Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, BRMC | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 3, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Virgin Records Us
• ASIN: B00005ARDC
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (104 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,439 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #15 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Shoegazing

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

It would be easy to dismiss B.R.M.C. as another bunch of Britpop wannabes. Their amalgam of fuzzed-out vocals and chugging guitars over layers of droning feedback immediately brings to mind the Jesus and Mary Chain and Primal Scream. But the band's wanton attitude easily compensates for its lack of originality. Plucking its name from the Marlon Brando classic The Wild One and digging deep into its weathered copy of Psycho Candy for lyrical inspiration, the leather-clad San Francisco trio picks up where Oasis left off--pillaging the past, regurgitating it shamelessly, and making it sound exciting and dangerous in the process. Imagine the sheer audacity that goes into writing a song like "Whatever Happened to My Rock & Roll (Punk Song)"--all Stooges agitation and Beach Boys melodies--and backing it with a blissful Stone Roses homage called "Awake." They're not the best at what they do, but right now they're all we've got. --Jaan Uhelski

Product Description

Japanese edition of the U.S. indie rock act's 2000 album includes three bonus tracks, 'Screaming Gun' & 'At My Door' & 'Down Here'. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A damn good record, August 30, 2001

By 

Mark Nettesheim (St. Louis) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (Audio CD)

First of all, yes, this band isn't very original and relies on a lot of stuff that seems to have been done before. You could probably say that about most -- if not all -- new bands and debut albums. But, hell, you could pretty much say that for most of the reviews and articles that have been written about this band so far, too. Almost every one that I've seen (and I'm talking about in the press, not the ones here) seems to mention at least three of the following four thoughts: (1) the Jesus & Mary Chain fixation; (2) the rap-rock and boy-band marketing strategies that've been raping popular music for the past few years; (3) "Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll" as an answer to its own question; and, (4) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club sounds like the name of a metal band.

In my case, when I first saw "Whatever Happened. . ." on the public access video show late at night awhile back, besides thinking that it was the most completely dead-on song I'd heard all year, I thought "B.R.M.C." (as the credit indicated) was a raw garage band -- along the lines of, say, the Makers or a less flamboyant Rocket From the Crypt. And when I later learned what the initials stood for and saw the Stooges, Joy Division and the Velvet Underground (two of my favorite bands and one that I should get into more) listed among their influences, I got even more excited. So it was a bit of a shock at first when I listened to some of their other songs off their website. (They have about half the CD and a live set from Milwaukee on there. It's great.) I'm not really that much of an aficionado of J&MC and their ilk, but to be honest, even though the songs didn't hook me right away, they didn't take more than a couple of listens to "grow on" me, either, so I bought the CD. Besides the one song, "Love Burns" has this melody, "White Palms" has this interplay between bass and guitar and "Salvation" has this . . . trancelike . . . feeling, and I can't get 'em out of my head. (They pushed matchbox 20 and Creed out of there finally, though, so I'm doubly thankful.)

Anyway, there's a lot of trippy atmospheric stuff fading in and out of most of the songs, and there's even more distortion and dissonance and . . . deconstruction, I guess. (There are also hintings of what may develop into a sound of their own, but that's something else.) If you're into J&MC, My Bloody Valentine, Ride and all of that, then maybe this will sound pretty familiar, yeah. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. If anything, it's something that will probably bring back old memories rather than bombard you with its presence on the radio or VH1 these days. (I guess that many of the kids who are into what they play on MTV were prenatal or too young to remember when this music first appeared.) And for people like me, who aren't too familiar with the music, maybe it'll get them interested and bring some of these bands back into cultural consciousness again.

Of course, even after all of this, I still go back to "Whatever Happened. . ." I'm actually tempted to call it an anthem, not only because it rocks so hard but also because so many people my age seem to be asking the exact same question. But, then again, that'd just mean that it'd be played every 20 minutes on the radio and maybe even on MTV, and everybody'd just get sick of it. So I won't say that Black Rebel Motorcycle Club will necessarily save rock 'n' roll. (No band has ever really done that on their own, and I don't expect this one to be an exception.) I don't even know if they're the start of something new in music, although I definitely hope so. All I can say is that this is a damn good record for this year, and that's saying something.

37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 'Bout time an American band stepped up to the plate!, April 30, 2001

By 

Michael Paulsen (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (Audio CD)

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club being touted as "britpop wannabies"? Well, yes, America could use a band that rises above the cookie-cutter Blink 182/Green Day whiny, nasal vocal monotony, but now that "britpop" encompasses more folk and acoustically-aligned artists like Badly Drawn Boy, Tram or Coldplay, I don't see the necessity of accusing an American band of sounding too British ... jeezus that gets old.

BRMC is an impressive debut from this L.A.-based band, combining some of the best elements of druggy, droney 60's psychedelia and garage R&B rock; and on occasion, lead guitarist/vocalist Peter Hayes sounds uncannily like Roger (Jim) McGuinn of The Byrds (see "Too Real" or "Salvation"). BRMC sounds like a hybrid of the Jesus and Mary Chain and Spiritualized (there we go with comparisons again!), but they've also managed to carve out their own style such that you won't mistake them for either of the aforementioned. Standout songs are "Love Burns", "Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll (punk song)", "Awake", "Rifles" and "Spread Your Love". One of the most refreshing, promising American debuts in years.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Album Is Incredible!, May 19, 2001

By 

"prymel" (Anaheim, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (Audio CD)

The reviewers who cite the influences on B.R.M.C. are absolutely correct - the band sounds like a combination of other artists and bands that came before it. So dock it for originality, if you will.

The only thing to keep in mind is that about one percent or less of pop and rock music released these days is truly original. Virtually everything is derivative of something or someone.

Anyone who fails to buy this CD will be missing out on one of the best new albums of the year. They do derive heavily from others who came before, but they do it in such an incredibly wonderful, inspiring way, and the band creates its own unique sound. The melodies on this CD are just lovely. From the opening hooks of "Love Burns" until the last note is played, B.R.M.C. spins unforgettable song after song. While we're talking about influences, be sure to check out the George Harrison/"Blue Jay Way"-esque "Too Real", just a fantastic track.

I strongly recommend this album.