Tikman ang Langit: An Anthology on the Eraserheads

by Abigail Ho, Joel Pinaroc, Joey Alarilla

For most Filipino youths in the Nineties, the Eraserheads was the band that defined their generation. From the underground scene, the band led the alternative music's invasion of the mainstream and ushered in a new era of Pinoy music.

In this compilation of essays and never-before-see photos, the E-heads exploits and influences are portrayed from the point-of-view of the fans—stories that depict how an ordinary-looking "combo" made their impact, and why we regard them as the last great Pinoy band.

Genres: Nonfiction

97 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was born in 1964 so I am partial to the music of the 70's and probably the 80's. When I entered the 90's, I was already starting my own family and so children's songs and videos would be the staple fanfares at home like how the purple dinosaur Barney would profess his love for all his fans and would plea for their love in return: "I love you, you love me / we are happy familee / with a big great hug and a kiss from me to you / won't you say you love me too. Barney's love fest today, I would say to my wife every weekend.

You see, Eraserheads bestselling album Electromagneticpop came out in 1993 and I got married in 1994 and my daughter was born in 1995. So, if people ask me which Pinoy band group I think was the best ever, it would have been the APO Hiking Society (1969-2009) and not the Eraserheads (1993-2002). Sorry to the fans of Erasers who were mostly born in the 70's, 80's or even early 90's. I understand that they grew up with the music of Ely Buendia, Raymund Marasigan and Marcus Adoro. I heard Pare Ko while riding the jeepney or strolling at the mall but I could not associate it when I was falling in or out of love or while writing a love letter to my crush. I was already married and there was no longer any heartache that I could relate that song with. Also during that time, I preferred the music of Martin Nievera or Ariel Rivera. Prior to Martin becoming a philanderer, my wife liked him and Pops very much so I would buy his cassette tapes to listen while we were in our car. I also liked Ariel Rivera because I used to sing his songs whenever I got invited to videoke sessions by my friends or officemates.

Last year, 2013, however, Robertson became my friend and he was born in 1987 so he grew up listening to the music of Eraserheads. He liked this band very much and he even lent me his compiled versions (their own and other artists' interpretation of E-heads' songs) of the band's songs. If Ariel Rivera's songs were my favorite repertoire in videoke, Robertson's are (yes, even up to now) the songs of Eraserheads. Since he became my constant drinking buddy, I had a reintroduction to Eraserheads. This led me to watching a concert of Ely Buendia in September 2013 with him at the PETA:

Do I now like Eraserheads? Yes, after watching Ely Buendia who is now 41 and he seemed to have changed his image and music. I mean, he is now performing alone because the group disbanded in 2002 for an unknown reason so Ely has now formed his own band and in that concert, he even had his own philharmonic orchestra backing him up. I mean, imagine hearing Pare Ko or Toyang or Ang Huling El Bimbo complete with violin. It was just a joy to hear the music that I used to listen to, however incidental in the 90's. Very different classical take freshly made for the audience's ears.

But still, I think APO is the best Pinoy band group ever.

[Jay Tria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second time to read this. I loved this wholeheartedly the first time I read it. Now I have complex, mixed feelings, similar to my feelings about the band disbanding and who they are now and what they've done since. Still, vv entertaining and educational. And still, I love them in my own biased, 90s, punk kid way.

[Erwin Lemuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A group of fans write their own take on a Filipino band that kicked the door open for Pinoy rock bands to go mainstream. This book contains fans' unique stories about their songs, reflections about their poignant lyrics, poetry and love, and other unknown stories about the band. Eraserheads (a name taken from a David Lynch movie) is often compared to the Beatles for their music and their composition. They produced several albums and wrote songs, which became the anthem of the 90s.

[Jared · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good essays! I got this in 2007 and after a year, they had their reunion concert! Amazing!