DISQUS

Old_Davy · 1 year ago

I'm stepping out on the ledge and admitting that I for one, LOVE LOVE LOVE this album. It was in constant rotation in my car stereo for about 18 months, and I just couldn't hear it enough. Jason's slightly off-base sense of melody coupled with Jon's excellent production skills is a match made in power pop heaven. The guitar work on the record is superb and the CD sounds great cranked up i.e. not mastered too loudly, like 99.99% of CD's today. Hell, ALL the instruments are played masterfully, and it really sounds like a full-fledged BAND to me. I only became aware of the individual member's pedigrees after hearing The Grays as a band.

Is there a sweeter chorus than the one in "Friend of Mine"? How about those long intros to "Everybody's World" and "No One Can Hurt Me" - pretty trippy, huh? "Very Best Years" and "Oh Well Maybe" should have ruled the charts, and probably would have...in 1976.

Honestly, I do think the album tends to drag about 3/4 the way in ("Not Long For This World" and "Spooky" are two tracks I usually skip) and I wish they had included just ONE "Nothing" song since they both use the same lyrical pun to get the point across. Brion's voice tends to sound a bit wimpy after a while, but these criticisms are minor when the whole of the album is so terrific.

I bought it knowing absolutely nothing about it, based solely on a short blurb in the Columbia House CD Club catalog and was so pleasantly surprised at how good it was that it continues to occupy a special place in my musical heart to this day.

Now, how about some Owsley or Tommy Keene??

WHarrisBullzEye · 1 year ago

Actually, the Buddy Judge record is still in print through Q Division. Just head over here to pick it up for $12 + postage:

http://www.qdivisionrecords.com/store/

Brought to you by the Society to Prevent Cutouts (SoPrevCo).

Stephe Sykes · 1 year ago

the JB songs on RSB are incredible. I've loved this record since I saw these guys at Local 186 in Boston in '94

dslifton · 1 year ago

Nice take. I admire it, but like so much else from Falkner, have found it too inscrutible to really get into it.

Beavis & Butthead also took The Very Good Years apart, making fun of the melodic hook into the chorus and calling it a cross between Stone Temple Pilots and "my nads." I wonder if that had any negative effect on sales.

MichaelWSP · 1 year ago

It's true! When I started playing it I was like "I know this. I *absolutely* know this. Where do I know this from?"

Then they got to the little scalar run up to the chorus and I was like "Beavis and Butthead! They HATED this song!"

Didn't they hate Jellyfish too? Did Mike Judge single-handedly destroy the 90's power pop movement?

rwcass · 1 year ago

Are Mike and Buddy Judge estranged siblings? That could explain everything.

David_E · 1 year ago

Pretty good record, though I'm with you – my love of Jellyfish made me buy this. My ears made me wish it was better.

And for the record, I was not the one to say "Damn Yankees." Even though Tommy Shaw was approached by Jon Brion a few years back to form a new group with Robert Manning and ha ha ha even I can't go on with a straight face.

George · 1 year ago

I believe it was me who was jonesing for some "Damn Yankees." I also guessed Bad English for what it's worth.

Side note....I interviewed Ted Nugent some years back and he was thinking of reforming D.Y. because he was ready for some more "Damn Yankin'" as he called it. He also talked a lot about hunting which I guess shouldn't be too much of a shock.

jefito · 1 year ago

Dude, if you see Nuge again, will you punch him in the jimmy for me? Thanks.

George · 1 year ago

Will do.

DavidMedsker · 1 year ago

I'm with you, Jefito. I like the Brion songs, but the rest was underwhelming. I saw one of Brion's legendary Largo shows in 2002, and was stunned when he started banging out "Same Thing" on the piano.

jsd · 1 year ago

I'm a big fan of Jason Falkner but I've never heard this. Thanks for sharing!

JohnHughes · 1 year ago

Total agreement - saw the video for "Very Best Years," freaked out, bought it immediately, listened to it maybe, four times, then shelved it.

Love Brion and Falkner, but not this. Heretic!

Spence · 1 year ago

It's an interesting one, for sure. When I was in the grip of a major Falkner trip about five years ago, I took advice from someone in the know that Ro Sham Bo was the greatest album ever. I've really tried to enjoy it over the years, but aside from Very Best Years and Same Thing, it just doesn't grab me.

Now, Falkner's solo records are a different beast entirely, and Can You Still Feel might just be one of *the* greatest guitar pop records ever. His latest is a bit of a damp squib, mind :(

Darren · 1 year ago

aside from the CD being kinda lame, the CD art was Toad-The-Wet-Sprocket bad.

Pete · 1 year ago

I agree-it seems like many of the label art departments in the early 90s were really in a sad state of design. Blech.

Breadalbane · 1 year ago

I'll add to the chorus here, and opine that (whole) < (sum of parts).

But when I first came across this album in the 90s, I thought that "Both Belong" could have been a hit. And I still think it could have been a hit.

Francis · 1 year ago

I like the Falkner songs on this and not much else. (Those would be: "Very Best Years," "Friend of Mine," "Oh Well Maybe," "Both Belong," and "Spooky.")

My hmphs · 1 year ago

"Both Belong" still ranks near the top of my all-time favorites. Although I've never been a huge fan of Jason Falkner's solo work, I think his songs are stellar on Ro Sham Bo. And when Jon Brion's not so quirky and inventive, he can write a great rock song.

hagen · 1 year ago

H. I was close. Not the worst album at all, but the vocals too often reminded me of Kevin Gilbert, whose stuff was superior in every way to this disc. Hey, that'd be a quick Idiot's Guide, wouldn't it? Two solo albums interrupted by a wanky-choke death, with a great project before and a live disc after.

jefito · 1 year ago

It would be a quickie. I bet our pal Dawayne Bailey could do it up right -- he's the biggest Gilbert fan I know...

hagen · 1 year ago

I might be taller.

360sound · 1 year ago

Sounds like I might be the 'heretic' here instead, but I have to go along with Old Davy on this one - this is a great album - much preferred to the bombastic "Night At The" - er , sorry - "Spilt Milk", and Falkner's enjoyable but increasingly spotty later solos. Not every track is a winner, but "Friend Of Mine", "Same Thing" and both "Nothings" are top-drawer 90's power pop, standouts in a very crowded field at the time.

Dave Low · 5 months ago

Any chance you can bring these links back to life?