Customer Reviews

Coupled With

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The Wildhearts are one of those bands that do what they do so perfectly that they would seem destined for hugeness. But in this imperfect world which often demands style over substance, those of us in the know must spread the word about great music that rewards those who are willing to search for it. This Wildhearts release is a collection of B-sides, limited editions, and other lost items recorded during the latest incarnation of the Wildhearts lineup, since a reformation a couple of years ago of the classic lineup featuring singer/guitarist/songwriting genius Ginger, guitarist CJ, drummer Stidi, and a bassist who may or may not be ambulatory on any given day. The fact that the killer tunes featured here were considered leftovers is a testament to this band's incredible abilities as songwriters and players. The lead-off track "Stormy in the North, Karma in the South" is a perfectly slamming introduction to both this compilation and also to the band's flawless execution of melody and muscle. "Looking for the One" and "Return to Zero" are great examples of brooding Sabbath-like power riffs leading into surprisingly sweet harmony-drenched vocal arrangements. "Putting It On" and "Bang!" up the pop quotient with winning results, and check out the fun-tastic "Cheers" which combines the theme songs of the Cheers and Taxi TV shows and rocks the teeth out of both of them. The power overload on "6:30 Onwards," "Eager to Leave Her," and "Better Than Cable" (my faves among a consistent list of winners) proves that the Wildhearts are almost too good for rock n' roll, and certainly too good to be big in America.

Note that with the Wildhearts' hyper-creative tendencies, their habit of breaking up and reforming regularly, and their various record contracts in various nations, tracking their catalog is getting confusing. The 2003 release *The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed* is thus far the only "proper" album from the band's current incarnation, and is considerably more poppy than the material collected here. *Riff After Riff* is also a compilation of B-sides from this period. If you can afford the import pricing, *Coupled With* makes *Riff After Riff* irrelevant because it contains all of that compilation's thirteen tracks, plus seven more rarities. [~doomsdayer520~]

The latest Wildhearts CD is supposedly a collection of songs that were considered 'B' sides. Well I have news for you, most bands would die to have these gems as their 'A' sides!! One of the aspects of this band that is grossly underrated is their songwriting. The Wildhearts seem to be able to produce an endless stream of great songs. Then you must consider that Ginger has put out quite a few side projects, most notably SilverGinger 5, that have even more great tracks.
Be sure to check out the band on their currect US tour where they are supposrting The Darkness-it should be the other way around to be sure. If you love their CDs you will become even more of a fan after seeing them live.

Let me start describing the Wildhearts as an excellent band coupling of Metallica and Oasis, containing both heaviness and melody. This is sincerely the greatest release by the Wildhearts since the greatest hits (Japanese version-"CD disc 2"). I recommend to get this one first before "the Wildhearts must be destoryed." I have loved the Wildhearts for more than 10 years because of (1) Ginger's unexpected behaviors, (2) Ginger's sweet voice (in spite of his appearance!), (3) extremely heavy but extremely catchy songs, and (4) their intense live performances. Although their early releases are more known for the creativity, I have supported their dramatic change to indusitral aspect in "Endless, Nameless." Their comeback to purely catchly-metal sound was widely welcomed by fans.

I guess this CD "Coupled with" is a compilation of all singles released for "Wildhearts must be destroyed", and ironically THIS IS BETTER THAN ITS ORIGINAL ALBUM! It happened before when they released "Anthem - The Single Tracks" because I thought the songs like "White Lies" and "Zomboid" were better than any songs in "Endless Nameless" except for the "Urge", which is also in the single collection. Anyway, "Coupled With" have a TONS of decent tracks from "Cheers", "The People That Life Forget", "Eager To Leave 'Er" to "Bang!", "If I Decide", and AMONG OTHER!

You can NOT be definitely bored listening all 21 tracks in this album, espeically when you dont have any of Wildhearts recent CDs (some songs overlap with other release but they at least re-arranged them). Ginger is absolutely one of true ROCKER who is not only crazy but also genius. I like his attitude toward the media because he is careless of them, rather he hate them. I guess he does not need a support from the media because his music speaks for itself and it certainly does! To conclude, this is hard to get in store but I recommend to order it on line because it is strongly worth it!!!!

if you're already a WILDHEARTS fan then buy this...it's a fantastic "best of" sorta thing...killer....if you're not already a fan and want to get a really good taste of who the wildhearts are then you also need to buy this for the same damn reasons...this record is relentless kick arse rock music...you will LOVE this record...buy it now...

The Wildhearts!.... WOW, where's the English revolution when you need it. The Beatles, Who....too bad they're not my cup of Tea. Now on the other hand the Wildhearts, talk about a rock, punk, pop, and metal blend. These guys over the last few albums have mixed up their style, but yet kept it their own. Trust me when I saw these guys rock. With Melodic hooks, punk riffs, and songs that just stick in yer head where you sing them all day. Their style is one any rock music fan should like. Their sound is something that could easily make the US Radio stations, but because the US is too, money hungry, the US music industry isn't about please the ear, more than pleasing someones pocket. It's an absolute shame too! The music these guys have released over the last 10years is something outta of an angry Nirvana, Greenday, Alice in Chains, Sex Pistol morphed Zombie of sorts. Sample this album and the others they have, then BUY THEM, again you won't be disappointed! I own this, the Best of, Chuztpah!, The Wldhrts Must Be Destroyed, and The Wildhearts....and all I can say is WOW! What a collection.

Since The Ramones split up anyway, if you like Punk or hard rock, check this band out, the recent DVD is awesome too.