Customer Reviews

Pay Attention

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Not as poppy or catchy as their older stuff, but definitely better thought out. It's great that the band tried a few new things. A few tracks could have been b-sides. A slightly shorter tracklist would have made it an easier listen.

The day he didnt die. This song is so good i would pay some one full price for this album if it was thee only song that played. Dont get me wrong, the other songs on this cd are good too. a must own cd

I reviewed this cd three years ago and pretty much trashed it. The tempo of the album was such a departure that I hastily called it crap without really giving it a chance. Bosstones are my favorite band and over time this has become my favorite album. All the songs are well constructed gems.

This album was the long awaited follow-up to the hugely succesful Let's Face It. Let's Face It(pardon the pun), went Multi-Platinum and these guys were on the verge of being superstars after years of underground success. However, when The Bosstones released Pay Attention in April, 2000, the album was ignored. The public nicknamed this album Just Ignore because of those maggots N' Sync had that stupid Bye Bye Bye CD out at the same time. Of course, the sheep followed what big brother MTV said was musically great but The Bosstones whom were one of the originators of the ska-rock thing were wrongfully relegated to one-hit wonder land. This is a good CD buy it.

Combining words to live by with catchy melodies seems to be the M.O. of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Songs of warning and reproach abound, often sucking the listener in with tunes you can hum, until the listener surrenders to that melody and tries to ignore the incessant preaching. Lessons to be learned: Honesty is really important ("The Skeleton Song" uses the word honest/honestly more times than I cared to count.), but not if you were in the Vietnam War ("All Things Considered") there are "One Million Reasons" for a break up, but you don't have to list them. And so on. I like this band and I enjoy the fact that they are not afraid to make their songs be about more than your average rocker, but sometimes they need to lighten up on the life lessons; it gets to be a bit much.

if the stars would go highter it'd be 14. as a fan of the bosstones i would love this cd anyway. but i was really amazed at how the songs were just a bit more then what i expected. most of them songs stick to you. when i get bored at work allofasudden "the skeleton song" would pop in my head and i'd start humming to it. well, i reakon that would happen to anybody but face it,..... when has a song poped up in yer head that you LIKE? it's farly new, but if you want to find out who the bosstones are get this cd. and i hate those people who say "oo it's too long" shut the ... up and listin to the dern cd. you know you like it. (by the way my favorite song is temporary trip)

As far as I know (you may correct me on this one), but this is the lengthiest Bosstones release thus far. With sixteen songs, you choose when you may Pay Attention or not.

The opener Let Me Be is pretty satisfying. What I like about it is that the new guitarist does the off-beat ska strumming in a tone that really takes up lots of space. So even when he's playing clean, it's very heavey and full. The album also delivers the goods with Bad News and Bead Breaks (sort of a swing/honkie tonk feel), High School Dance (I assume it's about Columbine HS), the empty politics of All Things Considered, and the latin-esque She Just Happened. My favorite would have to be the frantic Riot on Broad Street.

But with 16 songs, Pay Attention suffers a bit from what I call "White Album Syndrome." That just means too many songs. Every Beatles nut has his or her own idea of what to trim from the infamous White Album, and I'm sure some Bosstones fans have various views on how to shorten Pay Attention to, say, 40 minutes. Over the Eggshells, Finally, I Know More, Temporary Trip, and to some extent, Allow Them, just take up space. The songs sound like they were written in a hurry and have little substance to them. And So Sad To Say, although a single, is not very memorable at all. The Impression That I Get, that grossly overplayed Bosstones single from some years back, has more merit than this attempt to get some radio airplay.

But Pay Attention is worth a used-CD price. The dull moments just kind of roll off your back, but the good songs really do stay with you. And who am I to say what is good and what is a waste? You may find the whole thing essential to your daily listening. But the Bosstones have come a long way and their new-found musical maturity is nothing to sneeze at.

Pay Attention is probobly my favorite album. How can one say that the fact that it has sixteen tracks makes it bad? Jeeze dude, I wish they didn't cut 'Meaning' 'Just As Much' and 'Together' from the album... Pay attention is not an 'upbeat' or 'poppy' album. As a matter of fact, this album is possibly the darkest one they've made yet. Question the Answers dealt with problems in society, Pay Attention deals with personal grief, jealousy, anger, regret, and pretty much every negative emotion an individual is capable of...

The album kicks off with 'Let Me Be' a song about losing control and just wanting to be left alone... The Skeleton Song is about someone's dark secrets being discovered... 'All Things Considered' is an admiration of an older man who rants and rambles, 'so sad to say' is the power song of the album talking about love lost, which as everyone knows is quite painful... Allow Them is the best song on this album. It is a song about disgust with the innerworkings of corporate america (it makes me chuckle considering the Enron scandal... etc...) 'Highschool Dance' is about teenage neglect, 'Over the Eggshells' is about being caught redhanded, 'Finally' is a sort of empty-worded personal triumph of finally having the guts to do something, 'I Know More' is about a person regreting their past and knowing that they knew so little about life back in the day... 'Riot On Broadstreet' discusses a violent riot that occured in Boston; 'One Million Reasons' is a song i really like (but 99% of everyone else hates) about a man trying to stop their loved one from leaving, but coming upon the realization that no matter how many reasons or arguments he tries to make with her, its useless, and that it is time to let go. 'Bad News and Bad Breaks' offers a little bit of an uplifting message after the depression of 'one million reasons' ... 'temporary trip' and 'where you come from' are very rad songs with cool;fun chorus' ... The Day He Didn't Die is one of the best songs the bosstones have ever made, its emotional, but its slow sorrowful emotion not, 'waaa my g/f dumped me' emotion...

All in all... Pay Attention is a rockin' Bosstones album, and A Jackknife To A Swan looks like it's going to contrast this album completely....

Get this album, ...

This has got to be one of the best ska cds i've ever heard. If you don't like their other cds it doesn't matter. This cd is much different. Its more of a straight forward rock and roll cd with horns. Songs like. . . well. . . i can't pick because they are all great. My favorites are The Skeleton Song, So Sad To Say, High School Dance (is it just me or is this song disturbing?), The More I know and riot on broad street. Do yourself a favor and just buy it. I can't recommend it highly enough(trust me i'm VERY critical on music. its my hobby).

If you liked the Let's Face It album from the Bosstones, you will have 1 of 2 reactions to this one, you'll either be glad they are keeping that light and jumpy pop to their music (which is not the case to some of their earlier work, which was full of dark gutteral vocals) or you will be disappointed by the fact that its just not a step UP from the Let's Face It album... there really aren't any particular songs on this CD that leap out at you, but I personally would reccomend Let me Be, Finally, Riot on Broad Street, So Sad to Say and Temporary Trip.
My favorite song is "Riot on Broad Street" w/ "Finally" taking a close follow-up.

There are 16 tracks... but its a mix between songs you love and songs that really don't do much for you. You know the type of CD I'm talking about; where you've got to sift through the songs to find all the ones you like. This CD's like that.

The previous album (Let's Face It) is your best bet if you are new to the Bosstones and it's profanity free, with amazing beats and tunes, a jazzy rocky-romp through a punk-ska zone! I'd rate that one among my top 10 fave cds of all time, this probably would be at 87th place.... and I've reviewed hundreds of CD's... so its still good, but nothing amazing. If you've already listened to Let's Face it, and want more M.M.B., then go for Pay Attention!