Customer Reviews

Big Red Letter Day

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was first introduced to Buffalo Tom through "My So-Called Life." Dutifully tuning into ABC on a cold Wednesday night in late 1994, I saw a band that I had heard of but never heard. I was riveted by the guitar and drum of "Sodajerk" and "Late At Night" and their infectious melodies. I bought the album the next day and it has been in constant rotation for the last 7 years.

Buffalo Tom, panned as Dinosaur Jr. Junior early on, really came into their own with this album. It features their only minor MTV and alt-radio hit "Sodajerk" but it also features some other very underrated songs, including "I'm Allowed" (a driving guitar song in good juxtaposition with "Sodajerk"), "Torch Singer" (a catchy little number containing the title of the album in its lyrics) and "Late At Night" (a great bar rock song).

I've tried for 7 years to see Buffalo Tom in concert and I've never quite been able to catch up with them. It just may not be meant to be, but I'll tell you this: I'm not gonna give up. If they are half as good live as they are on this album, it'll be the best concert of my life.

One of my fave alterna-rock/pop bands!! This CD is filled with awesome melodies. My favorite song on this album is "late at night" -- MY SO-CALLED LIFE fans will remember it as the song played when Jordan walks across that crowded hallway and, in front of everybody, takes Angela's hand for the first time :)

The kiss of death for Buffalo Tom might have been getting stuck with the "alternative" label. Because to call them "alternative" was to deny them the mass audience they so richly deserved.

Buffalo Tom, not a guy but a Boston-based trio, skillfully transformed traditional song styles into idiosyncratic rockers and electric ballads, in the same way that REM transformed "New Southern Rock" into something much more. Forget the comparisons to Dinosaur Jr.: this band, and Big Red Letter Day, are successful on their own terms.

Produced by the Robb Brothers, responsible for producing hitmakers like Neil Diamond, David Bowie, Rod Stewart, the Bay City Rollers and fellow-Bostonians the Lemonheads, the CD is probably Buffalo Tom's most accessible, featuring deceptively simple melodies, dynamic guitars, and some of the band's best lyrics.

The CD opens with the confident "Sodajerk", which features the Water Sisters (Rolling Stones) and the immortal opening lines: "Watch an eyeball/take a free fall/At the mention of a name/In its socket/Like a rocket/It rises just the same."

Other standouts include "My Responsibility" (and the great lyrics, "I don't like that joke, and I don't want to smell like smoke"), "Torch Singer" and the rocking "Tree House" and "Dry Land".

Overlooked in its day, Big Red Letter Day is an easy gem that's well deserving of your hard-earned dollars.

If ever there was an album that should be dusted off and given another spin, or perhaps a band that should be given more credit its Buffalo Tom--Big Red Letter Day.

I bought this album in college and recently dusted it off and found the melodies to be very very tight and the guitar work, to be very inspiring. For those who are learning guitar and for those who enjoy music, pick up this album. Forget the opening track--Sodajerk, a good song that was played out by Nike's use in a commercial. The rest of the album will inspire you to play an instrument much the way John Popper's harmonica creates a feeling whenever you listen to that first Blues Traveler album.

If you went to high school and/or college in the early 90's and feel like you missed out on something, this is it. Buffalo Tom is one of the most under-rated, unheard-of bands of the previous decade.

"Big Red Letter Day" is the band's most easily accessible album, and is also the pinnacle of their career. Thoughtful, poetic lyrics mixed with beautifully noisy electric guitar leads and melodic acoustic rhythms make "BRLD" Buffalo Tom's most creative work thus far. Subsequent albums fail in comparison to "Big Red Letter Day" and its predecesssors. If you feel like you missed something in the early 90's college music scene, you've gotta hear Buffalo Tom; in short...these guys rock!

I found this in the used section a few days ago, and have been traveling around with it. This band has a sound kinda like Counting Crows or Gin Blossoms, with maybe a touch of John Mellencamp at times. It's not twang-y roots rock / but does feel kinda indie.

It's versatile, adult-feeling music. The lyrics speak a lot about the messiness of life, and the regrets we try to let go of. I find it likeable.

The vocals can be kinda raspy at times, and I was tempted to ding it for that and give it 3 stars... but I decided 4 is supportable.

I bought Big Red Letter Day back in the early 1990s during my first year in college and it was one of my most played CDs at the time. Playing it now 11 years later, it still sounds great. Even though it was classified as "alternative" with "Sodajerk" getting decent play on MTV's 120 Minutes during its release, it is really just good, solid rock 'n roll with some Husker Du and Dinosaur Jr. influence and a smidgen of country sound here and there. No song jumps out on this album, but there is nothing weak here either. It is a good CD to pop in and hit "repeat all."

Buffalo Tom was a trio formed in 1986 in Massachusetts who built up a following with fuzz-laden guitars, effervescent melodies and muscle-building tours. Big Red Letter Day was the band's major label debut. The band made a little news when a magazine that had a regular "Cute Band Alert" section, changed the title to "Cute Drummer Alert" especially for BT drummer Tom Maginnis (I think the other two guys are cute, too). Guitarist Bill Janovitz does most of the vocal duties. He has a good, no nonsense rock 'n roll voice. Bassist Chris Colbourne provides vocals on "My Responsibility" and "Late at Night," seemingly about troubled fatherhood. These songs are a little less testosterone-driven. Colbourne does not have a very strong voice but the songs are catchy. I still find myself humming "Late at Night." Some songs are a little slower than others, but there are no true ballads here. Other tracks just rock like "Tree House" that ends with some gospel singing by the Water Sisters. Big Red Letter Day is a solid CD that has aged very well.

"Big Red Letter Day" by Buffalo Tom is an amazing CD. The first few tracks completely pull you in and then by the time you get to the best track ("Late at Night") you wonder how you ever lived without it. Notable tracks "Soda Jerk" and "Anything That Way" make this CD a must have all by themself. It's so sad that more people don't know about Buffalo Tom. They are a great band that deserves so much more recognition.

This is Buffalo Tom at its best. Heck, it's modern music at its best. On "Big Red Letter Day," Buffalo Tom presents eleven achingly beautiful songs that stay crunchy in milk. While most spectacular in its entirety, the album has three delineable masterpieces: "Sodajerk," "Late at Night," and "Anything That Way." The range is broad, but the overall tone inspiring. Hopefully, future generations will recognize this as the work of genius it is.

This has to be one of the best albums ever that so few people have heard or heard of. The first three songs on the album are unbelievable, and the rest are on an even keel but slightly less original and edgy. However, it is an album that is almost impossible to get tired of and should be regognized more!!!