Customer Reviews

Boom [Vinyl]

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

 

 

The Sonic's second album from 1966 features gut-wrenching songs like "Cinderella", "He's Waiting", and their slaughtering take on "Louie, Louie" which is way better than the Kingsmen could have ever done. The sound of the music is mean and dirty. "He's Waiting" is the best track on the album. Lead singer Gerry Roslie sounds as if he is going to shred his vocal cords. What's a shame though is the fact that the Sonics did not write enough original material for the album. Their original songs were great, but the covers simply do not hold up very well (except "Louie, Louie") which is why this album gets 3 stars. This is about the dirtiest sound you will ever hear from a 60's garage band, though. The CD reissue from Norton contains some live tracks from a 1972 reunion concert and a great original B-side called "The Hustler".

More than a decade before Greg Sage and the Wipers revolutionized rock and roll in the Pacific Northwest, The Sonics were playing and recording some of the wildest music in the history of rock. This is some of the most primitive, raucous music that you can imagine. It is very definitely from the sixties, with some production quirks that would be jettisoned even by the late sixties. And not every song is essential. But the highpoints on this album are so overwhelming that no true fan of rock and roll, garage rock, proto-punk, or alternative would want to do without this disc. And is there an album anywhere with a better title?

This is one of the two original albums by the Sonics that are must-owns, the other being HERE ARE THE SONICS! There is also a good compilation not currently available entitled HERE ARE THE ULTIMATE SONICS.

This album is a pre punk icon. From the first glance at the cover to hearing the last track I was fully satisfied by this great rock classic. Must be played at high volume. Each song sounds like they've taken ice picks to their speakers (and rumor had it, that they really did). This is a great staple in any punk history collection, also a pre requesite for listening to the Kinks, who probably had this album sitting in their collection.
The highlight of this album is Louie Louie. The fact is that Louie Louie is far from a great song. That anyone wanted to argue over authorship of this song is based solely on it's popularity. A song like this is not written well, it is only performed well, being left to the artist to mold it into something altogether different from every other recording. A song containing the three same chords over and over again is a particular challenge, but the Sonics rise to it, creating the greatest, hardest, rawest, most ear piercing version of Louie Louie ever recorded. Rob Lind wails and screams after the greatest solo on the album, and you already know you'll be backing up a track to hear it again.
Take all of your Paul Revere and the Raiders albums, and burn them (because you really shouldn't subject your ears to that ever again) then take your Wailers albums (no disrespect, they try hard) and sell them, and take that money and buy this album. It's all you need.

The Sonics' 1965 debut, Here Are the Sonics, is a classic of mid-60s rock 'n' roll, if not of rock in general. With its filthy guitars, pounding rhythms, and wildman vocals, Here Are The Sonics epitomized the spirit of music at its rawest and most basic. Amazingly enough, the group's sophomre effort is even better.

Released in 1966 (one of the coolest years in musical history), The Sonics Boom is a loud, filthy, raw, and unspeakably fun slice of garage rock insanity. The band, which consists of piano-pounder and screamin' lead vocalist Gerry Roslie, guitar shredder Larry Parypa, sax man Rob Lind, and the unstopable rhythm section of bassist Andy Parypa (Larry's brother) and drummer Bob Bennett, is absolutely ferocious, tearing through these songs with a kind of breathless intensity that is simply incredible. Although the group didn't write very many songs (eight of the tracks from the original album are covers), the group originals are all fantastic: "Cinderella" opens the record with a frenzy of stomping drums, buzzing guitars, and Roslie's raucous throat-shredding. "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" boasts a relentless rhythmic attack, bubbling guitars, and an anthemic sing-along chorus. "He's Waitin'" is a menacing, brutal pounder with a leering vocal from Roslie and a brutal two-chord guitar onslaught. "Shot Down" (the last track on the original album, although on this CD reissue it's followed by four bonus tracks) is a bouncing, attitude-soaked screamer with a freakishly good guitar solo. The covers are also surprisingly good. The group's version of "Louie Louie" is an absolute monster, a thunderstorm of filthy, distorted guitars and pulverizing vocals. Their take on "Jenny Jenny" is absolutely unhinged, an impossibly high-octane explosion of nasty sax playing, rumbling guitars, and Roslie drowning everything with his voice. "Skinny Minny," "Let the Good Times Roll" are playful and catchy, but with plenty of bite and manic energy. "It's Allright" (that's the actual spelling) is a rollicking party tune with another great guitar solo from Larry. A take on the Motown classic "Hitch Hike" is fantasically forceful, rolling along with some rambling drums and blaring sax. "Since I Fell For You" is a surprisingly good teen-pop heartbreak ballad, with some rolling rhythms, a passionate vocal, and some distorted guitars snaking around beneath the melody.

The Sonics Boom is one of the greatest pure rock n roll albums- if you really wanna hear that kinda thing, you can't go wrong with this.

That four stars should really be 3.5, but I'm feeling generous today. "Cinderella", "The Hustler", "Hitchhike", and espescially the cover of "Louie Louie" are essential rock 'n' roll tunes. But some songs, such as the cover of "Since I Fell For You", aren't up to the other ones, and should've been replaced by more rockin' tunes that were exposed on the debut. A band's progression is always good, but I'm not sure if the Sonics progressed in the right direction with their more slow songs. However, if you liked the debut, you will like this album and is definatly worth the space in your collection.

The Sonics' Boom is another thunderous collection of garage rock fury. The band crashes through covers of "Let The Good Times Roll", "Hitch Hike", "It's All Right" and a blazing "Since I Don't Have You" as well as a blistering version of the garage rock anthem, "Louie, Louie". Unpretentious and raw, Boom is another garage rock gem.

I was lucky enough to have grown up in the Northwest during the era that brought out many great bands. The Sonics, though, were my favorite. This side features "Louie Louie" done Sonics-style, and it remains my favorite version of the tune today. In person, this band just came out and hit you in the face. Everyone dug them. I remember one show, at the Target Ballroom, in Burien, Washington, they opened up with "Poison Ivy," the old Coasters tune. It was nothin' but great, believe me.

Alot of punkers and rockers point to the Sonics as they're main inspiration. The Sonics were a hard rock band all the way, but they were a damned good dance band, too. Cars, girls, booze and fights, that's was the world the Sonics sung about. Four stars for the album, and five stars for the great memories.

Punk rock songs had been around and come from various artists. but the wailers had the attitude and everysong was like a attack of snotty punkiness that predates any other single lp release. As in the whole release was like garage punk in attitude and not just a few songs. "he's waitin' in particular is pure raging protopunk and even a little metal in attitude, as the sonic's warn 'satan knows what you DID". This was loud aggressive and like the wailers , some of paul revere and the raiders and other bands the start of what would influence punk artists of a decade later. But surely the sonics were at the top of the influence. The playing here is not pretty it's attack style with no intention of finese. BUt that's ok, the distortion of the guitars works and is truly protopunk. I love the sonics ,they aren't going to make your girlfriend happy though probably. Unless you can find one that likes loud aggressive music that is protopunk that is! There's even a few bonus tracks on here.

The Sonics were not a great band, but there were sure fun. Sonics Boom is their second album, and is almost as good as their first, but it trails slightly, mainly because of "The Witch," "Psycho," and "Boss Hoss." All of the original songs are extremely good; the covers are okay. However, "Louie, Louie" is simply a smashing kick in the pants. I doubt that there is one cover of any song as good as the Sonics "Louie, Louie." It just smokes! "He's Waitin'", "Cinderella", and "Shot Down" are all fantastic heavy metal hard rockin' Northwest gems. If you like punk, if you like metal, if you think you have it all, you need the first two albums by the Sonics. Nobody from the sixties kicked ass like the Sonics. They left their audiences in tatters, ruined car speakers, and pissed off parents. What more could you ask for?

The weakest link in this album is the covers, and they are why I wouldn't give this album, as much as I love it, five stars. For one thing, there are too many of them, and they are standard stuff, nothing overtly creative about any of them in their selection or their performance. The meat of the Sonics is in their original material. On all of their albums, their best songs are their original songs. The Sonics? BOOM!

the first time you hear the transition from cinderella (track 1) to don't be afraid of the dark (track 2) you will think that your cd player is broken or something. than you will realize that this isn't one trick pony minor threat stuff this is sonics baby.