Customer Reviews

117 Degrees

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I received 117 degrees last week & was able to listen to it all the way through for the first time. As with all of Izzy's work, I loved it. My fave songs were his cover of "Memphis", "Methanol", "Grunt", "Old Hat" & "Surf Roach" - a song co-written w/ his brother, Joe Isbell. Sadly, I had to wait so long to purchase his CD's b/c they've never been sold in my hometown & his music has never been played on our local radio stations. I was only able to hear his music on the rare occasions I visited his home state of Indiana when visitng my own relatives & more recently on the Internet. I really prefer CD's, but now all of his newest work is only available on i-tunes & since I don't have my own computer, I can only purchase what is available here. I wish Amazon could get permission to sell ALL of his work. Since I'm not very tech or business savvy, I'm not sure how that would be arranged. I also needed to add that the songs "Ain't It A B****","Gotta Say" & "Bleedin" seemed almost prophetic comsidering a personal situation that arose in his life a few years later or possibly, he already knew what was going on at the time these songs were written. He does write about his personal experiences. Although, he's a very private person, you can learn a lot about him if you just listen to his lyrics. The same was true about the songs he wrote for Guns N' Roses, especially songs that he sang the lead on, i.e. "Dust N' Bones", "14 Years" & "Double Talkin' Jive."

This is my favorite Izzy Stradlin album. He really comes through here mixing up each song stylistically and sounding great vocally throughout. The production, too, is leaps and bounds ahead of the first Ju Ju Hounds record. Now- the songs. Izzy really lets his acoustic side hang out here for the most part. There are a number of acoustic based tracks with a country, rockabilly edge to them. One of those songs, "Good Enough" should have been a top ten hit. You listen to this song and it just has massive hit written all over it. "Up Jumped The Devil" is straight rockabilly and is a really enjoyable fast- paced song with some stellar guitar picking. I also like the use of the two instrumentals here. Of The two, "Grunt" is just brilliant, a rare instrumental that is memorable and full of hooks. It starts off with a great heavy riff that really contrasts the rest of the album, but soon it goes off in a completely different direction you'd never expect. As a fan of Izzy, I have heard his other releases, but 117* really stands apart for me. It sounds very inspired, and I loved how his vocals were recorded here. He sounds amazing. His vocals are strong in the mix, and he often changes singing styles from tune to tune- even using vocal effects to good use on a few songs. If someone was just getting into Izzy's music- this is the place to start. You can do no better than picking up this album first. It's the best representation of what Izzy has to offer, but only the tip of the iceberg. He's the real deal and has been making quite a legacy for himself since leaving GNR. I expect more greatness to come down the road, and I for one will be keeping a watchful eye on anything he does.