500 Pounds

Big Sugar | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 27, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Jive
• ASIN: B00000052K
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #278,634 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A truly great album, April 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: 500 Pounds (Audio CD)

This album is LOUD. From the sound of Gordie's Gibson wailing through big Marshall amps, to Al Cross' thunderous drums, '500 Pounds' is the closest thing you'll find to hearing Big Sugar live. (On a side note, Big Sugar is, without a doubt, the best live act I have seen to date).

'Ride like Hell' and 'I'm a Ram' evoke comparisons to classic Cream. Gordie can alternately croon or wail, and his slide guitar playing is masterful.

While I feel that the band's most recent recordings have tried a little too hard to find commercial success, they're still about the best blues-rock band out there. If you're a fan, you must already own this album. If you're looking for a good introduction to Big Sugar though, '500 Pounds' is cooler than Gordie's Car.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm a Fan, June 28, 2001

By 

Acnoth "acnoth" (Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 500 Pounds (Audio CD)

I was working late one night when "All Over Now" came on over the radio. I immediately sat up and cried "What the (heck) was that?" It was a startling discovery. The entire CD, with the exception of the appalling "AAA Aardvark Hotel," brings a sonic grit to the blues that would make Jimi Hendrix and the Eric Clapton of Cream proud. The CD announces this intent with the defiantly loud "Ride Like Hell" to begin, but even more quiet pieces such as "Sugar in My Coffee" cry for volume. In "Sugar in My Coffee" the two notes following the line "And when he barks it rolls just like thunder" are perfectly juxtaposed by the falsetto of Gordie Johnson's next line. The harp and sax of Kelly Hoppe is incredible, and has only been matched by Hoppe's own harp on "Hemi-Vision," Big Sugar's following CD. Johnson's guitar virtuoso is also apparent throughout the album, with the execption of the aforementioned unfortunate "AAA Aardvark Hotel." One of my favourite examples is the bagpipe drone of "Wild Ox Moan," the likes of which I will guarantee you have never heard before. For tradionalists Johnson does calm it down beautifully with "Still Waitin'," a traditional blues tune that shows that, back then at least, Big Sugar may have been colossally loud, but Johnson's heart remained still in the right place.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good, loud and swampy, June 27, 2005

By 

BBQJoe (from the pit) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 500 Pounds (Audio CD)

Big Sugar were still a loose knit bunch of blues and jazz players from Toronto around the time this swampy rockpile was laid down. Gordie Johnson and gang took one last big ass kick at eclecticism before rock radio came calling and the band went for the hits. Dropping the jazz leanings from their first disc, they instead go for an all out sonic assault on the blues. Picture Gene Vincent in a Hugo Boss suit fronting a cross between a Jon Spencer/Ry Cooder/Los Straitjackets combo and you're just about there. Get the Canadian version for even more wacko fun and less Traffic covers.