Cheating at Solitaire

Mike Ness | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 13, 1999)
• Original Release Date: April 13, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Time Bomb
• ASIN: B00000IFV9
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,253 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #79 in Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > Hardcore & Punk

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you've read the 35+ other reviews..., August 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Cheating at Solitaire (Audio CD)

...then you have a pretty good idea of how multitalented Mike Ness is. Cheating at Solitaire completely blew me away the first time I heard it, and every SD fan should have a listen. The album contains incredible covers of some classic songs: for instance, there's the sing-along-because-you-can't-help-yourself cover of Dylan's "Don't Think Twice"--you can almost feel Ness shrug his shoulders when he sings, "You just kinda wasted my precious time"; there is also a chilling cover of "Long Black Veil"--the recurring drumroll alone made me shiver at the man singing from the grave. Ness' original songs are of course amazing. It didn't take long for "Cheating at Solitaire" to play over and over in my mind because, as with most Ness-penned SD songs, you really believe the lyrics. In a move of utter brilliance, Ness teams up with Springsteen for "Misery Loves Company"--their voices go together well, and I can't think of two singers more suited for a song about learning from experience and looking beneath the cover of "happiness." All in all, what makes this album so compelling, for me, is not so much Ness' exciting combination of rockabilly, punk, country, and even a saxophone, but the power of his voice: I don't know anything about Ness personally, but I believe every word when he sings "when I'm in [my car] I feel like a man" and "we're not punished for our sins, but by them." This album is the absolute best album I have bought in a really, really long time. Period.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars because of mike ness, i love steel guitar, November 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cheating at Solitaire (Audio CD)

mike ness has so completely absorbed johnny cash and hank williams that he is actually extending their music instead of copying it.

the covers are first rate. "cheating at solitaire", "if you leave before me", "rest of our lives", and "dope fiend blues" are achingly impressive original songs.

"ballad of a lonely man" is just plain astounding.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grows on you., November 18, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Upland, Ca United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cheating at Solitaire (Audio CD)

My son (age 15) heard that Mr. Ness was an extremely decent singer/songwriter and this cowpunkbilly release was worth having a listen. He bought it on vacation this summer at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (! ) in Cleveland. It hasn't come out of his player since than. And I, as a second hand listener, have come under the spell. Highly recommended.