Customer Reviews

50,000 B.C.

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Now that the mighty S2T has officially called it quits it's time to reassess their catalogue. Their last 2 official albums were movie soundtracks, one of mostly ambient & electronic music ('High Art') and one with a slew of genre exercises & (mostly) guest singers ('First Love, Last Rites'), but '50,000 B.C.' was their last conventional "rock" album.

When it was initially released in 1997, the album was met with derision by many fans (who saw the more straightforward songwriting as a sellout) and critics (most of whom had hated them all along). Unfair I say...

The funny thing about Shudder To Think is that they were idiosyncratic by design. Even when they tried to play it straight there were always elements (namely lead singer Craig Wedren's quvaery vocals & off the wall, frequently inscrutable, lyrics) that would guarantee no one would mistake their music for mainstream alt-rock radio fodder.

Once you drop your preconceptions and accept that the boys didn't have it in them to try to replicate the truly bizarre 'Pony Express Record' (viewed as either a masterpiece or a pretensious mess of an album, depending on who you ask), '50,000 B.C.' will, upon repeated listens, reveal itself to be simply a great rock record.

I count maybe three 3 unworthy songs but the majority of the album is fun, listener-friendly, only slightly off-kilter. There are quite a few standouts: "Beauty Strike" is a major-chord adrenaline rush, "Red House" a rerecording of one of their best early songs, "She's A Skull" is goofy but fun post-punk silliness, and the plaintive "Saddest Day of My Life" could almost pass for a power ballad.

Shudder To Think were one of the best, truly original rock bands of the 90's. An acquired taste to be sure, but I would recommend this album as a good introduction for the uninitiated.

Strange and wonderful. Pity they're not around anymore to make more albums like it.

I haven't followed every twist and turn of Shudder to Think's illustrious career. I bought "Pony Express Record" after hearing "Ex-French Tee-Shirt" on the radio and getting smitten. I'm an art rock fan, but I'm not into bizarreness for bizarreness' sake and complexity for complexity's sake; ultimately, it has to move me or it's just an intellectual exercise. I've put a lot of work into understanding the intricacies of PER and figuring out what it's all about, and while there are exhilarating moments, the payoff has been uneven; I still can't follow what's going on half the time or what effect they're trying to create besides confusion. So I thought I'd check out their supposed "sellout" album and see what an EXTREMELY intricate band sounds like when they go commercial. My verdict: they sound GREAT. 50,000 B.C. is the perfect balance of wimpy-campy-psychotic-sweet vocal melodies and harmonies, ambitious but not overly chaotic song structures and chord changes, and very cool rhythmic grooves with just enough quirkiness to throw you off balance every 30 seconds or so (instead of every 10 seconds, as on PER). The choruses tend to be long and involved and requiring of some study before you can really groove along, but, ah!, so satisfying when you do. "Survival" is an accessible high point, but for their special brand of hypnotic weirdness, the trophy goes to "The Man That Rolls." I think that people who say 50,000 BC is a compromise are missing the boat; it sounds to me like S2T decided that they didn't have to prove how quirky they are anymore and just let the music -- and the quirkiness -- flow.

The new high-gloss image and sound of Shudder to Think does not overshadow the brilliance of emotional power expressed by the band. Very catchy at times, yet musically powerful with wonderful singing throughout. A great purchase even if you are not familiar with the band.

people who bash this album as the follow up to "pony express record" confuse me. how else can you follow up such a classicly messed up head scratcher like "p.e.r." than to go off into a different direction entirely and craft a perfect pop album? i mean, the drummer quit cuz it just got to be too much y'know? shudder to think has ALWAYS had strong pop elements to their music, and i for one am glad that they put the mathmatical song structures behind them and just went for it.

the songs are mostly f'n fantastic. while singer craig wedren naturally gets the attention, this is guitarist nathan larson's shining moment... whether he's crankin' out some serious crunch or caressing the guitar like he's under the sheets performing cunnilingus, he's reaching every emotional possiblility in a rock guitar record. "she's a skull" is fun and hard, while "you're gonna look fine, love" is one of the most gorgeous tunes ever written. and "survival".... man.... imagine if somehow Journey was able to write a truly great, non-sappy song and yer getting close. what a great song...

put this on, get drunk on wine, slip into something more comfortable and enjoy.

A lush turn with an almost 60s soul flair thrown into the mix, this is quite a metamorphosis after the terse, resolute angularity of Pony Express Record. Decried as sellouts by some, Shudder To Think certainly didn't hit the bigtime if that's what people were accusing them of. But they should have. "50,000 BC" is a celebratory record of strong songs and balanced production that hits its mark.

I am not familiar with other albums by Shudder to Think, having picked this one up for cheap after adoring their songs on the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack. I was initially disappointed to find that they aren't usually glam rock, but the same songwriting ingenuity that attracted me at first is on full display on 50,000 BC. The songs are catchy at times without being predictable. Although die-hard Shudder to Think fans don't seem to like it, this album is a more accessible introduction to the band. My personal favorite is "The Saddest Day of My Life."

I won't waste your time rehashing the greatness of this band-I'll only say 50,000 BC is without a doubt, worthy of the P.E.R hype, and possibly more so.

This could have made STT more mainstream if this would have been their first major label release. Not that it would totally make them mainstream, mind you. But there's some terrific stuff on here, great guitar work and the song construction, while more conventional, also holds together more. A fine last hurrah!

listen for yourself, please. but my recommendation is that this is a great album to get. i can't stand it when people pull that "oh well, uh, i like thier older stuff" junk. if you actually listen to the old dischord stuff, you'll hear that it's exactly the same only slightly more raw and underdeveloped. but it was never punk rock. this album is full and complete. maybe not as thematic as pony express but sonically it's just as good.

In an effort to do justice to the music, as if coming upon it unbeknownst, let US DISROBE IT FOR A MOMENT. LOOK at this record as if there were never another Shudder to Think, and no other record by which to judge them; see this polished ivory gem under black light, though it be bursting with finer colors in the day. Say not "masterpiece", for what is a masterpiece without masters, and out of a group of three, whom do you call master? Though they shine, they are not yet within the walled fortress, nor do they invite you to join them. Do not call this an invitation to anything. It is not to be a chapter in a book, if we are speaking of chapter books, but we are not. What we mean is literacy, and then something more, the translators for the music. Do not be fooled by familiar squares and circles, for like the loose committee endeavoring to form a circle, they soon turn into a blob. And what is a literate blob? Answer: Shudder to Think. Maybe they play for you and you hear an inkblot. They play for me and I hear musical vases, musical faces. If we are to keep telling ourselves, "no one expected this", then right there in our hands we have a truth, an interruption, something over which to wave our ragged flag. If we keep it up, our flag may become a patchwork quilt, and others will surely notice; hence our work will be finished. All this nonsense I set as a bullwark, lest anyone think me so ignorant to demand of Shudder to Think something as preposterous as a STANDARD. Shudder to Think never made a standard record. But this is the one for me!