Customer Reviews

Fake Songs

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was hooked from the moment I first heard "United States of Whatever". It became an obsession to find out who recorded it, and what other music he may have recorded.

When I finally found out it was on this CD/DVD set, I was unaware what was in store for me. The title "Fake Songs", made me wonder if Liam was just a young Weird Al Yankovic. Let me make this perfectly clear... This is REAL MUSIC!... and it's REAL GOOD!

This album excites me. Each track has it's own unique sound and mood. Like Weird Al, he pokes fun at some famous musical stylings, but unlike Weird Al, he doesn't mimic the melody and add parody lyrics. What Liam Lynch does instead is write a completely original and sometimes hysterically funny song that is true to form without being a traditional parody song.

The end result is an incredible showcase of Lynch's versatility.

The bonus DVD is loaded with all sorts of goodies that I absolutely loved. They give you a good idea of Liam's great sense of humor.

Having loved Liam's work since the Sifl and Olly days, in 1998, the excitement of this album was huge. The thing is -- most of this stuff is old. The fellar on here calling it "just bad" doesn't even realize that this CD was already released probably three years ago on his own. He has only recently had a new house and new studio, with more stuff to work with.
His brilliance is the fact that he never quits -- he makes this stuff by himself. He plays everything by himself. He is a mutli-talented wizard. It's always sort of inspiring to watch and witness everything he does, because it just lets you know that you could do the same if you wanted to, as well. He is an incredible musician, and being that this is mostly a comedic album -- not much of his serious songs are heard. What ever it is that the world thinks, it doesn't matter -- he rocks, and that's all there is to it.

Oh, and by the way -- the DVD? Over an hour and 40 minutes of incredible everything. How can you NOT appreciate what he does? Animation is a tedious process. Constantly working and creating and always using what creative juices he has and keeps them going. The DVD shows this -- especially "Up Late with Liam". Genius.

Don't miss out on the Easter Egg...

First off, if you don't like Tenacious D or Ween or any other humorous rock bands than you probably won't like Liam Lynch. I, needless to say, enjoy these greatly and Mr. Lynch delivers an amazing album. The "fake" songs are songs sung in the style of different artists - he does an amazing job (my favorites being the David Bowie and the Bjork ones). The duet with Jack Black is great.

The other great thing about this is the DVD that comes along with it. It has over 2 hours (!) of footage, full of recording sessions (you see the ones with Jack Black, and Ringo Starr), music videos (for United States of Whatever, Rapbot, and some others), a live recording of USoW, and lots of weird home videos with puppets, computer generated stuff and Liam wearing costumes. All that he made himself in his spare time. It's weird, but funny, stuff.

Of course this CD rules! I don't need to say anything more...but I will. Liam Lynch is such a great songwriter, bordering on perfect parodist to original bob dylan of light-hearted humor. He is diverse but universal in his mthods of making you laugh, and there are plenty of both oldies (Sifl and Olly show) and newbies, such as his duet with JB of Tenacious D. Remember, this is nothing but fun, no politics, nothing that'll make you cry (except from tears of laughter), just plain ol' fun. Buy if you want to laugh and feel good.

I was a huge fan of Sifl and Olly years ago and have followed the musical career of Liam since. In reality, I've had this CD for about 3 years... or at least an older, independent version of it. It has changed a bit since that time with a new song or two, and different versions of other songs, two being off Liams awesome indie serious CD "We're All-Nighters".
Years later, Liam now has a record deal and is releasing his awesome songs so that everyone can buy them. He has not just "sprung up over night". He is a very talented musician that has been churning out great songs, videos, and more for many years. Serious or comedy, everything Liam created is genius and more creative than just about anything out there.
Don't forget this disc comes with an awesome DVD with some awesome animation, skits, behind the scenes stuff, and music video. Sure, "United States of Whatever", the great song from Sifl and Olly is on here, but the rest rocks just as much. I would recommend this CD to anyone. While you're at it, search for his other merchandise you can buy on his site. It's all good!

Guys just buy it. This CD is hilarious, and the REAL songs actually rock. You get a mucic CD and a DVD full of good animations and puppeteering that will make you laugh. Liam worked so hard, on his computer, the same kind of computer you look at porn and talk to under age chicks on, it is actually inspiring.

Simply put, the United States of Whatever, the 'big hit' of this album is nothing more and nothing less than a snot-gobbing, tongue-chewing masterpiece with the breath of a diseased dog, the darting eyeballs of a zombie and a jockstrap of barbed wire. It's a cross between early Beck and Frank Zappa with a killer Eddie Cochran meets punk metal riff.

Featuring Jack Black and Ringo Starr, this album does four things at once. 1) Provide an amazing, while hilarious, homage to each artist Lynch targets for the fake songs on the CD 2) Dishes out two back-to-the-basics, pretty much on the level, rock and roll songs 3) Kick out a few clever, original joke songs. 4) Adds in a wealth of material on the bonus DVD. Some artists would feel the need to charge customers for the honor to take in his unique and utterly profound vision in video form. Not Lynch. There's nothing profound about his vision, but the point Lynch makes in his DVD labor of love is 'if I can do it, so can you.' His down-to-earth attitude holds up even while in the presence of a former Beatle. Of course, if you read up on Lynch, you'll find that without Ringo Starr this album most likely would have not been made. Although, in the end, it's Lynch's tenacious dedication to his craft, however unserious it may seem, that brings the goods in pure, old-fasioned enjoyment.

All this for a guy who's color-blind and dyslexic. Cat lovers take note. He has a theme song for his cat. Meow.

The songs on this album are nothing short of brilliant parody. Liam Lynch does a magnificent job of mocking (or honoring) such artists as Depeche Mode, David Bowie and the Pixies. The Bowie imitation is spot on, and totally hillarious. Other songs are great, as well, such as the hit single "United States of Whatever". On a whole, the album just isn't solid, or something I'm able to put in the stereo and listen to. It's great for a conversation piece, or to entertain guests, but as a good listen, it just doesn't work.

The bonus DVD, with hillarious videos, and footage of Ringo Starr drumming with Lynch is worth the admission alone. This, my friends, is a DVD which offers more than the CD. I'm keeping this album for it.

So Liam's "Fake Songs" CD gets re-released, re-vamped and re-tooled because of the recent success of the song "United States Of Whatever" and I'm scratching my head a bit. This album's original version has been out for years, available on the Sifl-n-Olly website, and for some reason this new version's CD booklet doesn't allude to that fact, coming off like it's brand new material from 2003. Ok, no biggie I guess, but now we have some new songs (mostly guest starring Ringo Starr), some old songs are sacrificed to make room for them (like "Fake Jane's Addiction Song"), some remixes (Jack Black's vocals are now dubbed over "Rock-n-Roll Whore" previously known as "Heavy Metal #1: Rock & Roll Whore" and I swear the drums sound different on "United States Of Whatever" than on the original release) and some censorship ("Rapbot" and "Happy" have some well placed sound effects over what were originally some naughty words). Maybe The Man made him do it to make him more marketable to the MTV/KROQ crowd. Eh... ok, I shouldn't be knocking the guy for striking while the iron's hot and I do appreciate the new songs and especially the DVD, but really, what is with all the re-tweaking, George Lucas? Here's hoping that Liam's new found popularity might finally get MTV to release Sifl & Olly : Seasons 1 & 2 to DVD. ROCK!

to everyone who thinks this album sucks, what did you expect from some one who's first single is 90 seconds long? Now I love it cause everytime I hear the united states of whatever, I can't help but imagine the first time I saw it on MTV with a sock puppet singing it. And I am going to buy this more for the DVD than anything else.