I'm a fan of music, hell I think we all are. However, I'm also not rolling about in vaults full of cash in Scrooge McDuck style...I'm barely rolling on a single...what I'm trying to say is, I'm lacking in cash to finance my love of music. But I'm not here to ask for donations, I'm here to provide a service and help all you other cash-strapped folks out there. The albums may not be recent, as you'll soon find out, but sometimes the old 'uns are the best. Finally, I'd like to note that I have no background in music history or criticism, but hopefully I'll improve over the course of this adventure into the already saturated world of online criticisms. Now, onto the review.
Heads Are Gonna Roll: By: The Hippos
Cost: $1.50 + $2.98 on shipping
Some CD Info: Released in 1999 "Heads Are Gonna Roll" was The Hippos' second CD release and it's first on a major label.
Genre: Ska-Pop
Track Breakdown:
1. Lost It - A strong leading track, it's beat drags the listener in mercilessly and clubs their eardrums with some good horns and vocals. The lyrics are catchy and the inherent poppiness of the track makes it the kind of song you'll find yourself singing along to.
2. Wasting My Life - Along with their cover of "Always Something There To Remind Me," this song is what convinced me to get off my ass and purchase a Hippos album. It's the only track that received significant air-time when the CD dropped, though after listening to the rest of the album I question why. The song is quality, however when compared to some of the other songs (I.E. Thinking, Pollution, Lost It) it seems rather average. The synth hook is good and the lyrics are easy to relate to with it's tale of time wasted chasing the unattainable, but it doesn't have the grab and, dare I say, oomph of it's counter-parts. Perhaps it's just because I've been listening to this one for a while, whereas the others are new. Anyhow, moving on.
3. Struggling - Laying on the synths as thick as jam on a good piece of toast (It should be thick, it tastes better that way) this song has the boys leaning further into the pop side of their ska-pop divide. The vocal styling has more variation here, as lead singer Ariel Rechtshaid spends significant portions of the song pulling off a rougher sounding voice. The only real downside is that it's a bit repetitive, luckily the song isn't incredibly long so unless you put it on repeat it won't seem too bad.
4. Pollution - Unlike the angst-ridden songs about bad relationships which are so common these days, this song on the same subject comes across sounding like several pixies of joy just crapped in the happiness river. (I apologize for the crude imagery if anybody out there on the interwebs is actually offended by such things.) This remarkably up-beat sounding song has me tapping my feet as I write this...and my fingers which is causing multiple typos. An excellent track.
5. Thinking - Coming off of the bad relationship story in "Pollution" we land in the next relationship saga and this time it's working out well for our Hippos. Much to the delight of my inner rude-boy the band has dug out it's horns and gone ska for this song. Moreover with lines like:
"I can't stop thinking
while I'm on the can
your eyes pop into my mind again and again"
while I'm on the can
your eyes pop into my mind again and again"
It's tough not to smile, get up, bust out some fresh dance moves, or just flail around aimlessly if you're not gifted in the coordination and grace department.
6. Something - Keeping on track with the ska set out in "Thinking," "Something" hooks the listener with a few swift horn blasts. I can't really say much about the track other than, I dig it, and the message that you too can make something of yourself is certainly appreciated. Thanks Hippos, for letting me know that I too can be something.
7. Always Something There To Remind Me - Sure it's a cover, but it's a damn fine one. I'd go so far as to say I enjoy it more than the original version. Other than that, not a whole lot to go over on this rehashing.
8. Better Watch Your Back - It lacks the immediate hook of the previous songs as the first 12 seconds are, to be perfectly honest, dull as dirt. Then again, that's only 12 seconds right? The song as a whole has a relatively different sound when compared with it's peers and though I like it, I'm not enthralled. Not one of the best tracks on the album, but it's certainly listenable.
9. The Sand - Fitting along with it's beach-based content, the song has a definite surf-rock vibe about it. It's also surprisingly bouncy, the way the singer enunciates and the beat of the song seem to literally pulsate. It's not as catchy as the other songs up to this point though, barring "Better Watch Your Back."
10. Paulina - Of all the songs on the album this one has the biggest variance in how much I like it, it starts out with a slower tone and unfortunately they couldn't make it work entirely. They sound uncomfortable playing in this different style, the instrumentals sound off somehow and the vocals are lacking. However about halfway through it loosens the reigns and reverts to it's forte of fast-paced music that they actually seem happy to be playing. An old timey piano and horn piece at about 2:00 is where it plateaus and the remaining minute is pure class.
11.Far Behind - A new version of a song from the band's first album, the song suffers from a dull intro but it picks up fairly quickly. The song isn't stellar but it's certainly good enough to see why it deserves a place on the album.
12. All Alone - After the lack of a good hook in the last two songs, "All Alone" breaks the rut with what sounds like a recorder. Who would have thought recorders could be good for anything other than the brown noise? It's a nice little jam that manages to build up towards the end of the album and along with "He Said" helps to redeem the somewhat lackluster second half of the album.
13. He Said - The drums and horns are really what make this song great, it's got an incredible chorus and is chock full of awesome little extras like a xylophone solo at 3:00. If they'd ended the album on this song, the album would truly have ended with a bang.
14. Paulina (Reprise) - Unfortunately the album ends, not with "He Said" but with this. Sure it replays some of the good parts of Paulina in a slightly varied manner from the original, however it ends the album flat and is leaves me feeling like I should go back to the previous track and just eject or stop the disc before it transitions to this.
Summary: As a whole the album is excellent for the price, there's a solid 9 songs on there that I could listen to repeatedly and there isn't an entirely awful song in the set. However, tracks 8-11 and 14 cause the back end of the album to sag a bit, which inevitably knocks the ranking down a bit.
All in all, I give this one a 3.5/5.
6. Something - Keeping on track with the ska set out in "Thinking," "Something" hooks the listener with a few swift horn blasts. I can't really say much about the track other than, I dig it, and the message that you too can make something of yourself is certainly appreciated. Thanks Hippos, for letting me know that I too can be something.
7. Always Something There To Remind Me - Sure it's a cover, but it's a damn fine one. I'd go so far as to say I enjoy it more than the original version. Other than that, not a whole lot to go over on this rehashing.
8. Better Watch Your Back - It lacks the immediate hook of the previous songs as the first 12 seconds are, to be perfectly honest, dull as dirt. Then again, that's only 12 seconds right? The song as a whole has a relatively different sound when compared with it's peers and though I like it, I'm not enthralled. Not one of the best tracks on the album, but it's certainly listenable.
9. The Sand - Fitting along with it's beach-based content, the song has a definite surf-rock vibe about it. It's also surprisingly bouncy, the way the singer enunciates and the beat of the song seem to literally pulsate. It's not as catchy as the other songs up to this point though, barring "Better Watch Your Back."
10. Paulina - Of all the songs on the album this one has the biggest variance in how much I like it, it starts out with a slower tone and unfortunately they couldn't make it work entirely. They sound uncomfortable playing in this different style, the instrumentals sound off somehow and the vocals are lacking. However about halfway through it loosens the reigns and reverts to it's forte of fast-paced music that they actually seem happy to be playing. An old timey piano and horn piece at about 2:00 is where it plateaus and the remaining minute is pure class.
11.Far Behind - A new version of a song from the band's first album, the song suffers from a dull intro but it picks up fairly quickly. The song isn't stellar but it's certainly good enough to see why it deserves a place on the album.
12. All Alone - After the lack of a good hook in the last two songs, "All Alone" breaks the rut with what sounds like a recorder. Who would have thought recorders could be good for anything other than the brown noise? It's a nice little jam that manages to build up towards the end of the album and along with "He Said" helps to redeem the somewhat lackluster second half of the album.
13. He Said - The drums and horns are really what make this song great, it's got an incredible chorus and is chock full of awesome little extras like a xylophone solo at 3:00. If they'd ended the album on this song, the album would truly have ended with a bang.
14. Paulina (Reprise) - Unfortunately the album ends, not with "He Said" but with this. Sure it replays some of the good parts of Paulina in a slightly varied manner from the original, however it ends the album flat and is leaves me feeling like I should go back to the previous track and just eject or stop the disc before it transitions to this.
Summary: As a whole the album is excellent for the price, there's a solid 9 songs on there that I could listen to repeatedly and there isn't an entirely awful song in the set. However, tracks 8-11 and 14 cause the back end of the album to sag a bit, which inevitably knocks the ranking down a bit.
All in all, I give this one a 3.5/5.
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