The Grouchy Gaijin's Thoughts on Music and Such

Do you remember the Knack? Before I got this CD I only knew one album by the band - Get The Knack. I liked a couple of their songs - My Sharona and Good Girls Don't. In all fairness My Sharona is a really good song. True, it did receive too much airplay when it came out, but I like the song. Its funny how some bands put out a huge hit that really seems to have something for everyone - the drums in My Sharona along with the fantastic guitar and Doug Fieger voice combined to make a really rocking jam. This brings to mind Drops of Jupiter by Train and Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves. Each of these songs, in my opinion, were really good - fun - rocking - entertaining music with good drums and guitar lines.

Sadly though each of these groups is similar in another way. Pretty much everything they did after their hits stinks like rotting garbage on a hot August night. It almost seems that having thrown everything into the big hit, there was nothing left in the arsenal with which to land a second punch. I think the Knack should have taken a cue from the Georgia Satellites and gone back to doing whatever they were doing before they dabbled in music. (for the record I really disliked that stupid song about hillbillies breeding ).

So why do I have this album by the Knack? Good question. I subscribe to emusic.com which really is a good deal - for $10.00 a month you get 30 unrestricted MP3 downloads. They have a pretty large selection. Check out 99 Luftballoons by DDR it strikes me as funny that this band calls themselves DDR - its not Dance Dance Revolution kids, its Deutsche Demokratische Republik or German Democratic Republic which was neither democratic or a real republic. It was an oppressive totalitarian regime that would most certainty have not approved of the decedent western music that the band DDR performs. OK end of rant. The bottom line is that there is a lot of really good music available at emusic.com. Having said that not everything is a gem - case in point The Knack's Rock and Roll Funhouse.

This LP gets the dreaded Albums that Suck tag.

1. Pop is Dead - The crowd seems into it. It starts with some nice high hat work by the drummer. Then the singer comes in and ruins any thing that might have been good about the song. Oh wait, there is a pretty cool break - then back to the crappy chorus. Monotonous is the word that comes to mind - Hey Pop is Dead, bring your shovel - Hey this song sucks.

2. Baby Talks Dirty - Cool intro - wait I've heard this before it sounds kind of like My Sharona . OK the lyrics are bad - the music has a chance to rock, but no, the same going through the motions while Fieger attempts to sing. Oh Its only Rock and Roll Oh you can't sing any better than I can, and I suck. Before going back into the chorus and some OH OH squeals by the singer, the guitar actually jams for about 20 seconds. Then its gone...

3. Oh Tara - What's this a love song? Not the worst song on the album. Lame never the less - I think Pat Dinizio was influenced by The Knack. See my review of Green Thoughts by the Smithereens.

4. Can I Borrow A Kiss - this song is so bad I am at a loss for words. Shut Up! Can I borrow a kiss is what I heard - I'll give it right back to you. Crap is what this is.

5. Another Lousy Day in Paradise - the beginning starts like the theme from Friends. The drums are pretty good and the guitar isn't bad. I just don't like his voice. I don't like the chorus. I don't like the verse. Do you ever get the feeling that you've been cheated? The music seems so formulated and generic, like they think this is the recipe for a pop song.

6. Good Girls Don't - OK I like the music. The lyrics are really offensive, but that's Rock and Roll kids. Its got a good beat, I like the bass and guitar. I like the bridge and even like his voice as he sings "You heard she's pretty fast and you're hoping that she'll give you some tonight." This comes across as something David Lee Roth would have written - I can imagine that big goofy grin of his as he sings this loud.

7. One Day at a Time - Skip. Frankly I'm getting really board. I'd think this is a filler track except it sounds like so many of the other tracks. I'm afraid that they really think this is a good song.

8. Siamese Twins - Nice guitar in the intro. Then the song starts to sound like Pat Benetar I can't quite place the song - Hit Me With Your Best Shot? - basically that Benetar riff is the only thing I really like in this song. Start Light Star Bright - sometimes if you try to sound deep you end up just sounding goofy. Oops - there is a short guitar solo that rocks as well - then its gone.

9. Harder on You - an ode to 1950s crooner rock. I don't like it. I can't tell if they really think this is a good song or if they are poking fun at songs of the genre. Contrast this with Since I Don't have You which is a song by the doo-wop group The Skyliners that Guns and Roses covered. GNR did a decent job and while being tongue in cheek, they also made the song rock - unlike Harder on You which is pretty much a boring snooze.

10. Sweet Dreams - OK I like this song quite a bit. Let me rephrase that I like the guitar line quite a bit. This song jams in spite of the singers best efforts to turn it into crap. Berton Averre fights back countering each round of goofy emotional BS with an intense guitar riff. Good job guitar dude.

11. That's What the Little Girls Do - lame lame lame no guitar here to save the day - he does try for a few bars then seems to resign himself that the powers of lameness are too strong for him to fight. One last effort for a few seconds before hanging his head in shame and ending the song.

12. (She's So) Selfish - Killer intro. I like the drums, guitar and bass. Then the singer starts to sing. He seems to be losing though - the music is overpowering him. The band is fighting back as if to say "You will not ruin this song damn you." I really like this song - good guitar work despite the singer's best attempts to ruin it.

13. My Sharona - Man I like the drums in this song. Basically this song rocks. Great drums - Great guitar - Groovy bass - even his vocals sound good on this one. You got to love the ripping guitar solos - melodic AND powerful - the dude can play when freed from the terrible self indulgent nonsense of the singer.

14. (Havin' A) Rave Up - Little Richard Rock a Billy here - Actually I dig it. Straight forward Chuck Berry-esque Rock and Roll. It works though - Berton Averre, the guitar player gets a chance to crank out some nice licks. The singer is so engrossed in a Little Richard impersonation, complete with high falsetto woooo woooo screams that his natural ability to ruin a song is masked.

15. Tequila/ Break on Through to the Other Side - I dig it. The band can play. This is really good. Nice guitar work - Tequila goes for almost two minutes before the singer starts to get in the way. At the four minute mark the band slides into Break on Through to the Other Side by the Doors. Its good. I don't even miss the organ. The guitar player can definitely make it scream - the drummer is solid. The singer doesn't even sound bad. What does this say? The best song on the entire album, the one they chose to close the show, is not even their own song.

Bottom line:

Good Girls Don't - good song

My Sharona - good song

(Havin' A) Rave Up - not bad at all

Sweet Dreams - good job Berton

Tequila/ Break on Through to the Other Side - very good song

One scowl for Good Girls Don't and My Sharona a third of a scowl each for Havin' A) Rave Up, Sweet Dreams and Tequila/ Break on Through to the Other Side. Grand Total:

2 scowls out for 5

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