Customer Reviews

Brand New Year

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am a loyal, and dedicated Bottle Rockets fan, and this is by far the best CD these boys have to offer. All of their albums get 5 stars, and it is hard to choose which 1 I like best, but this one just rocks. Brian Hennemann is a songwriting genius, becoming the most original male songwriter since Ronnie Van Zant. His songs are genuine and simple, most reflecting on what he has encountered in his life, just the way Van Zant wrote. While the past two Bottle Rocket efforts were more countryish than rock, Brand New Year has that bar rock boogie stomp to it, much like the out-of-print Brooklyn Side does. Kicking things off with a song titled to salute 60's superwoman, Nancy Sinatra, is excellent right from the get-go. Following that is Alone in Bad Company, another terrific song. Brian sounds to be pleading for serenity in I've Been Dying, to change all that he is done wrong. The pure Sometimes Found is heartwarming. Another rockin track is Helpless, singing about getting by today without getting plug into all the new technology. The album's centerpiece, Brand New Year, is a dark and miserable track, but fantastic. Brian singing about what is so special about another New Year, nothing changes. A few songs later we find out that the Bars On Fire, a hilarious sing-along anthem, about a fire that occurs but someone has to save the beer! After the manly ballad of Love Like A Truck, a big ole truck, we find ourselves finishing the album with a mournful and reflective acoustic version of Brand new year, with different lyrics than the 1st one. This is an absolutely essential album, my favorite Bottle Rockets album and my favorite for 1999.

I too am an all out Bottle Rockets fan and would probably buy their version of Green Eggs and Ham. Brand New Year, has a more slick sound and a lyric structure that is more rigid than their previous, but with your 4th or 5th listen, Brian Henneman's humor and glibness definitely become noticeable. Bands need to grow and branch out and that is what the Rockets are doing here. They want to rock as much as the next guy and seem to throw subtlety to the wind. I would recommend 24 Hours a Day as the starter disk--but for tunes for a drive thru the heartland, Brand New Year still satisfies.

St. Louis roots rock band The Bottle Rockets are my latest favourite band with their CD brand New Year.
They open shows for Govt. Mule and besides, how can you not love a band with a song called Oh My God the Bar's on Fire (Somebody Save the Beer) or a song about Nancy Sinatra, especially when it has a great harmonized guitar lead riff.
Or for that matter, some of the best electric 12 string playing (Alone in Bad Company) since the Byrds flew high in the 60's.
There is lots of tasty blues tinged playing tinged with a bit of pop punk like the catchy Gotta Get Up and even some country on the infinitely rewindable Love Like a Truck.
And Let Me Know should have been a hit single when this CD was originally released in 1999. (It was rereleased in 2004 on a brand new record label.)
Throughout there are singable choruses and hooks that grab you by the ears and won't let go for an hour.
-- By Richard Amery

I've been aware of the Bottle Rockets ever since hearing $1000 dollar car on the Radio down in Sante Fe many years ago. They have the ability to cross country with rock to make a slice of Americana like few other bands. On this offering, they refer to parts of their vissual and audio past with songs like Nancy Sinatra and the Neil Young inspired Headed for the Ditch. The best songs, in my opinion on this CD are Love like a Truck and Sometimes Found. The order of the songs is not correct as listed here on Amazon. The Cd begins with a Acoustic version of Brand New Year and Ends with a Electric Version of the same song. Another nod to Neil Young perhaps in his putting together of Tonights the Night. All that being said this isn't their best work but it's better than most of the material being produced these days. Look for the Brooklyn Side for their Best work.

I'm 43 years old now, and the music business has always mystified me. Why some bands make it and others don't. If anyone saw the recent MTV Video Awards, it's painfully obvious that popular music is at an all-time low. The Bottle Rockets latest release may sound like an anachronism to today's record buying public that don't know any better, but this album is a classic of down-home American rock and roll. Fusing bar-band chops, blues, and Creedence-style licks - this is one of those albums that I will play for my young kids years from now when they ask me to put on a REAL rock and roll album.

Brand New Year brings the Bottle Rockets a little closer to vintage 70's rock. I am certainly a fan of the Bottle Rockets as this will be the 5th album of theirs in my collection. I enjoy their rock but love there country humor. This album does not disappoint but I do wish there was a little more twang in this one. 'Love Like a Truck' is priceless. 'Sometimes Found' is a great tribute to opposites. Go get em with 'Gota Get Up' which they were playing live last year. If you are a new Bottle Rockets listener buy 24hours a Day first, Brooklyn Side and then Brand New year. If you are already a fan by the 3rd listen you will be singing along.

Like many of the others here, I am a huge Bottle Rockets fan. I own all their previous albums, so buying this one was a no-brainer. Unfortunately, this just isn't up to snuff. Much of the subtlety and the southern and country-influenced twang that made the prior recordings so enjoyable is gone here. Granted, there are some great moments ("White Boy Blues" was a particular stand out for me), but I haven't quite come to terms with the whole package yet. All in all this sounds too much like half the crap that gets played on my local AOR station. The thing that always made the Bottle Rockets great was being able to pay homage to that sound without imitating it and while acknowledging some deeper roots than early 1970s mainstream rock. I hope this is just a digression and not a permanent diversion. This isn't branching out. It's regressing.

I've been a Bottle Rockets fan quite some time now and love their previous 3 albums (plus Leftovers). So I eagerly purchased Brand New Year. Now I want to want to know what happened and what went wrong?! Aside from perhaps 3 songs, they seem to have left behind all the subtleties that made them a real treasure, and decided to become Foghat. There was forboding when I picked up the cd itself--I was a bit confused by the album packaging as it looks more like the cover for a west coast punk band than the Bottle Rockets. I hope this album is merely a hiccup rather than an indicator of the decline of the Bottle Rockets as a vital band. If you're unfamiliar with the band, I would highly recommend any of their previous albums and avoidance of this one.

MO. based band the Bottle Rockets are back despite the music buisiness they must endure with Brand New Year. Recorded just after New Years hangovers wore out the band is back with a record that is the closest they have ever come to mirroring their own record colections. A collection of new and old songs including the live favorite "Headed For the Ditch". The band gives it their all all the time. They know that their real fans just want the band to have a great time. Helpless does sound like Foghat. Like that is a bad thing? Let Me Know has that 4 chord punk rock sound like if the Buzzcocks were from St Louis. Sometimes Found marks the bands first forray into free association and the first words out of Singer Brian Hennemans mouth are the exact same words that Shania cooed on "Come On Over". They take on the suburban honkey volvo drivin blues fan with b-benders instead of 3 named strat players and they toast Nancy Sinatra atop a zz top groove. I bought 2 copies and it ain't even Christmas. New Bass guy Robert Kearns helps out in mysterious ways. even more mysterious is Leaning guitarist Tom Parr. Drummer guy Mark Ortman will talk to you politely if you approach him at a show. Catch 'em while you can. They are indulgent and real. they are from the country and they rock and roll. If you ain't pissin somebody off..........

This is another great album from the Bottle Rockets. This is really what rock and roll is meant to be. They know how to cut loose and have a good time at what they are doing. Long live the Bottle Rockets!