Greekfreak

Save the aluminum for something else, May 10 2004

A complete and utter waste of packaging. When I bought this originally, I was on a Henry Rollins binge--we're talking about 13 years ago, and the store in question advertised this as a 'Rollins Band' release. What a crock.

This EP has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I mean, it's not hardcore industral a la Neubauten, it's not spoken word, it's not ambient noise/orchestration like Xenakis, or even an experiment in spacial tonalities--the John Cage nod. It's just a bunch of rambling basslines and TV soundbites, conducted as some kind of throwaway with both Rollins and his then-bass guitarist Andrew Weiss (who he never got along with; I can't figure it out either).

It makes a great… Read more

Solo Survivor, May 6 2004

I can't say enough good things about this album, although close to 30 years later, I wish the production had been a bit more uniform. "Pipeline", "London Boys" and "Leave Me Alone" are the best songs the Sex Pistols never wrote, and they only beg for "Dead Or Alive", "Subway Train", and "Daddy Rollin' Stone" to have been treated the same way.

Although it's universally hailed as Johnny Thunders' masterwork, "So Alone" isn't quite all that--it's more a matter of his having produced so many excellent tracks that they simply overshadow all the lacklustre material scattered in between.

Case in point: 'Downtown', which sounds like a b-side that should have been left off. 'The Wizard',… Read more

What? You don't already own this?, May 6 2004

Having just re-listened to this album a few days ago, the same recurring thought hit me every time the record ends: why can't they make 'em like this anymore?

From beginning to end, this is uber-classic rock'n'roll at its finest, and what's still amazing is that over 30 years later, it's still as vital and fresh as ever.

From the gutter-punk raunch of "Trash", "Personality Crisis", and "Looking For A Kiss", the album subtle melds Chuck Berry to Iggy & The Stooges, but injects more than its fair share of original licks that have yet to be topped even to this very day. "Lonely Planet Boy" is the doo-wop classic that never was, and… Read more