson Leigh Stephens Eric Albronda Paul Whaley Vale Hamanaka Randy Holden Ralph Burns Kellogg Gary Lee Yoder Nick St. Nicholas Andrew "Duck" MacDonald Prairie Prince Joe Hasselvander Studio albums Vincebus Eruptum Outsideinside New! Improved! Blue Cheer The Original Human Being Oh! Pleasant Hope The Beast Is Back Highlights and Lowlives Dining with the Sharks What Doesn't Kill You... Live albums Blitzkrieg Over Nüremberg Singles "Summertime Blues" "Just a Little Bit" "The Hunter" Authority control databases MusicBrainz release group --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [New! Improved!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New!_Improved!) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New!_Improved!?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.