American Alternative music reviews

Will Hoge is by far one of the best performers that I have ever had the honor to see on stage. He is what is missing from rock music today. His cd's are just straight no-frills Rock and Roll in the vein of the Stones, Springsteen, Georgia Satellites and the Crowes.

This is an amazing cd. He keeps getting better with every release. This was the start to an amazing career. I just hope that he get's the recognition that he deserves.

If you can, see him live. You will never go to another show that lives up to this guy.

I just discovered Will Hoge, and they are amazing...It is good ole' rock and roll. Will voice is a mixture of Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and the Counting Crows. The lyrics are amazing. Their music will make the hair on your arms stand up. Once you listen to this cd you will never stop playing it. The band rocks. It put rock and roll back into the blood of today! check this cd out...you wont be disappointed!!!

When asked to describe their sound, I come up with something that is at once complimentary and limiting: Elvis Costello meets Bruce Springsteen. Simply put, this album vibrates with great power-chord driven rock and roll, ironically compelling lyrics and pure musical talent.

These guys deliver on major promises. For example, take "Rock and Roll Star". You've got to have a set of big ones to call a song that. But Will's huge guitar(augmented in an impressively twangy fashion by the since-replaced Dan Baird of Georgia Satellites fame)and Kirk Yoquelet's driving, inventive drumbeat hook you and then the words and structure hold you. "Hey get a look at these cheekbones," Will sings at the top of his lungs as he and the band explode into the chorus.

The whole disc does that. It's one catchy, beatuifully developed, loose-feeling rock track after the next. And it's a well organized one at that. Most of the songs are about failed (or failing) relationships, distance, dysfunction, misguided hope for reconciliation. But it's never maudlin. It's amazing how many different ways a band can explore that territory but never repeat the same feel or fall into old traps. Play "Let Me Be Lonely" in the car and, if you don't drive off the road, you're sure to get a speeding ticket. "Heartbreak Avenue", meanwhile, will make you want to spend your time in a smokey roadhouse with a girl named Lucille. In "(Pretty Sure) I'm Over You", co-written by bassist Tres Sasser, Will and the boys are at their foot-tapping best. It's the second to last track, and as purposefully devoid of emotion that song is, Will ends on a title track that is all emotion.

At just over 33-minutes, you'll wish there was more. And more is coming as a new album is expected later this summer or early next fall. "Carousel" will give you a feel of what these guys are like in person. Do go and see them live if you can. They tour constantly, and their website is always being updated. They just wrapped up an extended national tour opening up for Midnight Oil, but you can expect that Will, Tres, Kirk and genuine guitar talent Brian Layson will be back at a concert venue near you in no time.

Will Hoge is by far one of the best performers that I have ever had the honor to see on stage. He is what is missing from rock music today. His cd's are just straight no-frills Rock and Roll in the vein of the Stones, Springsteen, Georgia Satellites and the Crowes.

This is an amazing cd. He keeps getting better with every release. This was the start to an amazing career. I just hope that he get's the recognition that he deserves.

If you can, see him live. You will never go to another show that lives up to this guy.

I just discovered Will Hoge, and they are amazing...It is good ole' rock and roll. Will voice is a mixture of Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and the Counting Crows. The lyrics are amazing. Their music will make the hair on your arms stand up. Once you listen to this cd you will never stop playing it. The band rocks. It put rock and roll back into the blood of today! check this cd out...you wont be disappointed!!!

When asked to describe their sound, I come up with something that is at once complimentary and limiting: Elvis Costello meets Bruce Springsteen. Simply put, this album vibrates with great power-chord driven rock and roll, ironically compelling lyrics and pure musical talent.

These guys deliver on major promises. For example, take "Rock and Roll Star". You've got to have a set of big ones to call a song that. But Will's huge guitar(augmented in an impressively twangy fashion by the since-replaced Dan Baird of Georgia Satellites fame)and Kirk Yoquelet's driving, inventive drumbeat hook you and then the words and structure hold you. "Hey get a look at these cheekbones," Will sings at the top of his lungs as he and the band explode into the chorus.

The whole disc does that. It's one catchy, beatuifully developed, loose-feeling rock track after the next. And it's a well organized one at that. Most of the songs are about failed (or failing) relationships, distance, dysfunction, misguided hope for reconciliation. But it's never maudlin. It's amazing how many different ways a band can explore that territory but never repeat the same feel or fall into old traps. Play "Let Me Be Lonely" in the car and, if you don't drive off the road, you're sure to get a speeding ticket. "Heartbreak Avenue", meanwhile, will make you want to spend your time in a smokey roadhouse with a girl named Lucille. In "(Pretty Sure) I'm Over You", co-written by bassist Tres Sasser, Will and the boys are at their foot-tapping best. It's the second to last track, and as purposefully devoid of emotion that song is, Will ends on a title track that is all emotion.

At just over 33-minutes, you'll wish there was more. And more is coming as a new album is expected later this summer or early next fall. "Carousel" will give you a feel of what these guys are like in person. Do go and see them live if you can. They tour constantly, and their website is always being updated. They just wrapped up an extended national tour opening up for Midnight Oil, but you can expect that Will, Tres, Kirk and genuine guitar talent Brian Layson will be back at a concert venue near you in no time.

The movie sucked, but the soundtrack was a concept album that sadly went unnoticed. Before morons like Limp Biskit and Linkin Park ruined the rap/rock genre, this was probably the best all-around album of its kind, up there with the first couple Rage Against the Machine records. Standouts include what I consider Helmet's best song ever, "Just Another Victim," which is really two songs cut in half, with House of Pain borrowing the riff to make the latter minutes into great old-school hip hop. Slayer and Ice-T, Cypress Hill with Pearl Jam (the latter whom I usually HATE), and a brilliantly disturbing teaming of Faith No More and Boo-Yaa Tribe for "Another Body Murdered" (the first FNM song recorded after they fired original guitarist Jim Martin) are among the tightest and most intense here. Just stay away from the retarded title track by Onyx and Biohazard, it blows.

Good rap-rock is rarer than giant diamonds. This here is the Koh-i-Noor of the genre. What?

I got this album back in '93 when it was new and over the years I lost it. I recently rebought it and I must say it is still an awesome album even by todays standard. The rap/rock merge on this album sounds really natural. Helmet and House of Pain rock! But to me the best song is Faith no More and Boo Ya Tribe's Another Body Murdered. I can't say enough good things about this album, it was the only good thing to come out of the Judgment Night movie, thats for damn sure!!! If you want something that rocks with an old school sound, give it a shot! It's cheap enough!

It's nice to hear all of Hootie and the Blowfish on one CD.

We lived in Columbia SC during the 1990s and got an overdose of Hootie and the boys. There was a definite love hate relationship with the music-we loved the songs but hated hearing them every five minutes on the radio, and eventually stopped listening to Hootie all together. However, time has indeed been a friend to Hootie and to the listener...
Last night Hootie and the Blowfish performed at a charity concert in Greenville SC. They were fantastic! We all acted like the twenty year old kids we once were-dancing, singing every word at the top of our lungs, and loving every minute of the walk down memory lane. I had to go out and get this CD. It does not disappoint. It has all of the songs that saturated the SC airways many moons ago. Still upbeat. Still great for singing along. And as a bonus, it is a CD that even the curtain climbers can listen to.

None of the hits have been edited from their full length album versions on this compilation, and all the top 40 hits from their two big albums are accounted for. The only song that is not the same length as on the original CD is "Tucker's Town." On the album version, after the song ends, there is a pause of silence, and then this 30 second accapella part comes on. It's not particularly of any use to make the song better, and it's omitted on this disc.

This was the first Mannheim Steamroller I bought. I was actually going to the store to get Fresh Aire I and II, but they didnt have either of them so I bought 3 and I wasn't dissapointed. What a nice selection of songs. If you like music with piano you'll enjoy ALL of Mannheim Steamroller's albums. Now as the cd was going on to the last track I was going to turn it off but then the opening piano part to Midnight On A Full Moon started. I was shocked. This song has such a nice groove and reminded me so much of something that Phish would do. I'd say start with this album if you want to get into Mannheim Steamroller.

Why did I give it 4 stars and not 5? Even though I think the album is amazing it has SOME flaws in my opinion. Morning and Interlude 6 kind of slow the album down and bore me a little bit. But the album does pick back up at "The Cricket" which starts off with...crickets.

But truely the piano parts in this album rock. Give this album a chance, it's well worth the money.

If the Fresh Aire series maintained its creative leaps on pace with I, II, and III for the whole series, Mannheim Steamroller would probably be remembered as one of the greatest bands of the 80's. Fresh Aire III is a terrific improvement on FAII's timeless formula, and does an even better job incorporating synthesizers with classic instruments than its predecessor. This album has some of my most favorite songs on it: Amber, Mere Image, Sky, and Midnight are all beautiful songs whose arrangements are surprising.

Unfortunately, The Cricket should've been rethought; it sounds out of place on the record. And again, the album is WAY too short. Still, this is one of their best releases, and I recommend it for even the most casual fan.

I don't consider myself an audiophile, but I have thrown buckets of money at my audio system and I do try to get the best out of it by optimizing the setup. Years ago, friends and I began using the LP of this album when evaluating audio components. To understand why, just play "Toccata" at a relatively high volume. This disc has lively, dynamic music that has been blessed with outstanding recording quality. To appreciate it at it's best, I recommend that you turn out all of the lights and crank up Toccata - that's what I dubbed the standard darkness test. Towards the end of the tune, there are some incredible drum sounds. Classic Fresh Aire !

This was the first Mannheim Steamroller I bought. I was actually going to the store to get Fresh Aire I and II, but they didnt have either of them so I bought 3 and I wasn't dissapointed. What a nice selection of songs. If you like music with piano you'll enjoy ALL of Mannheim Steamroller's albums. Now as the cd was going on to the last track I was going to turn it off but then the opening piano part to Midnight On A Full Moon started. I was shocked. This song has such a nice groove and reminded me so much of something that Phish would do. I'd say start with this album if you want to get into Mannheim Steamroller.

Why did I give it 4 stars and not 5? Even though I think the album is amazing it has SOME flaws in my opinion. Morning and Interlude 6 kind of slow the album down and bore me a little bit. But the album does pick back up at "The Cricket" which starts off with...crickets.

But truely the piano parts in this album rock. Give this album a chance, it's well worth the money.

If the Fresh Aire series maintained its creative leaps on pace with I, II, and III for the whole series, Mannheim Steamroller would probably be remembered as one of the greatest bands of the 80's. Fresh Aire III is a terrific improvement on FAII's timeless formula, and does an even better job incorporating synthesizers with classic instruments than its predecessor. This album has some of my most favorite songs on it: Amber, Mere Image, Sky, and Midnight are all beautiful songs whose arrangements are surprising.

Unfortunately, The Cricket should've been rethought; it sounds out of place on the record. And again, the album is WAY too short. Still, this is one of their best releases, and I recommend it for even the most casual fan.

I don't consider myself an audiophile, but I have thrown buckets of money at my audio system and I do try to get the best out of it by optimizing the setup. Years ago, friends and I began using the LP of this album when evaluating audio components. To understand why, just play "Toccata" at a relatively high volume. This disc has lively, dynamic music that has been blessed with outstanding recording quality. To appreciate it at it's best, I recommend that you turn out all of the lights and crank up Toccata - that's what I dubbed the standard darkness test. Towards the end of the tune, there are some incredible drum sounds. Classic Fresh Aire !

I saw Minibar in concert - they opened for Pete Yorn and I thought they were better that Pete (in terms of their performance)! I bought Road Movies soon after the concert and I have enjoyed listening to it. Their sound reminds me of Wilco and Goo Goo Dolls a bit. Lyrics are introspective and intelligent. In general, a great album.

I heard Minibar on the radio, so i went out and bought Road Movies. The album is great!!! I also listen to WHiskytown, Ryan Adams, Pearl jam, csny, all the good stuff! i recomend this album!

I saw them play a little place in San Francisco last night. They are incredible. Their lyrics pierce you and their sound makes you want to cry. I got this CD, and it is amazing. I absolutely recommend it.

It's no wonder that many are tossing their CD's in the trash in favor of MP3's. With packaging as poor as this why would you even want the CD? The music itself irregardless of what Westerberg thinks about it now is close to essential, not quite as important as "Let It Be" or "Pleased To Meet Me" but none the less a vital trasnsition EP that paved the way for the the later records. But the reissue packaging is abysmal. No liner notes no info other than the original back of the EP jacket basically no nothing and the booklet that is with it is a single piece of glossy paper! not really a booklet. My suggestion is this, this EP as good as I think it is is not really nessesary given the poor packaging so I would pass on it and skip right to "Let It Be" and "Pleased To Meet me" or even skip back to "Sorry ma Forgot To Take Out The Trash" however be forwarned that the same company has reissued them all so I suspect the packaging is equally inferior on the rest...

This album comes at you full force and doesnt relent. The early days of the greatest band. They're like an uncut diamond on this album. Not polished up for the masses but you see a little of whats beneath the grime on the surface.

The genre police may not find this genuine 'hardcore'. But I remember my reaction when I first started to hear 'hardcore' in the early 80s -- the Replacements had already been there and done that, but way better, on the 'Stink' EP.
One slow song, and a fistfull of loud fast funny anthems - how can you not own an album that contains a song called F--- School? My fave is "Gimme Noise" an attack on another Mpls band that jumped on the post-punk bandwagon. (The Suburbs)

I give you my jacket
You give me your glamor
Gimme that racket
Gimme that hammer

And then Bob Stinson rips into an undefinable self-destructing guitar break. You could say Stink is as much Bob's record as Paul's. Of all the Mats discs this one probably shows off Bob's gonzo playing the best. Which is a nice reminder that even though the songs are funny, this record isn't a joke.

This show in New York is a special one with some rare songs to see them play live such as horn, makisupa policeman, tela, the curtain, and keyboard army.. also, some kick*** covers such as frankenstein, halley's comet and bold as love....

Highlights from Set 1: (not one song in set one goes into another song, a huge rarity) this show starts out with a rockin suzy greenburg, with an awesome page solo on it, followed by a great llama that keeps the high energy flowin, also a differently played taste, but the best part of this set is the 10:43 foam!! it kicks some a**

Set 2: starts out with a chess move that doesn't happen for whatever reason then goes right into a nice stretch of the curtain, tweezer> timber> tweezer> keyboard army.. both tweezer's are SICK and are pretty differernt from eachother.. after keyboard army, another awesome stretch starts with an alomst 12 minute halley's comet> a 9 minute NICU> an 11:25 slave.. encore is a sick bold as love, better than any other bold as love i have heard

the second set alone is worth the price of this live phish show!! this show is a good one to get into with the variety of covers, rarities, and solos

a definite must have if colleting all the live phish shows

What a great show! I can see why the boys thought this date worthy of the first release in this series. The energy is high and the jams are great. It's one of those nights, you can hear it clearly, the band was getting it, hitting on all cylinders. But more than that, the crowd was great. They were listening and sending the energy back. The crowd knew they were getting a special show, and they were returning the love. The band knew that the crowd knew. The crowd knew the band knew that crowd knew, and so on, a positive feedback loop that spirals faster and faster, accelerating, torqued and twisted, achieving liftoff. You can tell it was one of those glorious nights where the trippers in the crowd outnumbered the drunks.

The ten-minute jam at the end of Split Open and Melt (one of the rare Phish tunes that could actually be described as sexy) is phenomenal. Everyone is jamming hard but also they are jamming together. Frankenstein is another great high energy instrumental to close out the first set. By the way, I loved it that Phish would give you a high-powered first set. Sometimes the first set would be the more intense set. Contrast that to the Grateful Dead who, at least by the time I was on the scene, had to sandbag through the first set because of limitations of stamina, effort, or both. The second set contains more intense jamming, including a great Tweezer > Timber > Tweezer, keyboard army (a good dose of Page on the keybaord is a good sign, he's far from the most charismatic of the band but he may well be the most talented musician), and then a nice jam on the infectious doo-wop Halley's Comet. Some of these releases from the live series seemed to have been picked for release because they played a lot of their popular tunes, or they are historic shows, such as the legendary Halloween shows or Live Phish Volume Four with some nice ambient jamming from their Japan tour, but this first volume is just an all-around fun, high energy show. Makes for good driving music.

this cd is the awfullest thing i ever saw...this guy, tray anastasimo is harry like a freakin gorilla...sucks on a guitar. they play songs that are wierd, like on drugs

Yes, I am glad there are a few good reviews here that slate this weak lp.
The thing you have to know about 'westerberg' (lead singer of this band) is that he has these die hard followers who love everything he has done (and does now-worse) full stop. I'm sure there are some that say they are only replacements fans, but then they probably love everything that the replacements have done.
This album is practically ready for the bin.
Bar about three tracks out of twenty- It always sucked (and I got it in the peak of my replacements listening/loving days)- it is never hardcore, just unlistenable.
Want hardcore, get 'husker du - new day rising' or 'Stink' by replacements' or even indeed, like some other good fellow said 'Tim' and then 'Let it be' by this band - they are the two best.

You have careless/johnny's gonna die/shiftless when I'm idle and maybe 'takin a ride' too (notice these are the ones that other anti 'sorry ma' revierwers picked) - they are the only half decent tracks on this.
It's a very weak record from production to playing (but most of all, westerberg ruins it with his hideous vocals on the most of the stuff.
I really just would'nt bother pal. It'll be one to throw away, or worse give away to some other poor soul who won't understand.

This band went major label and really changed in a good way-showing a new and incredible side to themselves after 'let it be', unlike a band like husker du - who became anti-political and began talking rubbish after they left for warner.
Lucky to get two stars.

When I was in high school, I bought this as a tape first and I couldn't stop listening to it. It was hardcore and fast enough to pump the adreneline but it had enough hooks and great songs (even great lyrics if you can hear them sung very very fast) to distinguish it from the skater punk crap which always played the same couple of chords in the same deadly dull rotation with the same vocalist (can't call him a singer) trying to sound tough. "Taking a Ride", "Something to Do" and "Hanging Downtown" were those tracks that spoke to me in a way that only Holden Caulfield could otherwise (yeah I didn't realize that I was a little stereotypical in the teenager department - I also wore my hair long and greasy and refused to cut it until after Freshman year in college. Oh shut up.)

Obviously this is not your usual Replacements album, and the flashes of craftsmanship that would start with Hootenanny were not yet formed. But it's great on its own merits. So much so, that I spent years claiming that this was the only decent Replacements album before a stultifying descent into dullness (well that one with the sheep was pretty bland.) So maybe this should be your first Mats album and maybe you should be 15 to love it like I did, but it's still a great album. And the songs are some of the best crafted pieces of music in punk history.

This band defined garage fast & hard, shun the mainstream sound. This 1st album is probably my favorite Mats album but I like them all. This cd is one of those rare albums where you will not skip a track on this. Every song is appealing in it's own way. The guitar riffs are sketchy but thats the beauty of this album it's so raw and unpolished. I have to say this album is their most Punk sounding. It came out in 1981 so far from the New Wave that was on the airwaves. Westerburg's voice goes right through you. I can't possibly list standout tracks because like I said every song is good. But "Customer" is a funny tune, opening track "Taking a ride" such a catchy song, "Kick your door down" great chorus track."Shiftless when Idle, "I hate Music" such a Punk Rock tune. If you truly like real garage/punk sound this album is essential to collection. This CD is in my top 5 of all time.