Customer Reviews

Bad Is Beautiful

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

 

 

Ralph Covert and Co. never fail to satisfy with great pop/rock sensiblities, even on this early album. Smart, witty lyrics and great writing and musicianship (even more apparent on the live album "Cheap Beer Night", featuring the late guitar great John Duich) from the extremely well crafted rhythm section of Terry and Pickles, and the excellent guitar work of Tommy O'Brian. These guys have sold a ton of albums and toured extensively, but it seems it's mostly the overseas crowd that has given them the appreciation they have always deserved.

I keep close tabs on Ralph and his continuing progressive work, but this CD is always a great reminder of what pros at any level should aspire to.

The Bad Examples were one of those amazingly talented bands that never quite made it on the national stage.

For those who know about and like the Bad Examples, this is typically the first album encountered. The song "Not Dead Yet" was covered (badly) by Styx, and the song "One Perfect Moment" received a great deal of airplay on Chicago radio (mostly on WXRT). The Bad Examples combine rock, kitsch-pop and blues in a way that is perky and catchy. Cynical, smart and often funny lyrics contrast sharply with the pop-rock sounds.

If you aren't familiar with this band, I would strongly recommend this album as an introduction to their work. Every song on this CD is eminently listenable and will get stuck in your head for weeks.

If you're a fan and are wondering what happened to them, lyricist-singer Ralph Covert is now doing mostly solo work while the rest of the band formed a blues group called "Blue Balls."

This is a great CD starting with NOT DEAD YET, which STYX did a cover of. I would have to say that every song on this disc is good. I unfortunately never had the pleasure of seeing these guys live. They remind me alot of OFF BROADWAY another great CHICAGO band.

The Bad Examples put out a great album in "Bad is Beautiful"! It is funny, interesting and makes me want to listen to it over and over again! If you like intelligent rock along the lines of the Barenaked Ladies or They Might Be Giants you'll love this fine CD!

Annually, a week-long outdoor music festival takes over Burlington, IA, my hometown. As the main act finished with the main stage, the crowd turns around and starts heading past the "South Stage" to find their cars. On this night, though, as the big act finished, the South Stage lights blasted on in perfect time with the first note from an energitic and (God-forbid) actually fun-sounding singer blasting out a song I knew was an original in the first ten seconds. Most peolple headed to their cars anyway. I didn't. I listened to every note and had one of the greatest concert experiences of my life. It took some work, but over the next week I found all their albums and bought them. A year later they played in the little student union at U of Iowa. My wife and I may have been the only ones there. I talked to the band a lot and listened to yet another great live show. I've since turned many people on to them. They are what music is supposed to be about. You will like them. I have not idea why radio doesn't, except that the actually sound original.

I was ten years old when this album came out and was fortunate enough to get a copy of it because my dad was in the printing business and worked on the printing of the artwork. Of all the CDs I would nab from my dad's CD collection, The Bad Examples were my favorite. I started playing guitar, writing music, and to this day they're still one of my biggest inspirations. This album is pure rock/pop at it's finest. It jumps from catchy singles that would put the patrons of any bar on it's feet, to ballads so sweet and beautiful you wonder why they aren't on major motion picture soundtracks. This album is amazing, and more importantly, timeless. The emotions and situations that these songs draw from mean even more to me know that I've grown up and understand them. In short, buy this album. It is amazing.

This is a rock band that can be snide and true in turns. The way life really is for those who have lost their bloom but frequently reject the term cynic.

[My other favorites are Lyle Lovett, Dire Straits & Lloyd Cole and the Commotions]