Customer Reviews

500 Pounds

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I first heard Big Sugar on LaFemme NIkita doing "Still wailing" and I knew I had to have this cd. This song so fits the charecter "Michael" of LaFemme Nikita and I play it over and over. It is so great! leigh

As a Brazilian lad studying in Boston back in 1998, I was more than addicted on rock radios and tried to get to know as many new bands as possible. MTV was as waste of time so I used to watch MUCH MUSIC, sort of a Canadian version of that ill fated American "music channel". That's where I first saw BIG SUGAR and they totally blew me away.

Next day I was going through the dozens of used cd stores in town looking for their material. "Five Hundred Pounds" was the only album I found and it's probably their best. It's blues, but it's not. It's classic rock, but it's not. It's alternative, but it's not. It just sounds irresistibly GOOD! The riffs are craunchy and the band carries a groove that 90% of the hyped bands nowadays would give their left arm to be able to create and keep.

How come they never got big? Bad management, perhaps. Quality they sure got.

IF YOU LIKE HARD DRIVING BLUES, THIS IS THE CD FOR YOU. FROM THE OPENING NOTES OF RIDE LIKE HELL, TO THE HAUNTING WILD OX MOAN, YOUR FOOT WON'T STOP TAPPING AND YOUR EARS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME. CRANK IT UP AND LOVE IT.

The mixture of music styles from rythem & blues, reggie and rock is simply amazing. This music is loud, smart, and most of all entertaining.

This is Big Sugar at thier best! Thier latest recordings (Hemi-Vision and Heated) are far removed from thier blues based beginnings. Driving guitar riffs from this six-string gunslinger and the amazing vocal ability of Gordie Johnson make this album a must have.

Buy it NOW! You will not be disappointed.

I was given 500 Pounds as a gift because it was a "blues" cd.Well that it is not.Sure 500 Pounds has some old blues songs covered on it , but that does not make it a blues cd.Its an ok cd though.I actually like the originals over the covers.Gordie Johnson has a rustoleum guitar, squeaky and rusty , he emits some very cool and unique sounds.The bass and drums provide solid rhythm, too bad there is not more harp playing. Big Sugar has a John Spencer Blues Explosion sound to them but Jon Spencer is a wild man and Gordie Johnson is more laid back.They kinda sound like an alt/grunge band minus the angst and yelling but with a pinch of the blues. here is a track by track breakdown
Ride Like Hell is a cross between JSBE & a woodstock era song.I'm a Ram could be BTO then it breaks into a slight reggae beat then returns to the Big Sugar/BTO sound.Wild Ox Moan is a dirge that sounds like a .....wild ox moaning.All Over Now has some nice guitar work but sounds just like that other song of the same name so why not a cover of that song?Standing Around Crying is as close to Chicago as Big Sugar will get and why not its a Muddy Waters song.Great harp work.Dear Mr Fantasy is a cheesy but decent enough cover. Why bother doing How Many Times , Zep owns it.AAA Ardvark Motel is a sock hop song, why not its fun and short.Deliver Me is about 4:16 tooo long.Still Waiting is a cowboy ballad with some good harmonica the song itself is corny.And lastly , Sugar in my Coffee is Led Zep on a bad day. Which is pretty good for Big Sugar or any other band for that matter.
500 Lbs. is a decent enough CD, I can listen to it straight thru. This may not be a ringing endorsement but I find the music makes for good background noise. It doesn't demand your attention nor does it annoy. I play this CD when I'm doing busy kinda stuff and want some tunes in the background.

What can I say, my husband likes this band. I find them banal and "90's Nothing Rock" so.. I have to give it one star, as I know one person who acutally likes this modern musak.