Bigger, Better, Faster, More!

4 Non Blondes | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 13, 1992)
• Original Release Date: October 13, 1992
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Interscope Records
• ASIN: B000001Y5D
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,060 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Name to Remember: Linda Perry, October 25, 2002

By 

Reviewer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bigger, Better, Faster, More! (Audio CD)

First of all, the 4 Non Blondes are no more, which is difficult to understand, given the success this album enjoyed. The San Francisco based quartet signed with Interscope Records in the early `90s, and their debut effort in 1992, "Bigger, Better, Faster, More!" was their first and last recording together, but it produced one mega-hit, "What's Up," which sold more singles than any song in warner history. Still, they were destined to join the roster of the music scene's One-hit Wonders; but anyone who listens to this album isn't going to forget it any time soon.

The band produced an alternative rock/coffee house blues sound with a penetrating presentation that would give your coffee the jitters, and it's that sound that is captured on this CD. From the opening bars of "Train," to the final refrain of "No Place Like Home," the Non Blondes come at you with a vengeance, and they give no quarter. This is raw, edgy stuff that will get your attention with the first cut, and by the time you reach the end of the album the first time through, you're hooked. They get you and they get you good.

To give credit where it's due, the 4 Non Blondes are: Christa Hillhouse, base; Roger Rocha, guitar; Dawn Richardson, drums; and last but not least, singer/songwriter (and consummate artist) Linda Perry on vocals. And referencing Perry as such is not to be taken as a mere platitude; because talented as Hillhouse, Rocha and Richardson are, it is Perry who is the real story here.

Without question, Linda Perry is the driving force behind the band. She has a strong, distinctive voice and she knows how to use it. And the term "subtle" is not in her vocabulary. She gives you everything she's got on every song, and she has quite a bit to give. Think Taylor Dane meets Tina Turner and you'll have an idea. Perry is definitely not a gentle breeze blowing across the landscape; she's a gale force wind reducing everything in her path to rubble. And she does it SO well.

Perry is something of an enigma, as well. Her sound is hard and fast, but her lyrics tend to be introspective, even wistful, and range from the musings of a dreamer to a `60s kind of social consciousness, all delivered with a spine-shattering effectiveness more evocative of an Ani DeFranco or Michelle Shocked than a Joni Mitchell or Jewel. Consider the soul searching words with which she begins "What's Up": "25 years of my life and still/ I'm trying to get up that great big hill of hope/ for a destination--" It's a rocker's contemplation of life, which she seems to answer with the acquiescent "Morphine & Chocolate," in which she strives to "Substitute my enemies with real good friends/ Morphine & Chocolate are my/ Substitute, substitutes--"

Then on to the words of the daydreamer, "So I'll reach up to the sky/ And pretend that I'm a Spaceman/ in another place and time," in "Spaceman," which then continues on with the thought that "I guess I'm lookin' for a brand new place/ I remember living in a different life--" And "Dear Mr. President," a commentary on society and the state of the world in which we're living: "It's such a wonderful country/ but the man is burning it down--"

Like Jim Morrison and Springsteen before her, Perry is a hard blues/rocker with a poet's soul. But more than that she's got "attitude"-- the right kind and plenty of it. And she knows how to deliver the goods, which she so aptly demonstrates on "Bigger, Better, Faster, More!" with a little help from her friends. In the final analysis, however, 4 Non Blondes is a band destined to be a footnote in music history. Linda Perry, on the other hand, is going to be remembered, and she is happening now. Linda Perry is forever. And so is her music.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars too bad this was it for them, May 10, 2005

By 

PSM/Bokor (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bigger, Better, Faster, More! (Audio CD)

I finally picked up this CD for the one song, "What's Up." Without question, that song had stuck with me for years. I wasn't expecting much; I just wanted that one song. I was completely blown away. This CD is absolutely incredible!

There is not one weak song on this creation. I dare say that "What's Up" is not even the best one; I'm rather fond of ""Spaceman."

I would call the sound of 4 Non Blondes that of a well-produced garage band. I couldn't picture them filling up massive stadiums, but I bet they would tear down large concert halls.

The singer's voice is unique and powerful. The lyrics are introspective and satisfying. The music, itself, just rocks. The whole combination creates a powerful experience.

It's most unfortunate that this band began and ended here with, "Bigger, Better, Faster, More."

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the best, March 28, 1999

By 

Megan M. Mccarron "coulbean" (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bigger, Better, Faster, More! (Audio CD)

This is the best album I've ever owned, but I need to correct something, the lead singer is not dead!! Don't worry. Her name is Linda Perry, and she has 2 (TWO!!!) solo albums which are both excellent. In Flight and After Hours. Check them both out. 4 Non Blondes can also be found on a lot of soundtracks(Waynes World 2, Airheads) and tributes(Encomium: A tribute to Led Zepplin, If I Were A Carpenter: A Tribute to the Carpenters).