Customer Reviews

Bad Music for Bad People

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4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Usually a band that pioneers a sound is surpassed by their imitators. However, nobody in the Psychobilly genre has topped the Cramps sound. The Reverend Horton Heat has come close, but has yet to equal the greatest Psychobilly band ever.
The Cramps are highly energetic and extremely fun. They're way too humorous to be called Goth. The music is just simple, trashy fun.
"Bad Music for Bad People" is a collection of their early ( and best ) material. Songs like "Garbage Man", "Human Fly", and "TV Set" are classics that never get old. The surf guitar and punk rawness makes it feel like you're riding in a hotrod with greasers from hell. To top it off, Lux Interior's insane voice is like a Pentecostal preacher speaking in tongues while drunk on moonshine.
The Cramps destroy the innocent sound of late `50's rock and roll by adding blatant sex and drugs themes in an offensive and psychotic manner. That's exactly what made all of punk appealing, taking simple rock `n roll from an innocent time and making it raw and rebellious. The Cramps are just as important to punk as the Ramones are.

Between Lux Interior (lead yowler) and Poison Ivy (Goddess Guitar Herself), the Cramps cover all of needs. Lux is the William Burroughs of Rock n Roll, forever young and forever insane, while Poison Ivy has the best sneer in the business.

Listening to the Cramps reminds me of old 50's footage where conservative types are talking about rock being "jungle music", all primal urge and madness, and it brings a visceral thrill into my body and makes me smile. The Cramps are all that is twisted about rock -- loud, obnoxious, silly, smart, and best of all, fun.

This collection is a decent overview of their first albums and singles, and it encapsulates some of their best moments on record (although nothing can touch the Cramps live show). They are not the greatests musicians, singers, or lyricists on the planet, but that is what makes them so very good -- they know what they do well and they do it better than anyone -- they get you moving. And whatever camp claims them on various outings (punk, psychobilly, garage rock, twisted blues) you always know you are getting the best damn rock n roll in the known universe.

Go on -- hop aboard the "Drug Train", get a "New Kind of Kick", take a ride with the "Garbage Man", and get to know the "Human Fly". It'll do you good.

This album was my introduction to The Cramps, and it highlights the best of their early (and best) albums on I.R.S. Records, from the days when that was the most happening punk/new wave label. The Cramps successfully mix rockabilly,surf trash,punk,country and garage into an outta sight 60's B-horror movie sound that opens the ears,boggles the mind, and gets you to jump around the room,insane and highly recommended.

The Cramps are one of the best rock 'n' roll bands ever, and this is the perfect starting place if you want to get into them. The Cramps were punk, but more than just punk. They melded punk rock with rockabilly, horror lyrics, and even some surf, resulting in a new form subgenre known as Psychobilly. This is definatly an example of "They did it first, they did it best". In the Psychobilly genre, the only subsequent band to be of any real note is Reverend Horton Heat, as most of the other groups suffer from unoriginality, and most are just flat out boring. The Cramps, however, are true rock 'n' roll giants. Despite being a little on the short side, most of the Cramps' best early sides are on this album. Only one song is from the Cramps' best album "Song the Lord Taught Us", so you can buy this and still feel use for it when you pick up that classic. As another reviewer stated, this isn't "Goth Rock". It's too campy and out-there to be put in the Goth label. If you want something unique, original, or unorthadox punk, this is a good comp to pick up.

The Cramps are a band that plays rockabilly influenced punk (or punk influenced rockabilly). This CD is a compilation of the "best" songs from their first three records. It's a good introduction to the group, although a bit short at 31 minutes running time. But it would be a good first Cramps CD to get, if you wanted to hear what the group's all about.

Originally released in 1984,as 'Bad Music...' was the band's second compilation album.Pulling material from the 'Gravest Hits' EP,'Songs The Lord Taught Us' and 'Psychedelic Jungle' discs.Total of eleven tracks.No highlights - they're ALL good.From "Garbageman","Goo Goo Muck",the psychobilly classic "Human Fly","Drug Train" and the foot-stomping standard "Uranium Rock"(hey,I've heard Dylan sometimes play this tune in concert).Only downside is the CD's duration is 31 minutes.A must-have just the same.

I first started listening to this CD(tape then) some time in 1985 or 1986. I was 12 or 13 and this was my favorite record. It drove everyone I knew crazy. They were all listening to pop music. You can't listen to "She Said" without jumping around a screaming. I used to play it over and over. "Human Fly" was killer as well. Perhaps this truly was "bad music" but I cannot think of another record that makes me feel 12 again quite like this one does.And maybe feeling 12 every now and then isn't such a bad thing.

Do you like The Misfits, The Gun Club, The Violent Femmes, The Dead Kennedys, Elvis? Give The Cramps a listen. This is an original band and concept and possibly style. Enter Psychobilly or Punkabilly. Although not my favorite album it is worth buying if you don't have it or any other Cramps albums, cds blah blah. There are other bands (psychobilly)Meteors, Nekromantix, Guanabatz, Demented are go, Tiger Army, but they are reinterpretations of era gone by...nothing compares to The Cramps. They are an original and were much needed at their time of inception...and now. What a cool name for a band, sure to piss off or irritate someone. They just don't make em or name em that way anymore (FEAR, The Misfits, Angry Samoans, Catholic Discipline, Suicidal Tendencies, Dead Kennedys) a barrage of imagery. Are you a Retro and I don't mean 80's only but the 50's with dark imagery of B horror movies, men in grey flannel and women who screamed and fainted?...The Cramps will take you there. The possess that raw lo-fi dangerous rock n' roll sound that was intended from the beginning. Lots of fuzz, creepiness and sexual angst...enjoy.

I've always thought that a dream show would be Southern Culture on the Skids, The Reverend Horton Heat and The Cramps. As they tour, they could swap running order spots, because not one of them would suffice being an opening act for any of the others, though I would think that SCOTS and the Rev would volunteer to take a step back in deference to the mighty Cramps.

And this release is probably one of the most amazing collections you can find of the pioneers of psychobilly. Aside from being a great gateway to classic rockabilly with their scorching versions of "Love Me," "She Said" and "Can't Hardly Stand It," The Cramps also touch on the fact that punk music has a source spring, as "Garbageman" attests, but that rock is sleazy and inventive and just plain out of this world. "New Kind of Kick" is the anthem for the burnt out, "Goo Goo Muck" confirms that all of us street urchins are quite simply monsters and deserve to torment the beautiful people, and "TV Set" makes being a mass murderer sound fun and icky at the same time. The Cramps tread two feet in many different kinds of worlds, and this sings to the creep in me.

This is a fun, crazy, creative and wonderful cd. I was introduced to The Cramps only a few months ago late at night while watching an indie music channel. At first I was a bit surprised by the stage presence, but after seeing the video for "She Said" and "Goo Goo Muck" I have to say, it's one of the best things about music. Lux Interior is a complete joy to listen to, his crazy style and stage antics grow on you and before you know it you have their songs in your head. Sadly it seems not a lot of people know about The Cramps. I do hope this cd and this band get the recognition they deserve.

Definitely pick up this cd for some good music.

Noteworthy songs from the cd: Garbageman, New Kind of Kick, She Said and Human Fly.