Customer Reviews

Fast Food for Thought

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

 

 

This is a very strange item. Basically, it's funky grooves done almost entirely with only bass and drum machines, courtesy of Andrew Weiss, with Rollins being ... well, being Rollins. That means if you can't handle Henry's angry rants, then you will find this to be a boring listen. BUT if you either ignore or enjoy Rollins' style, then the music truly stands on its own. Andrew Weiss is a powerful bassist who really knows how to groove, and these songs are funky, loud, and in your face. He gets so many different sounds from his bass that the recordings sound full; some excellent sampling completes the package (examples: Ted Nugent's live stage banter, and the guitar solo from More Than A Feeling).

I still can't believe this was released on Chysalis. What that major label thought it could do with this very unusual set of recordings is beyond me. It probably only sold a few thousand copies. I got mine in a used bin for 2 bucks! But it would have been worth it for a lot more than that. This ep KICKS A$$.

I like go-go, I like Rollins and I love this album. I've been listening to it for almost 20 years. It doesn't sound anything like EU or Trouble Funk, but it is awesome just the same.

if you really like rollins type of music you will like this. poseurs go home!
even after what..12..14 years? it still rocks!

I have been a fan of Henry's for a long time. In working my way backwards through his catalog over the years, I heard about the one-off Wartime project. So being something of a completist, I bought this. Even as a fanatic, I can't get into it. Now, one thing no other reviews have stated is where Henry was coming from musically with this. In his book "Unwelcome Songs", he talks about his love of go-go funk music. For those who don't know (and I didn't): go-go is form of dance music indigenous to Washington D.C. - A lot of party chant vocals, deep bass, and a real emphasis on the snare hits. It's pretty much what gave birth to New Jack Swing in a way. It has a sound that is very 80's, but still sounds pretty slammin' nowadays. One of the premier groups of the go-go scene was Trouble Funk, a band Henry saw often growing up in D.C.
Now, if that was Henry's ideal, he fell a little short of the mark. The lyrics and delivery on this are tepid to say the least. Henry deals with alienation a lot (which I have NO problem with), but it seems he was just looking for words that rhyme well. When he's practically rapping on the bridge of "Wartime" (the `mindfield' line), I cringe a bit. "The Whole Truth" isn't too bad of a tune - it ended up being the single. And they do a cover of "Franklin's Tower" by the Grateful Dead. I'm no Dead-head, so you be the judge.
And while Andrew Weiss is a great bassist and later ended up being a great producer for groups like Ween, this EP isn't salvagable for either reason. The grooves on here are boring. The drum machine doesn't help that problem, either. Sim Cain from the Rollins Band does some roto fills here and there, but it might as well be a Roland.
As another reviewer said, it is amazing a pretty standard 80's record company like Chrysalis released this. What were they shooting for, the college-rock Red Hot Chili Pepper crowd? I don't know. This was actually the situation Henry talked about on one of his old Spoken Word albums about meeting the record exec and looking at pictures of Billy Idol.
Also of historical interest - there was a music video made for "The Whole Truth". Look for it on Youtube. Henry Rollins in a suit with his hair done up? Say it ain't so! And the bicycle-pants-booty shaking spliced in here and there? No...
Even if you are a Rollins completist, I can't recommend it much.

A complete and utter waste of packaging. When I bought this originally, I was on a Henry Rollins binge--we're talking about 13 years ago, and the store in question advertised this as a 'Rollins Band' release. What a crock.

This EP has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I mean, it's not hardcore industral a la Neubauten, it's not spoken word, it's not ambient noise/orchestration like Xenakis, or even an experiment in spacial tonalities--the John Cage nod. It's just a bunch of rambling basslines and TV soundbites, conducted as some kind of throwaway with both Rollins and his then-bass guitarist Andrew Weiss (who he never got along with; I can't figure it out either).

It makes a great coaster, or it might be useful as a Christmas tree ornament, but not much else.