Ahead Of The Lions

The Living Things | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 28, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Jive
• ASIN: B000B5XZJM
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #186,324 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Ahead Of The Lions

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Resuscitating rock 'n' roll, November 8, 2005

By 

Rhymes With Orange (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ahead Of The Lions (Audio CD)

Imagine the Stooges and/or the Dolls bashing away on Jagger/Richards compositions, and you'll have an idea of The Living Things' sound. Unlike some other young bands that recently have been heralded as the saviors of rock 'n' roll (think Strokes), The Living Things have the energy, the smarts and the chops to rip this joint.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CD Review: Living Things: "Ahead of the Lions", October 31, 2005

By 

Larry Sakin "Larry A. Sakin" (Tucson, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ahead Of The Lions (Audio CD)

For some time now, I've privately lamented that rock music has grown so estranged from its rebellious roots; it's become hard to associate the form with its progenitors. Occasionally, a truly progressive band comes along that puts the "roll" back into the rock, oozing a raw sexuality while maintaining politically based lyrics which displays the turmoil and angst that rock's fan base often swirl around in. The St. Louis-based Living Things is one such band. They breathe new life into music that has been systemically sanitized, corporative, and rendered not so gratefully dead.

It's the kind of band Lou Reed would love- stripped down to its essentials of guitar, bass, and drums supporting brooding vocals with ironic and just plain, low down truthful lyrics. It's the product of the brothers Berlin: Lillian, Eve, and Bosh, with some backup from friend Cory Becker. Throughout the album, the Berlins and Becker pay tribute to many of their mentors. The first two songs, "Bombs Below" and "I Owe" are extremely reminiscent of early Ramones works. From there we get to the hit "Bom, Bom, Bom" and "New Year", which eerily recalls the spirit of 70's glam provocateurs Marc Bolan and T. Rex. Musically, the rest of the album sways gently between some early Brit-punk and Seattle based grunge. But the music, as good as it is, serves a supporting role to Lillian Berlin's writing. Highly esteemed colleagues often compare this band to Nirvana. But if Nirvana spoke to the angst and rage of Generation X, Living Things speaks for a new generation of the young, who've had their rage calmed by legal pushers of Prozac and Ritalin. They've received medically induced teenage lobotomies, without having to undergo the tortuous invasions of the adult world's scalpels. And Lillian would know, having been put on a regimen of those same medications during his teen years. In a country where normal growing pains are sometimes turned into designer illnesses, it's not surprising that Lillian refers to these kids as the "blackout generation".

The disc offers many little surprises along the way. The Berlins self-produced the album, with the assistance of alt-rock recording guru Steve Albini. Many of the songs have very slick production values which at first, was a little annoying for a band that has such tremendous contempt for commercial sensibilities. But their sly humor finally punched through for me. They've concocted a product that is seemingly ready for prime time with a message that in this day and age would definitely be considered unplayable on most commercial stations. Most impressively, Lillian's vocal style increases the pungent sensuality of the pounding bass lines and ritualistic drum beats. Lillian writhes with carnal ecstasy as he opens yet another vein into the world of his psychometric rather than psychedelic drug use. But there is much more going on here lyrically. Many of the songs are meditations on how quickly the world has faded into the morass of military and corporate dominance, and how easily people have sold out their communities for a trip to the new neighborhood Wal-Mart.

Living Things is exactly what it promotes itself to be- a soulful organism awakened to the excesses and negligence of their caretakers, and unwilling to settle for the dreary, zombified, daydream existence that has captivated so many of their peers. "Ahead of the Lions" is a splash of freezing cold water in the faces of today's youth, urging them to stop standing in place, accepting their roles as prey for military and corporate predators.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars No Solution Just Bombs, October 27, 2005

By 

doomsdayer520 (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Ahead Of The Lions (Audio CD)

Lately, the newest "in" rock bands have shown an annoying tendency to rely on attitude rather than musical skills, with a focus on lame '80s sounds that are surely not going anywhere interesting. Not so for Living Things, who combine the strongest aspects of the punk, metal, and glam movements of the past decade with a new-fangled outlook, for a sound that is both solid and fresh. This band has real potential and may just get modern rock out of its current under-achieving rut. The basic Living Things songwriting method is standard punk structures, but they have a nearly metal execution, resulting in a big bold sound. The best examples of this are piled up in the first half of the album, especially in the pummeling "Bombs Below" and the unholy Stones/Ramones marriage of "Bon Bon Bon." Other goodies include the unapologetically metallic "New Jesus" and "On All Fours," along with the hep jazzy rockabilly tendencies of "Monsters of Man." Frontman Lillian Berlin (a dude, as is his brother Eve on bass) needs to become a little more distinctive on vocals, but his continuous anti-neocon lyrics show some real fierce intelligence and worldly wisdom, even if they're a little low on variety. The only real weakness in the Living Things sound is their slower mid-tempo numbers, like "Keep It Til You Fold" and a couple of others, which are sludgy and drab. But otherwise, I think this band is really going places. [~doomsdayer520~]