Customer Reviews

Flash Flash Flash

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is exceptional punk rock if there is such a thing. It is music with a message and the music is the medium for expression. Obviously the reviewers below didn't realize this. The first song, the anthemic "No Revolution" is the epitomy of the entire album; it recognizes the fact that "punk" came out twenty years ago and there is nothing new, that all "punks" look to the late '70s as the answer and the manual and the standard. So in a sense this album is anti-punk, but it's still "punk," get it? And it just plain rocks with a primitive, style-less style that is rarely achieved in this genre. Remember, there is no such thing as punk.

in the old days, i was a punk rocker, listening to "the que*rs" and "fugazi" and dancing around in fast and furious circles ... when i listen to flash flash flash, i am instantly transported back ten years ... ok, ok ... i wouldn't have given this cd a listen if i didn't consider these boys to be friends, but i do ... and i did. i'm glad that this cd made it's way into my collection ... these are smart guys, good musicians - the lyrics are brainy while the music churns and turns. these boys are students of the punk revolution of the 70s (you know, before they were born) - music and art, and it shows in this cd. these are talented fellows. these are great guys - with amazing stage presence and sense of fun. and that's what it's all about, no? if you are a fan of music at all, buy this cd ...

dam good album with memorable tracks but i have to recommend black tape over this

Its true...I got it I think two yrs ago or one...and man. I dont know...its raw, but yet melodic and intelligent lyrics. Not to mention they convey a great deal of energy live. They're like a hybrid of Dag Nasty and Stiff Little Fingers....great stuff!

You might as well disregard the first two reviews of this album, as the authors don't appear to have really even heard it. I can detect no British accent or inane lyrics within. I've seen these guys twice and they're extremely personable and very energetic. The Explosion is to me what punk rock is all about, some crazy kids making some loud rock and roll. If you like the Clash or the Circle Jerks or even Rancid (ick), then you may dig this. One of the guitar players used to be in the Trouble, so you know this rocks! Check out "Reactor" and "True or False" and crank it.

These guys are f...ing awesome, punk on man.

I saw these guys with Swindle and the queers and they were awesome so is this c.d. this is 100% pure punk rock

I Love It

But that's not a bad thing. You see, now that Joey Ramone and Joe Strummer--the two greatest punk frontmen of all time--have passed away (RIP), so has the genre they helped create. The Explosion realize this better than anyone, better than self-proclaimed punks like Rancid or NOFX, and certainly better than teenyboppers who actually think Blink 182 and Sum 41 are punk. With "Flash Flash Flash," the Explosion draw on influences from the Clash and the Ramones and Stiff Little Fingers, blend them with some Stiff Little Fingers and Buzzcocks, a little bit of Axl Rose attitude and some good old Oi! and hardcore, and used it to create something that sounds like goodness. I saw them open for AFI, and their live show was at least as good as AFI's, every bit as dramatic, though the music styles were polar opposites. AFI has the dramatic, epic, poetic songs; Explosion have loud, fast, scrappy, political songs. It's all good, and so's this album. If you like Blink 182 (with the exception of Buddha), you will not like this. If you like Good Charlotte, you will not like this. If you like Minor Threat, the Broadways or the Sex Pistols, this is for you.

When I bought "Black Tape" first by this band I loved it, but I always wondered why everyone slammed it as a corporate rock album, because it really isn't. At least not if you haven't heard "Flash Flash Flash"

This CD makes "Black Tape" look like overproduced pop. The songs are grittier, faster, shorter, and more fun. The sound as a whole is beautiful in its simplicity, and they never try to be something that they're not. The lyrics are very inspired and sometimes very critical of the punk scene, which seems counter productive except everything they say hits it right on the head. Why is it that we need to dress like every member of the Casualties to be part of a "movement" that ended decades ago when we can just kick back and enjoy the music that is the fruit of its existance.

Overall this really is a great CD. It's a CD that fans of old school and new school punk alike can enjoy start to finish. The vocals are rougher than on "Black Tape" which gives it an old school vibe but the guitars and drums are pretty neat if not the cleanest. Definitely the best CD by this now defunctional band.

Except for a couple of cuts where the rhythm gets iffy, this is hot stuff from beginning to end. I listen to all of the "old" referenced bands; it's worth pointing out that the production on this CD is loads better than, say, Naked Raygun or Stiff Little Fingers (or the Sex Pistols, for that matter). There's no loss of rawness or urgency whatsoever, though, which is what's missing from latter-day punks much of the time. No sense of just going through the motions, like I get with Rancid.

I have to mention that I found it weird that the singer seems to get his "r's" right on about 2/3 of the cuts, and only sporadically on the rest. I think that's where some of the reviewers get their "British accent" stuff, but it's "Tewowist," not "Tehroarist." Adds to the "can-do" ambience, for me.