Customer Reviews

Calculated [Vinyl]

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wow! I admit that I came across this offering a bit out of order. After purchasing both Call the Doctor and Dig Me Out (Sleater-Kinney), I naturally discovered this wonderful disc. As other reviewers have noted, the emotions are more raw on this album (check out Stay Away and Nothing Can Stop Me). My favorite, though, is Complicated, a six minute tour de force that, upon first listen, instantly made my top ten list of greatest punk songs of all time. This song is a powerful breakup/misunderstanding song that alternates between steady beats and thunderous waves. Sure, Sleater-Kinney has gone on to show that more complex, woven tunes are possible. But Heavens To Betsy's Calculated is essential listening, not just for fans of the Riot Grrrl scene, but for anyone who's grown tired of the stagnant (and false) alternative music scene.

this is a beautiful record. i don't know if it's punk or not, and i really don't care, the songs are great, and i like the not-so-trashy ones the most. complicated is just beautiful ('if you want to go just go go go, i'll die if you go just go go go, and i'll watch you go away..'), i can't think of a better song about love, relationships, and the defenses people build after they get hurt, and how this affects our new relationships ('i've built this walls around me, i'm begging you to knock them down', if that's not the greatest love line out there, i don't know what it is).

at times when MTV and other mass media giants are selling blink 182, papa roach and limp bizkit as 'punk' and 'hardcore' to the kids, and were women have once again been pushed back to the place of sexual adornments in the rock music world, this is a beautiful and necessary record. i don't remember the exact sentence, but Lisa Carver said it on the liner notes to EVOL, 'give it to your little sister'.

btw, the liner notes from KRS are right, this one will indeed keep you up at night (it did it for me).

Heavens To Betsy is Corin Tucker(guitar/vocals)of Sleater-Kinney and Tracy Sawyer(drums/bass). This album is a brutally honest examination of relationships, anger , love and even racism. Corin possesses a powerfull voice that can convey anger,heartbreak,& desire with total conviction. 'Stay Away' and 'Terrorist' are strong warnings but the highlight of the album is 'Complicated'- a beautifull song that is so honest and powerfull that it should close the album. 'White Girl' is basically a introspective song about racism and white priviledge, a theme that comes up in another song as well (liner notes explain the songs' purpose and guide listeners to books on racism and sexism). This album comes across as so very personal yet most listeners (into this genre) will find a part of themselves in some songs, and it may hurt.Overall this release should empower girls.

if you think the hype's all out of order, this one from corin's earlier band will give you an idea of what it was all about, and why sleater-kinney should be as big as they can get. it's all about payback, i think. heavens to betsy is far more ascerbic than the two latter s-k albums, and as well FAR more naive. it's great to hear the initial raw sentiments, and how real they were. the lack of irony is sometimes worrying, but then you get loads of that stuff on "dig me out" already.

I guess by this time it's sort of a 'classic' - add it to yr collection if it's not there already. The songs on this record are genuine and raw, heartfelt and very basic - which in my eyes makes it a great album - I would choose this over any of my Sleater-Kinney albums (which I do like very much) any day. If you haven't heard H2B or Sleater Kinney or any of that - be warned... I have heard some people complain that the vocals sound like the Chipmunks... well, I like the Chipmunks, OK?!?

You haven't heard real music until you've experienced Heavens To Betsy's one and only full length album "Calculated". Wether it makes you want to cringe or cheer you have no choice but to follow the operactic range of Corin Tucker's voice as it leads you. "Calculated" is a beautiful blend of melody and meloncholy coming from a place that's darker then your closet and the monsters in it. Tracks on Heavens To Betsy's "Calculated" include: "Nothing Can Stop Me", "Decide", "Stay Away", "Calculated", "Waitress Hell", "Intermission 247", Axemen", "Donating My Body To Science", "Terrorist", Complicated", "White Girl", and "Paralyized". Heavens To Betsy might give you a musical raft on rough, choppy waters or smooth sailing ahead, but either way you are in for the ride of your life.

Before growing up to be in Sleater-Kinney, Corin Tucker created a breathtaking masterpiece that is "Calculated." Stories of high school cliques, subtle and slow abuse, and the perils of waitressing have never been so hard, sharp, or poignant. The songs are structured perfectly; Corin uses her voice and lyrics to bring you into the dark world of Heavens to Betsy. It'll keep you up at nite.

For Corin Tucker, it was this lo-fi two-woman garage band (Tucker overdubbed a second guitar, and Tracy Sawyer played drums and bass). The faster numbers are pure punk, while others have soft-loud-soft structures. Tucker's lead vocals are visceral, the tunes have some cathartic power, and even the ones with long running times sustain themselves with unusual structure ("Complicated"). Often, though, the gentler songs, like the quietly determined "Decide," are more successful than the abrasive ones ("Waitress Hell"). Frequently the lyrics leave a lot to be desired: most of the record is about Tucker coming to terms with her whiteness, which is an admirably weighty subject for an LP, but she repeats herself endlessly (the word "privilege" appears in at least five or six tunes), and doesn't really get beyond generalities. And the instrumental "Intermission 247" is an ordeal. A marginal purchase unless you're a huge fan of Sleater-Kinney and riot-grrrl punk.

corin pre s-k. i prefer this album to some s-k. it has a grittier sound as the s-k albums are getting progressively slicker. i defy you not to listen to this cd late at night while driving around in the back country.

This album is back when Corin still dated girls, back before she and Carrie were in a band together, a melodramatic and raw album in classic riot grrrl mode, these songs will take you back to high school, even if you never have heard it before.

It's an unrefined diamond, down to it's anatomy depicted cover, a zine in pure audio form.

It's not for everyone, but if you let it get under yr skin, it is definately worth the experience.

"Axeman" is the strongest song on the disc, a dirge of rage on football and hormonal craziness and the "punk-white priviledge scene.

***** a "must-have album