American Alternative music reviews

I didn't know what to expect when I purchased this CD. Having seen the DM live 3 times, I knew that their live show isn't exactly always sonically impressive.
Look at it this way- Pink Floyd and the other bloated 'quad-sound-only' live-acts can sleep soundly at night.
That said, the performances captured on this CD are VERY energetic, and the song selection is pretty much spot-on.
I agree with the previous review - if this is your first DM CD, I would start with, say, "Big Lizard" or "Beezelbubba" (as with any group, it's never a good idea to start with a live-album). For all DM fans, however, this is a GREAT, worthy purchase.

I like the Dead Milkmen, so I like this cd, but if you've never heard them, try their studio stuff first. This cd probably won't win over too many new fans. Try Beezlebubba, Bucky Fellini, or Richard, Not Dick or whatever it's called. (if you can find it) Anyway, back to THIS cd. It has sort of a raw production, but not so raw that it sounds completely bad. Some well known songs are performed like "Punk Rock Girl" and "Bitchin Camaro". This show was recorded during the Beelzebubba tour, I assume, because there are no songs that came out after that on this cd. There is a hidden track at the end. You'll find a live version of "If I Had A Gun". If you're already a DM fan, this cd is for you. If you're not familiar, get a studio cd first.

I think that this is a really good buy for a dead milkmen fan. This CD is great, the dead milkmen live from the peak of there performace. I love the way that they change the lyrics and they get the crowd into it, almost makes you feel like you were there

I like the part where that guy, you know, he does that thing with the monkey wrench that makes his mom sick, and she you know she says something to him about it after dinner, only he doesn't speak Italian so he pretty much has to take her word for it so he blows up their rice paddy with seven sticks of dynamite and the collected works of Vonnegut... yeah, that part was BADASS...

I was at this show at the Unicorn in Milwaukee. It was AWESOME and sad. It was the end of an era.

every killdozer release has always been a horrendous special occasion.if you like music designed to mess up your soul-full volume-guitar wacking-throat screaming-nothing sacred joke band.all the lyrics are worth remembering....their sound is unique... if you like killdozer this c.d. will be pleasure.most these songs are on previous releases.but the 1st notes of porky's dad-this rocks real hard.i like loud & out of kilter rock.-doesn't get much crazier.you could use this as starter point for any killdozer initiation. ...the live versions are worth hearing...plus a couple new classics. this is easier to listen to than a lot of the slop i'm exposed to-it's raw-fun-hard-universal-& a great last opus.a band with a sense of humor-they were live band-so this picks up some of their best moments.i'd put this in my top 20 live c.d. recording.

Lead Singer of Hammerlock- Jeff Kulik, must have been trying to be biographical while making this album. Because he portrays the "real" American Asshole. Yes, i believe he is the @$$hole in the cd title- American Asshole. But i can't help but like the cd. I think it's great. Please continue with the great work- Jeff.

All music should have the heart and soul this CD contains. This is true American music

Pussy Galore is one of those bands that people either liked or hated with a passion. Their songs were collections of loud, disorienting noise that I find to be strangely appealing. Not for the easily offended, the lyrics of these songs are very graphic, especially regarding the female anatomy (e.g. Cunt Tease, Teen Pussy Power, etc.) This impressive collection (28 tracks, 78 minutes), compiled by lead singer Jon Spencer a couple of years after Pussy Galore disbanded, chronicles the band's explosive first year (1985-1986). This is different than anything you will ever come across. For that reason, give Corpse Love and anything else in the Pussy Galore catalogue a listen.

I love this album not just for it's intenseness,
but it's genuine lo-fi sound.
There's also a blues feel in this record,
you can really hear the pain in the song "Constant Pain",

This is probably the best spot to jump into this band's discography to get some perspective as to why they were the hardest rockin' politically pissed off bunch of canucks you'd ever wanna meet. There's lots of rare tracks you'd have hocked body parts to get, back in the 80's (wish I had'nt).

It's all here. Great, good, and 'thought you might want to hear this.' Some really funny tunes here such as "OO-EE-OO..." which is actually part of another song with the "new lyrics" sung over. Can you name it? "Trial By Media" and "Murder In Hollywood" hit the listener hard. The band, never one to pull any punches, lets the listener in on some of the events that the band has been part of. The cast of characters who played on the different tracks really ought to have their own books, but the music says enough for now.

This is a simple collection of all the piano interludes throughout the first four albums of the Fresh Aire series. It's a great album. BUT I MUST SAY, you must be in the mood to listen to it. It is all slow, sad, and depressing music. If you are not a die hard fan, and already own the first four Fresh Aire albums, you could make this collection on your own.

I love this CD! I had this on cassette for years, till it wore out. Then I couldn't find it on CD. Finally, I found it here and got it. Perfect for when you want some quiet, soft piano music to listen to. The music is accompanied by environmental sounds like rain, distant thunder, and birds chirping. Very relaxing.

When a friend gave me this ep as a gift in 1997, I wasn't too impressed. American Music Club? The name was reminiscent of ill-fated relationships with record clubs (12 albums for $1!)or the moive theater my husband worked at while in college. After laying dormant in my CD collection for years, I decided to give AMC another try and I was blown away. The ep kicks off with "Hello Amsterdam" and just gets better. My favorite song is "Just Took My Sleeping Pills...", a rocking, sad song about losing oneself and the disappointments inherent in relationships. Really wonderful album overall. I look forward to discovering more AMC--wonderful!

The most interesting things about this EP is that it showcases some startlingly different sides of American Music Club. Their full-length albums are masterpieces of cohesiveness, but this one spreads the band all over the stylistic map in a way that can't help but shake the listener up a little bit.

The version of "Hello Amsterdam," though ostensibly different from the one included on "San Francisco," sounds about the same to me: raucous, straightforward rock, and a tribute to ABBA, no less. Then you have the nervous energy of "I Just Took My Two Sleeping Pills," followed by the comic and cynical bitter of "The President's Test" (supposedly written about a guitar-shop encounter between Mark Eitzel and members of the power-ballad band, Tesla). Then you've got a beautiful cover of the old pop classic, "On a Clear Day," a move that might have prefigured Mark's inclusion, on his solo "60 Watt Silver Lining," of the "Dusty in Memphis" arrangement of another pop standard, "No Easy Way Down." The EP's final two tracks are a more passionate rendering of "San Francisco"'s "The Thorn In My Side," and then a real AMC rarity, a non-Eitzel song, in "Elbow Deep."

All in all, this EP's cheap and has some really good songs on it. Probably not the best introduction to AMC (any of their albums would work better in that capacity, I think), but if you're already a fan, you can't help but like "Hello Amsterdam" for its stark contrast to the tonal consistency of most of the group's albums; this one's really all over the place.

I didn't really fully appreciate the joke behind Clam Dip and Other Delights until I found my father's old vinyl copy of Herb Alpert's Whipped Cream and Other Delights.

The cover has the same graphics and the synopsis written on the back is derived from the same writing style of whoever wrote the notes on the back of Whipped Cream and Other Delights. And the naked Karl on the cover doesn't really help you take them any more serisously. The weird thing was, Herb Alpert was the president of A&M at the time that this was released from Twin/Tone. The fact that Soul Aslyum signed a contract with A&M proves either one of two things: 1) Alpert didn't care or 2) he never noticed.

So on to the music: these are all things that got scrapped from the Hang Time album in 1988. And considering that everything here fell by the wayside during those sessions, this EP is pretty consistent (perhaps unintentionally so). P-9 is similar to Twidlee Dee, which probably explains its exclusion from Hang Time. Artificial Heart is probably the most experimental the band ever became with all the disjointed riffs and straightfoward vocal delivery from Dave Pirner. Take It To The Root is funk-racket. Secret No More and Just Plain Evil are pretty standard punk-pop from Minneapolis, but Chains should have made the cut for Hang Time.

All in all, not bad at all. But the artwork makes it all worthwhile. To me, it's a riot because I think Herb Alpert is/was a joke.

There a few good songs on this...its worth getting just for the song P9

This is early Soul Asylum at their best. I like every song, but "Secret No More" is the weakest track. They really mix their hard-edge with their pop on this EP. The two tracks that stand out the most are "Artificial Heart" (which is a tongue-in-cheek song about an assault on a woman with an artificial heart), and "P-9". I highly recommend this EP. It's worth the money.

I bought this one to replace my earlier disc on the Bigtime label, because the sound quality on that one is terrible. Well, that was a waste of money because to call this new one "remastered" is tantamount to FRAUD. Whoever remastered this version must have been some kind of amateur as there is very little distinction bewtween the two versons. If you have the earlier CD don't with this one, unless you really want the bonus tracks.

Oh, and by the way, the songs themselves are great!

After Days Of Wine And Roses and Medicine Show it would be difficult to really stand above the potentials set forth by these two discs. Out Of The Grey is a good set. It is not as strong as the previous two releases. Now, the good stuff, 50 In A 25 Zone, Now I Ride Alone, Let It Rain (cover), and the way the songs express the movement from a great live guitar band into more of a studio oriented band.
The Dream Syndicate was great, just great live on the tour right after Medicine Show right before changing guitarists. That Steve Wynn and Karl Percoda would clash is a given. Live I saw KP play John Coltrane Blues and Medicine Show on his back at 688 in Atlanta, and the rest of the time is was classic power guitarist stance. It was wonderful. SO, how does a band follow the fuzz and wash of lyric and jam? With Out Of The Grey. And that is exactly what this album is, out of the grey.
It is a reach to become a more distinct song band and not simply the greatest band of the paisley underground. If you want to complete your Dream Syndicate collection then of course buy this remastered CD that includes Ballad Of Dwight Frye, Cinnamon Girl, the blues rave Shake Your Hips and Lonely Bull. It's a lot of fun and great car CD because it sounds good loud with the wind and the road.

In 20 years of being a radio DJ (both commercial and non-commercial radio), Every Time I have played the song "Dancing Blind" off this album, someone has called me on the listener line and asked "who's that guitarist?" Paul B. Cutler (formerly of 45 Grave, an early '80s punk-metal band) debuted as the new Dream Syndicate guitarist on this album but his style was never hip enough to be appreciated by the alternative crowd. Cutler was more influenced by Eric Clapton than the Lou Reed-style noise-making of the band's previous guitarist. This apparently turned off the Dream Syndicate's original fans but it could have won them a bunch of new fans if the music industry had only bothered to give this album some hype. Along with "Dancing Blind", "Slide Away" sounds like a lost Rolling Stones classic, "Boston" is great singer-songwriter style rock, "Drinking Problem" is about an alcoholic actor on the David Letterman show, and the rest of the songs are solid though probably less immediately memorable. '80s rock radio wanted all '80s guitar bands to sound like either Def Leppard or Stevie Ray Vaughan - anyone who sounded different got pigeon-holed as one of those 'inferior' punk-rockers. This sort of anti-spirit-of-rock narrow-mindedness killed the careers of many talented '80s bands. The Dream Syndicate were one of the major victims.

This was originally a six song EP released in 1983. It was recorded live at the Peppermint Lounge in February of 1983. This CD features two additional songs recorded at the same concert. The songs consist of Cramps originals plus a cover of the theme song from "Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" and a cover of the Count Five's "Psychotic Reaction". This is a decent live recording, but not really the Cramps at their best. The CD also includes the song the Cramps recorded for the movie "Return of the Living Dead", "Surfin' Dead" (one of my personal favorite Cramps songs). I believe this was also the first time that Poison Ivy posed for a "cheesecake" photo for an album cover.

After their lengthy court battle with IRS (Miles Copland), the Cramps immediately released this EP. The prominent sexuality that would become their image started with this album. The original release included just the first six songs. Since then, with each new re-release they've added a new song, and each time, that track has done little to improve the quality of the recording. In fact, I think these extra tracks take away from the original idea and concept of a short and snappy album. A vinyl release (4 7" records) included the best track--Weekend on Mars, which is not included here. Why not put that track on instead of these inferior cuts (She Said, Beautiful Gardens, Surfin Dead)?

These songs are much more 60's-rock influenced, and there's very little rockabilly here, compared to earlier releases. Much of them fall in line with the Count Five song, Psychotic Reaction. And it must be said, Surfin' Dead is the absolute worst Cramps song, ever. They should bury that one, not Weekend on Mars.

the cramps are/were great--and this collection is a good introduction to their music. Great road trip tunes. The only thing i lost in my divorce that i cared about!! buy it!