Customer Reviews

Blue

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

 

 

I wish those "fans" whining about how this is a bad album would shut up....so there's synthesizer...you don't like synthesizer?...too bad...welcome to 2002, retro youth....this is still vintage Lizard...still great duane guitar...yow still screams like a madman...lyrics still cut like a blade..."and then the rain"..."i can learn"..."happy snakes"..."needles for teeth"...what a great record...i have no complaints...thanks guys, you were one of the best...you "fans" have no taste...shame on you for turning on your heroes.

The Jesus Lizard's final studio album finds their edges smoothed away. The rhythm section is still piledriving, and Duane Denison's guitar is incisive as always. But David Yow's famous howl is much subdued, and the verse-chorus song structures are (gasp) fairly conventional. Some songs feature uncharacteristic, albeit tasteful electronic textures. The slinky "Until It Stopped to Die" bears a marked resemblance to the Folk Implosion's "Natural One," while "And Then the Rain" is downright emotive (!). This is a good album, but a better introduction to the band would be earlier efforts like "Head" or "Liar."

FOR THE SAKE OF SPLITTING HAIRS...I had to write a review, since so many are giving this CD a sub-par evaluation. I have everything the Lizard has released...all of it. I love this album! First off, I have to say that post "Show" (1994) Lizard appeals to me slightly more than pre- "Show" Lizard. "Shot" is my favorite CD by these guys, but all of them get regular play on my system. When the guys released "Show," it was as if they were ready to take their sound a step further, and incorporate more into what they were recording--more melody, more effects, more sickening lyrics, more violent shifts...MORE. This is not to say that the music is different, it just became a little less raw and violent, and a little more contained and refined, yet still experimentally chaotic.

The Jesus Lizard EP, Shot and Blue all follow this same format--it's still Jesus Lizard, but it's mellower at times, ridiculously crazier at other points, and we hear a lot more going on in the background, whether it's synthesizers droning, or a strange combination of two notes lingering on from a guitar. They even use a drum machine on two tracks on this recording, which really pissed some fans off. Look, their career lasted 10+ years...the music is going to get a little polished over time, you know?

With that, I'll say this: Blue is as good as any of the other releases. If you only like Goat and Liar, you might not like any of the later Lizard recordings. Chances are, though, you like all of it. We are really splitting hairs here! JL is JL, whether it's 1991 or 1998. My girlfriend loves classic, hard rock, but hates these guys, and if I play "Head/Pure" one day, and then put on "Blue" a few days later, she knows they are the same group, and not just because of David Yow's wierd-o vocals. Duane Denison's guitar-work is easy to pick out, and is ingenius, relentless, innovative and now famous. He's done work with all kinds of bands, from Jazz to Indie, from Improv to Industrial (Revolting Cocks, Ministry). I think that this sound/style inspired their producer Steve Albini to start Shellac, a trio who curiously sound very much like a Jesus Lizard prototype.

You may not like this CD as much as some of their earlier stuff, but make no mistake--BLUE is no slouch. It is as hard and crazy as the early stuff (check out the first track "I Can Learn." It might be the craziest song they've ever written, similar to SHOT's "Thumbscrews" or DOWN's "Din"). They just include some mellower, darker, more perverse songs than before ( a la SHOT). If you like Jesus Lizard, you owe it to yourself to finish off the collection. I recently did by picking up BANG and BLUE, and I am glad I did. Musicians and fans all around America rave about these guys, especially those who caught them live. I'D DROWN IN SIX INCHES OF COLD WATER TIED TO A WHEELCHAIR TO SEE THEM PERFORM IN PERSON!

By the mid 90s, many years after Jesus Lizard had parted ways with long time ally and cohort Steve Albini, far too many people were simply content to pass the band off as sell-outs and regard their post-touch&go output as irrelevant or pointless. While the glory days of Jesus Lizard were certainly a ways behind them in 1998, I still believe that their full length on Capitol, "Blue", was never really given its fair dues. Upon first listen, the band is obviously not the same as the spastic, noise loving maniacs presented on "Goat" or "Liar". The sound is sleeker, the guitars play actual riffs, and David Yow's vocals are even (gasp) understandable. Many longtime Jesus Lizard fans would immediately consider this a huge betrayal on the band's part and even though Blue will never be hailed as one of the band's masterpieces, it still has its strong points. Sacrificing sound for songwriting, a careful balance that tended to lean in the other direction before Blue, the songs are much more developed and instantly memorable than on previous outings. Unfortunately, most of the songs do not rank amongst the bands best material and the bland production does nothing to help this. Blue is at best a mixed bag, songs like "Soft Damage" or "Eucalyptus" sound ingeniously sinister and well crafted at first, but when compared to Jesus Lizard's greater body of work, they quickly become much less enticing. Perhaps a failure at being a "Jesus Lizard" album, Blue is still pretty good and certainly better than the majority of what is heard on the radio. All in all, if you are really interested in hearing Jesus Lizard, I would recommend some of their earlier work like "Goat", "Liar", or "Down", but if you are a Smashing Pumpkins or Nirvana fan and simply want to hear a pretty good alternative album, Blue ought to meet your requirements.

This is bad. I listened to it over and over again hoping that I was missing something, maybe it was good. Well, it's not. Don't torture yourself with this one, it's better to remember the Jesus Lizard that once was. Don't get me wrong there is some good material on here like 'Postcoital Glow' and some others, but the majority of it sounds like Van Halen meets Scratch Acid (which by all accounts sounds like it might be cool). And what the hell, you can actually understand what David Yow is saying...something is really, really wrong here. Buy their older stuff because they used to be incredible...

This is a fantastic record. I've been a JL fan since the day and I think that this is one of their best albums to date. It's funny that most of their older fans don't like this record, but it just goes to show that JL doesn't care what they think. People are afraid of a band progressing I guess. The riffs are mean but intelligent, the lyrics are classic David Yow, and the over all sound of the record is very polished (which is what the old fans don't like about it) but retains its edge. This band shows true grit. One of the best hard rock albums of the decade for sure. The fact that so many so called fans diss this record makes me like it even more.

The Jesus Lizard is one of my favorite bands. Unfortunately, once they signed to a major label, the quality of their albums decreased. "Blue" and "Down" those are albums. I would pick up their other albums first.

I think the main issue is that these songs sound like studio constructions, rather than the road-honed, angular groove-punk of the Touch and Go releases. If the band had the will to do a few more tours before recording, these songs would have benefited greatly.

I'm disappointed by this record. Where are those haunting guitars of HEAD, GOAT and DOWN? The 2 first tracks really suck, and the first half of the album is pretty weak. Plus they tried something different with much more melodies in the chorus of some of the songs of this album and on the 5 song EP that came out shortly before. I think it's a bad idea for them. David Yow just can't sing this type of song, plus it doesn't have the scary sound of the Jesus Lizard, which make them so incredible. The second half of the record is way better, but this album is easily their weakest effort. So be sure to listen to it before buying it. In my opinion, it's not worth having.

This album is a real mixed bag. It's nothing compared to the older stuff but the reviews it got were unfair. Alot of the songs really hold up.