The 90s were a weird time. For all intents and purposes, one of the biggest bands in the world was gone: Guns N’ Roses. We had to settle for solo albums from Duff, Slash, Gilby and Izzy.
Matt Sorum and Duff McKagan teamed up with Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols, and John Taylor from Duran Duran, to form the punky supergroup Neurotic Outsiders. They made one album. One and done! But what an album it was. We’ll be discussing all this and more tonight on Grant’s Rock Warehaus!
MÖTLEY CRÜE – Too Fast For Love (Originally 1981 Leathür Records, 2003 CD reissues)
I was so lucky to grow up not with the Elektra remix of Too Fast For Love, but the original Leathür Records version. Though I didn’t know anything about it at the time, Motley Crue’s debut existed in two different versions and I had the rarer of the two on an old cassette. The original mix released in 1981 on the band’s own label was a raw beauty. When Elektra signed the band, Roy Thomas Baker remixed the album for worldwide reissue. But in Canada, we received the original mix on cassette first before the remix was even released. This was so Motley had some music to promote on their first Canadian tour. We were very lucky. The Elektra mix came out and eventually replaced the original on shelves.
The differences are significant, including the deletion of an entire song (“Stick To Your Guns”) from the original on the Elektra release. For nostalgia reasons, I always preferred the Leathür mix of this album. “Come On And Dance” for example is a completely different and much longer recording. It must be stated the Roy Thomas Baker mix is technically the better of the two. It’s well balanced and has the required punch. Vocal lines are thickened up. It will undoubtedly sound better on your high end stereo. There is more nuance. The changes are especially audible on songs like “Starry Eyes” and “Live Wire”, but I simply have a preference for the raw, rough version I grew up with. There’s something to be said for independent production values. Additionally, the track listing was jumbled and the original running order flows better, so that’s the order we’ll be discussing the songs in.
Fortunately for you, you don’t have to track down an original vinyl or even an obscure Canadian cassette release to get the original Too Fast For Love. It was officially reissued one time only on CD, in the 2003 Motley Crue box set called Music To Crash Your Car To Volume I. In fact that box set includes both mixes of the album, plus the related CD bonus tracks. (Actually, the box set is only missing one song, which we’ll discuss further on.) For the money, Music To Crash Your Car To Volume I is the best way to get “all” the tracks.
The audio for the original Leathür mix is sourced directly from original vinyl, with the tapes presumably lost. Audiophiles take note as you will hear the telltale sound of old vinyl.
It took a while for young me to get into Too Fast For Love. The album was generally much different from the metal assault of Shout at the Devil. That was the Motley I was familiar with. The basic garage glam metal of Too Fast For Love was alien to me. When I first received the cassette, I gave it a fair shake but didn’t start clicking with it until Easter of 1986. It was a deliberate effort on my part. “I want to hear and appreciate this album like my friends do.” Bob Schipper had the songs he liked: “Live Wire” (there was a music video, but he did not like the part with Mick Mars spitting up blood), “Merry-Go-Round”, and especially “On With the Show”.
No matter which version of the album you own, we begin on “Live Wire”, a blitzkrieg of an opener with punk-like pacing. It’s dirty and messy cocaine-fueled mayhem, and the Leathür version sounds sharper and more chaotic. Vince Neil is so young, less seasoned and a little shrill. But the band is on fire with Mick Mars puking out one of his trademark riffs.
The Elektra reissue goes into “Come On and Dance” here, but Leathür puts “Public Enemy # 1” second. It’s perfectly at home in this slot. With the careless glee of youth, the song is one of Motley’s early pop rock deep cuts. There is a lot of pop on Too Far For Love, especially in the vocal melodies. “Public Enemy # 1” must go back to Nikki Sixx’s days in the band London, since it’s a co-write with London’s Lizzie Grey. It then gives way to another blitzkrieg of a riff on “Take Me To the Top”. This turns into a choppy groove, and yet another melodic Vince Neil vocal to keep you hanging on. There’s that pop side again. You could isolate Vince’s vocal and turn it into a pop song. It’s like you have this three-man wall of pounding rock with Tommy Lee, Mick Mars and Nikki Sixx slamming in unison. But on top of that you have Vince Neil singing a candy-sweet melody.
A ballad “Merry-Go-Round” gives your ears a slight rest. Though Nikki wrote it, Mick has a way with these kinds of chords that makes them just sound “Mars”. This song is given an urgency by Vince who, as it turns out, was quite a great singer in his early days. The first side closes on “Piece of Your Action”, a song that has been remixed a number of times over the years. It’s also Vince Neil’s first co-writing credit (lyrics). With a sharp steely riff and aggressive vocals, this song will knock down walls.
The old mix of “Starry Eyes” sounds overblown and slurred compared to the Baker version, yet that’s its charm. “Starry Eyes” has a disco-like groove and another sugar sweet Vince Neil vocal. Nikki Sixx doesn’t get a lot of attention as a bassist, but he’s not content just to hang around banging out a rhythm. He likes to play melodically too, and “Starry Eyes” is a fun song to listen to him play.
Only the Leathür version has “Stick to Your Guns” at this point in the running order. It’s a busy song with different tempos and flavours, from fast verses, to a slow and choppy chorus riff, and a funky instrumental jam out. Perhaps it was left off the Elektra reissue because it’s a little more complex than the rest of the album. It also might have been because the song had been issued a couple times already: “Stick to Your Guns” was also the flipside of Motley Crue’s very first single, “Toast of the Town” (to be discussed further on).
“Come On and Dance” has a heavy riff that flows well out of “Stick to Your Guns”, but it’s the most different between the two versions of the album, so you can choose your preference. The original is longer and the vocal is better.
Regardless of which version you own, “Too Fast For Love” is always the second-last song on the album…but in two very different mixes. 4:16 on Leathür with a unique intro, and 3:21 on Elektra, going straight into the riff. On Leathür the slow, ballady opening acts as a feint. Mick then cranks up an unforgettable riff, and we are off into one of Motley’s true early classics. The primitive gang backing vocals are quaint by modern standards, but again, that’s the charm.
Finally “On With the Show” is the emotional closer. “Frankie died just the other night, some say it was suicide, but we know how the story goes.” In real life nobody died (yet) but “Frankie” is Frank Feranna, the birth name of Nikki Sixx. That name was his past, and Nikki Sixx was his future. The ride was just beginning, and this song has both a sadness and a certain amount of glee. “But you see Frankie was fast, he was too fast to know. He wouldn’t go slow until his lethal dose.” That part turned out to be somewhat prophetic. Regardless, “On With the Show” is the fist-pounding pop metal album closer needed for a record like Too Fast For Love. If you’re headbanging along with it, the you should feel well pooped out by the end!
In 1999, Motley Crue began reissuing all their albums on CD in a series called Crucial Crue on Motley Records, but the end result was disappointing. The bonus tracks varied in quality, but the real problem was that each CD was given an additional bonus track in Japan, and they were pretty good ones too. Fortunately this was rectified in 2003 with yet another series of reissues, adding the Japanese bonus tracks. The box set Music To Crash Your Car To Volume I has all this bonus material as well. For Too Fast For Love, the Japanese bonus track that was restored in 2003 was a live version of “Merry-Go-Round” recorded in San Antonio with an obviously very young Vince Neil on vocals. Though the singing is shaky live, it’s a genuine live recording capturing the band at this early stage of their careers.
“Toast of the Town” was one of those song titles I kept hearing about as a kid, but nobody I knew had ever heard the first ever Motley Crue single. According to the liner notes in the box set, this single was only given away at shows in L.A. for a limited time. Both it and its B-side “Stick to Your Guns” are restored on the CD reissues as bonus track. “Toast of the Town”, like Too Fast For Love itself, is a pop rocker with punch.
An unreleased song called “Tonight” is actually a Raspberries cover (there’s that pop side again). And it’s bloody awesome. They were already halfway there by covering it, but they made it work with their sound, basically just by adding distortion and turning it all up. It sounds like this version was fully recorded and produced for release, so why it wasn’t, we don’t know. Too pop? Perhaps.
The last bonus track to discuss is “Too Fast For Love” with the alternate intro. This is the same intro as on the Leathür version of the album, but it sounds like it was mixed to the higher standards of the Elektra version. Regardless, there are three distinct versions of the song for you to enjoy.
One track is missing from these releases. The one from this same era that they neglected to include is called “Nobody Knows What It’s Like to Be Lonely”. Its only official release to date is as a bonus track on a 20 year old Motley Crue live DVD. At seven minutes long, it plods along with a deliberate and heavy groove. Nikki Sixx has praised the guitar work of Mick Mars, and it has a bizarrely funky drum breakdown at the end. In order to get the complete picture of this era of Motley Crue, track down “Nobody Knows What It’s Like to Be Lonely”. You can understand how a seven minute song didn’t make an album release, though it is certainly well overdue for a re-release on any format other than DVD.
Any way you go, Leathür or Elektra, CD or vinyl, or bloody Canadian cassette tape, Too Fast For Love is a hell of a debut album. Few bands have as many haters as Motley Crue, but this album is an innocent reckless joy. Shout at the Devil sounds contrived by comparison, with Motley Crue adopting a doomier metal sound and dropping the pop-punk pretences. As good as Shout at the Devil undoubtedly is, this one sounds far more natural. It’s the real deal. This is the Crue laying it down hard, fast, getting it done quick and not messing around. Love it or hate it. I know how I feel.
BIG HOUSE – Big House (1991 BMG) Not to be confused with the country band also called Big House.
Big House hit the ground running out of Edmonton, Alberta in 1991, but it was hard to take them seriously at the time. The hair and headbands were pretty silly, and they had annoying song titles such as “Refuse 2 Run” and “Nothing Comes 4 Free”. I acknowledged they had a pretty cool single “Dollar in My Pocket (Pretty Things)”. This was lifted from a prior EP called Pretty Things, very hard to find. They also claimed to be former punk rockers. Drummer Sjor (pronounced Shore) Throndson once stated that the band used to have mohawks when they were teenagers, but shaved them off and had a change of musical direction. With that, the silly hair and the dumb name, it was pretty easy to ignore Big House.
Then a co-worker at the Record Store named Kam talked me into listening to it. The year was 2005 and my feelings quickly turned from indifference to delight. Big House, for all their flaws, were actually pretty good! Every song on this album has swagger. It doesn’t sound like a debut album at all, and perhaps that’s due to the experience of having done a prior EP. The band, and singer Jan Ek in particular, make this sound like a second or third album.
“Dollar in My Pocket” made for a good first single, but what a cheesey video. I still cringe at the 30 second mark, when Sjor glances flirtingly down towards his pants on the line, “I got a dollar in my pocket for you.” Fortunately, just a taste of their punk background shine through in the melodies, making this song a bit more unique than the crowd in 1991. Jan Ek has a good scream going on, and lungs of power. They had a knack for writing catchy guitar licks like the one in “Dollar in My Pocket”. The song is all about attitude, so “come along, you can have it if you want it, baby.”
The first chunk of the CD was top-loaded with singles. “All Nite” was a minor hit, a Motley-Poison mixture of rock thrills. Generic, but with that knack for melody once again, not to mention the leathery lungs of Jan Ek. Those two factors elevate the song beyond the morass of crap swimming in the seas of cheese in 1991. Another decent rocker, the Kiss-like “Refuse 2 Run” stays the course before you’re up for the next single, the ballad “Baby Doll”. Generic acoustic sentimental tacky stuff is this, but why do I like it? Maybe that quiet moaning slide guitar? Sounds a lot like Cinderella. Truthfully it’s not bad, but it’s really not that different from any of a hundred ballads. Thankfully “Can’t Cry Anymore” has some noisy guitar and plenty of attitude, especially in the punk rock blowout ending. Once again, it’s remarkable what a handle Big House had on writing great rock melodies. “Can’t Cry Anymore” is one of many on this disc.
“Devil’s Road” sounds like the opening of a second side, and a strong opening it is. “So make the music faster, for the spells we’re castin'” sings Jan Ek on the fine choruses. None of these songs are particularly fast, but they all rock in one way or another. For example “Nothing Comes 4 Free” is slow, but has a menacing vibe and the requisite hooks on the chorus. The closest they get to filler is “Happiness” but even that is not bad. It’s an unusual cross of pop melody with classic rock guitars — Cheap Trick meets Kiss, perhaps?
Final track “Angel on My Arm” is a celebratory tough little rocker, but the penultimate track “L.A.” is my favourite of them all. It seems Mr. Ek’s girl has left to go to L.A. and a be big movie star, and isn’t coming back. But then Jan gets a long distance call from L.A. It seems she mis-dialed and got Jan when she expected to get “Jack”. He responds incredulously, “Jack who?! Jack Palance? Jack Nicholson? Jack…Jack who?!” It’s great fun! Listen to that bouncy bass. That’s pop punk, baby. So are those unabashed “la-la-la-la” pop hooks. Just a killer, instantly likeable fun song is this. “I been drinkin’ with every damn girl in town,” sings Ek after the disappointing phone call. “If I seem a bit too forlorn, I’ve been loving her too long.” People, I’m serious: This song is a triumph of songwriting and execution. You are free to disagree, but all I know is that I have played this song on repeat countless times. In fact I’m doing it now. I’m already on spin #3 for this session.
Silly name and album cover aside, I suppose it all works as a package. It’s no wonder the band never made it big with a cover this horrible; imagine my shock when I saw that it was done by none other than Hugh Syme, master of many Rush records. And this faceless cover conceals within it one of the best hard rock albums of the era. Sadly that era died before Big House could make a second album, but let’s celebrate that we have this one. Just like we are glad for the first two Skid Row albums, or New Jersey by Bon Jovi, I’m happy now to have Big House in my, err, house.
RECORD STORE TALES Mk II: Getting More Tale #343: Tyler and LeBrain episode 3 – The French Invasion
Please welcome Sebastien to Getting More Tale. Seb is a Sausagefester who also happens to play drums, produce, and own a recording studio. Today we discuss the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer, Taylor Swift, Avril Lavigne, and modern music.
WEEZER – Everything Will Be Alright in the End (2014 Republic)
I’m not a Weezer hater, but I definitely have said that their best days were behind them in the past. The first two records (particularly the second) were great. The third had some good stuff on it, but they really lost me on the fourth. This new one Everything Will Be Alright in the End is their first with Ric Ocasek producing since Green (2001) and the first single “Back to the Shack” seems to proclaim that Weezer want to return to their indy garage rock roots.
I do love the lyric, “Let’s turn up the radio, Let’s turn off those stupid singing shows.” Weezer and I may not always see eye to eye, but that’s something we agree on.
Leader Rivers Cuomo wrote the opening song “Ain’t Got Nobody” himself, but on at least half the album he is sharing co-writing credits. It tricks you at first into thinking it’s a new Linkin Park single by it’s heavy guitar and keyboard riff, but the vocal is unmistakably Weezer. I find the lyrics annoying: “Ain’t got nobody to kiss and hug me?” Come on Rivers, put on some balls and let’s rock. The song straddles a line between pop-punk and 80’s rock, something overdone in my opinion. The aforementioned single “Back to the Shack” is second up, but something about it annoys me. I think it’s the simple repetitive nature of the song. It is catchy, admittedly, but I don’t know if it’ll have much longevity. “We belong in the rock world,” sings Rivers, but he hasn’t proved it to me yet.
Another great Weezer music video
“Eulogy for a Rock Band” sounds like a 90’s song, so if going back to the shack was Weezer’s quest, I think they succeeded. I don’t think too much of this song. I like when the vocals homage the classic rock n’ roll of the 1950’s, but that’s about it. It’s indy pop sticky taffy with loud n’ proud drums, but it ain’t my cup o’ java. Something of the edge that Weezer had back in ’94 is missing here, though I’ll be damned if I can put my finger on it. “Lonely Girl” on the other hand is awesome. It has a real toughness and drive that the other songs so far had been missing. Though the caveman guitar solo is extraneous, the song is a keeper!
Justin Hawkins of the Darkness co-wrote “I’ve Had it Up to Here” with Rivers, and you can absolutely hear that. Rivers’ falsetto echos Justin’s. It sounds in fact that Rivers is singing along to a Justin guide vocal, so obvious is the influence. This Weezer-meets-Darkness track is another keeper. Maybe The Darkness should record it for their new record, too. Then “The British are Coming” starts with swampy acoustics, before it turns rock. I didn’t like the song to start, but it grew on me fast. It has a genuine epic rock quality, like a Styx song. I like the guitar solo a lot. But something I dislike about Weezer is their tendency to glue catchy, rocking choruses to goofy soft pop bits, like on “Da Vinci”. I don’t think the choruses can make up for the limp verses.
I like the guitars on “Go Away”, which sounds like a natural “side two” opener. Appropriate since we’re halfway through. This 50’s homage is a duet with Bethany Cosentino, and it’s absolutely awesome. “Cleopatra” is an expected country rock jaunt and another standout. Then it transforms into Weezer-metal with a suitably Maiden-inspired guitar solo. Great song. “Foolish Father” is strong, and then it’s into a three part “Futurescope Trilogy”. This too is excellent, with shimmery anthemic guitars to start with on “The Waste Land”. “Anonymous” is the stuff that rock operas are made of. I like when bands dig out their Queen albums for inspiration. This mini-suite ends the album on a stellar note, leaving me with a hankering for more. That’s a good way to end an album. Too bad it didn’t start like it finished.
3.25/5 stars
1. “Ain’t Got Nobody” Rivers Cuomo 3:21
2. “Back to the Shack” Cuomo, Jacob Kasher 3:05
3. “Eulogy for a Rock Band” Cuomo, Daniel Brummel, Ryen Slegr 3:25
4. “Lonely Girl” Cuomo, Joshua Berman Alexander 2:49
5. “I’ve Had It Up to Here” Cuomo, Justin Hawkins 2:49
6. “The British Are Coming” Cuomo 4:08
7. “Da Vinci” Cuomo, Joshua Berman Alexander 4:05
8. “Go Away” Cuomo, Bethany Cosentino 3:13
9. “Cleopatra” Cuomo 3:11
10. “Foolish Father” Cuomo, Patrick Stickles 4:31
11. “I. The Waste Land” Cuomo 1:56
12. “II. Anonymous” Cuomo 3:19
13. “III. Return to Ithaka” Cuomo 2:17
When we last checked in on this old Canadian indi band, it was on the 1994 EP So This is Limbo, which I rated a 2.75/5. I haven’t played Tangible Vibe, the full length followup, in quite a few years. I remember liking it back in 1996, when hard rock was all but dead and we were forced to seek out other kinds of rock music. Will I still like it now?
“Another Low” is a pretty simple pop punk track, not the kind of thing I usually listen to. It’s fast with heavy guitars and poppy vocals. What stands in for a guitar solo is a simple melody. It’s more annoying than likable. “Frustrated” is more entertaining, taking the tempo back to a radio-ready pace. Seems that I still like this one! You’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a new single by Sum 41. Hopefully you’ll forgive me for liking it. Back then we didn’t call this stuff “pop-punk”, we called it “alt-rock”.
I recall liking “Living Proof” which sounds very much like Green Day. It’s still a catchy little tune, that just it needs identity. There’s certainly no reason it couldn’t have been a hit. On the other hand, I remember not caring too much for “Headtrip”. Its seemingly pro-drug message didn’t appeal to me and I didn’t think the song had much individuality going for it. My feelings haven’t changed too much although I do appreciate the great vocal performance and guitars, but it could have been half as long.
Then and now, I love the title track “Tangible Vibe”. Almost Monkees-like, it’s a soft rocker with a heavier chorus. I really like the recurring guitar melody. Maybe I shouldn’t say Monkees-like, when I have heard Weezer do songs similar to this. It’s a standout and now that I have re-discovered it, I plan on playing it a lot more. Equally good is “Kill Me Slowly” which again is firmly in pop-punk territory, with vocal harmonies.
As back in 1996, “Mary” bores me. It feels like it’s a repeat of ideas from previous songs. Such is the problem with these simple melodies. Sure they’re catchy, but you run the risk of ideas that sound too similar. There’s nothing wrong with it, but we’ve heard it before. “Amore di Gatto” (“Love Cat”?) is a beautiful classical guitar intro to the dark song “Circus”. This song has more in common with Deadline’s early hard rock roots than modern pop rock. It’s mournful with with the strong melodies still intact, and a tricky guitar solo to boot. It has the most emotion on on the album, and remains its best song.
“I Don’t Even Like You” is fast and fun; the drums are played with brushes and the guitars are acoustic. It’s one of the shortest songs, which good because novelty songs are best kept short. “Friend In Me” was the “hit”, and it’s the exact same version as on the So This is Limbo EP, which is great. Closer “Go With the Flow” is another Green Day copycat, unfortunately. It’s the early, heavier side of Green Day, but still the comparisons are unavoidable.
Shame. A really great EP could have been made from the best songs on this album.
DEADLINE – So This is Limbo (1994 Deadline Productions)
Ahh, the 90’s, how I do not miss thee. When I think of the 90’s, I remember how bands I liked simplified things to fit in better with the new alt-rock hordes. Guys like Deadline initially showed a lot of promise. They combined diverse elements and showed potential for future growth. Then they cut down the guitar solos and streamlined everything to its melodic basics.
I like So This is Limbo, (a five song EP) but it is safe to say that I do not like it as much as their self-titled debut. Its five songs all fit into a soundalike form. The first two (“Friend in Me” and “Going With a Smile”) are so similar that they both feature harmonica parts as one of the hooks, bouncy basslines, and a simple guitar melody where a solo would go. That’s not to say they’re bad songs. They’re good for what they are: happy-go-lucky 90’s pop rock. “Friend in Me” got a bit of airplay at the time, and it’s the best song here. The second best is “Going With a Smile”.
MuchWest interview with Deadline by TDM and “Galactic premier” of video
“Laundry Day” is a little darker, but “You know it’s laundry day again,” isn’t the kind of chorus that really gets my angst out. This one has a guitar solo too, and it’s a gooder. Too bad that the song isn’t as good as the solo. The pop-punk of “Darkest Hour” is better. Why did singers always use distortion on their voices in the early 90’s? It’s too bad. “Darkest Hour” isn’t bad at all. The last song is the dreary “Better Things to Do”, which kind of leaves the EP on a downer note.
It’s too bad really because I know they can do better. They did do better, on the Deadline EP. Would they redeem it on the Tangible Vibe album? I remember liking it back then, but I haven’t played it in a long time. That’s the next review. As for So This is Limbo?
RECORD STORE TALES Part 282:
T-Rev, Mike, and the Neurotic Outsiders…
T-Rev called me from his store one afternoon in 1996.
“Mikey! Have you heard this Neurotic Outsiders CD? It fuckin’ rocks!”
I had not heard the Neurotic Outsiders CD.
It actually took T-Rev some talking to get me to buy it. (Playing it in-store was forbidden due to the foul language contained therein.) I knew Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum were in the band, with Steve Jones and John Taylor from Duran Duran. I was getting pretty bored with GN’R related solo albums, and while I found this combo intriguing, I was also inundated with other new releases at the same time. These included a new Rush studio album, a Rush tribute album, a new Scorpions, and a new King’s X. I had plenty of new music to keep me occupied!
He persisted, T-Rev did, and I caved and bought the CD. It only took one listen to know that he was right about the Neurotic Outsiders. They did indeed fucking rock. I was hooked immediately.
We played Neurotic Outsiders in the car a lot that summer. If I was driving, Trevor would be playing air drums along with Matt Sorum. Trev’s a drummer and he was damn good at doing Sorum’s style. You know that rolling drum intro to “You Could be Mine”? T-Rev had that one mastered, and there’s loads of that on Neurotic Outsiders. “Good News” is a great example. Trevor used to say my car had “good bass”, but he wasn’t talking about my stereo system. He was talking about the sound he could make when playing double bass on my floor with his feet. He could bruise his legs (snare drums) just from playing in the car.
I didn’t really drink back in those days so I was usually designated driver, which worked out really well. Driving home from a party, Neurotic Outsiders blasting, T-Rev playing slightly tipsy but always awesome air drums next to me. I didn’t have a CD player in that car either, which would have been my old Plymouth Sundance. Piece of shit car. The left driver’s side speaker was blown, making everything sound absolutely weak and lopsided. I recorded Neurotic Outsiders to cassette for car play. T-Rev’s modus operandi was the mix tape, whereas I chose to record entire albums. Either way, we heard “Good News” and “Angelina” a hell of a lot that year.
This album kind of snuck in under the radar in ’96. Guns N’ Roses was disintegrating (Slash quit in October), but Matt & Duff teamed up with Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols and John Taylor of Duran Duran to form this supergroup of sorts. Lead vocals are handled by everyone except Matt Sorum, who provides plenty of his unique double bass/snare/crash cymbol pounding. In fact if any one member dominates in this album, I’d say it’s Matt Sorum! The other three guys all have their own songs, but Matt is the consistent common thread. Taylor tends to handle most of the slower material, Jonesy the heavy snarky stuff, and Duff sings a couple rockers too.
Very few stinkers on this album. Lots of winners. Lyrics with loads of attitude! “The good news is / You’re dying, the bad new is / I’m alive.” (“Good News”) Then, there’s “Jerk”:
“You’re a bitch, I’m a jerk, I don’t think that we can work, You’re a prat, I’m a prick, I don’t think that we will stick, I’m a cat, you’re a chick, I think you deserve one more lick.”
There’s a Clash cover, a deliciously noisy “Janie Jones”, but even that great song is overshadowed by the Outsiders’ originals. Check out the opener “Nasty Ho,” one of Jonesy’s hilarious and thunderous punk songs. And if you have any doubts as to punk rock authenticity, I think Duff McKagan is well on record on a connoisseur of fine punk rock.
“Union”, a ballad, seems to be Jonesey lamenting that the Sex Pistols were never a real united band, slagging off everyone (himself included), except his “mate, old Cookie”. It’s a slow song but it has some bite to it. Two John Taylor songs are two of the heavier ones: “Always Wrong” and the smokin’ “Feelings Are Good”. Both these songs were also featured on Taylor’s solo album Feelings Are Good and Other Lies. (The title track was renamed “Feelings R Good”.) Best tune is “Angelina”, a fast punk rocker (today would they call this pop-punk?) with an insanely catchy chorus.
The only tunes that I could skip over are the really slow ones: “Better Way” and “Story Of My Life”. Yet even so, they have some charm. They’re not bad songs at all, just completely overshadowed by all the super-fun punk rock songs. Producer Jerry Harrison captured a raw performance, and I like that you can hear the ambiance of the room on “Story Of My Life”.
As you read in the above Record Store Tale, I was hooked immediately on Neurotic Outsiders, and that proved to be a lasting feeling. I wanted more, and at a visit to HMV Toronto (333 Yonge) I found the CD single for “Jerk”. It contained a “clean” version of “Jerk” (kind of pointless, but you have to at least try to get played on the radio, right?). Most interestingly was the B-side track “Seattle Head”. Duff was born in Seattle and had a connection with many of the artists that came from that city. (He was also one of the last people to speak to Kurt Cobain.) I can’t say that this song has that “Seattle sound”, it sounds like Duff McKagan to me. But it’s also obvious why it’s a B-side; because it’s the weakest of all the songs.
There was another single, a Japanese import for “Angelina”. This one had two more B-sides: “Spanish Ballroom” and “Planet Earth”. I would really, really, really like to have that. Amazon is asking $45. Hard to justify for two songs (although I have done things like that before).
It’s a shame Neurotic Outsiders never made a second album. But maybe not — maybe a second album would have tarnished my memories. As it stands, it is just a one-off and will likely remain so, but it is also an album I still listen to 18 years later.
mikeladano.com 