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Critic's Review
Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
A self-described "work in progress," Conscientious Objector consists primarily of outtakes, demos, and alternate versions of songs from R. Stevie Moore's forthcoming collaboration with Yukio Yung, The Yung and Moore Show. The follow up to the pair's 1997 collaboration Objectivity, The Yung and Moore Show features a full-on return to pop songwriting on Moore's part, to an extent not seen since the days of Teenage Spectacular. Even in these somewhat rough forms, the sparkling brilliance of songs like "Schwanns Catalog" and "Name Tag the Entertainer" is clear, and the two newly enhanced versions of two of Moore's most beloved songs, "Everything" and "I Go Into Your Mind" are sublime, with Yung's sensitive rearrangements supporting some of Moore's best vocal performances in some years. Besides these gems, Conscientious Objector contains surprises like a pair of tunes featuring the Breetles' Chris Breetveld, including one, "Evelyn Road," that's a charming tribute to Moore, a surf-rock version of Frank Zappa's "Cruising for Burgers," and an enjoyably bonkers cover of Cheeky Monkey's power pop nugget "Down." Even the odd little found-sound interludes have a higher batting average than usual, the highlights being the two-part phone tape "Walt Gollender's Breath," and a pair of musical birthday greetings to Moore and his wife Krystyna Olsiewicz by Moore's occasional musical partner David Gregory. Overall, Conscientious Objector is Moore's strongest effort in years.
