Customer Reviews

Forever (Limited Edition Bonus CD)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

David Lowery and his merry band continue to impress and entertain. This is their first new studio album in awhile, and it's loaded with strong examples of the rock songwriting craft as well as comfortable, engaging performances by the band. This is an album that sounds even better each time I listen to it. I find myself singing lines from the songs like "take your sorry a** back to Florida" from "Don't Bring Us Down." Besides the usual reliable work from guitarist Johnny Hickman, the instrumental star of Forever is keyboard player Kenny Margolis, whose resounding piano and organ presence adds force to nearly every song. I always enjoy hearing Mr. Lowery's tart singing style (I'm often reminded of Ray Davies), but Hickman sings a song or two this time too, and the entire band takes turns on the humorous "What You're Missing" -- which also by the way includes a good explanation of the difference between Cracker and Uncle Kracker. What's Dave's thing about monkeys, though? Both "Guarded By Monkeys" and "Brides of Neptune" contain references to monkeys guarding things. Anyhow, this is one excellent CD, and it gets even better if you pick up the limited edition, which includes an entire bonus disc with a live recording from Chicago in late '99.

By and large I am a Classic Rock fan. I like rock music all the way back to the late 60s, from Hendrix to the Doors to Neil Young to Led Zepp to the Allman Brothers to Pink Floyd to U2.
However, after five or six years of torture trying to like the Hair Bands, I was looking for some new music as the 1990s began.
Got into some blues under the Alligator label, but by 1993 or 1994 I was bored again.
Discovered the Grunge movement a couple years late, and I got into Pearl Jam, STP and the like. But Grunge wasn't the answer either, so then I caught on to Radiohead and Live in 1995, and thought I'd found keepers with them.
But Live has gotten too commercial in the last couple years, and Radiohead ... well, I don't know what's come over Radiohead. Too "out there."
In 1996 I was recommended to Cracker by a friend, and picked up its Golden Age CD in a used bin. BINGO. Excellent!!!
Cracker offers it all - a GREAT, rockin' guitar; some beautiful ballads (no wimpy stuff, however); some countryfied efforts; some blues, lots of great lyrics, and a violin, a mandolin and an accordian at times.
A fun band, too, one which perhaps requires you to acquire a taste for them.
There are those who would argue with how I've entitled this entry, "Best Rock Band On The Planet." But to those people I say, "Try it!" You would find out that Cracker is at least the most versatile band on the planet.
Although I doubt that its fifth studio album, "Forever," will be able to measure up to its second (and best) album, "Kerosene Hat (1993)," I have no doubt that this 2002 release is a good effort to most Cracker fans.
And Cracker has a base of FANatics. Cracker isn't the Dead or does it have that kind of following, but those who love their music will drive hundreds of miles to see a live show.
Leadman David Lowery (vocals) and guitarist Johnny Hickman have been together with this band now for 10 years. They blend like coffee and cream.
This album has much of the diversity this band is known for, although I would've liked to have seen a countryfied song in there (like a Mr. Wrong or a Eurotrash Girl). Basically, it's a rock album, but not really a hard rock album.
And the bonus CD, recorded live in 1999 in Chicago, is a delight. Many Cracker "staples," like Low and Teen Angst, and its concert favorite, its cover of Pictures of Matchstick Men.
On the Cracker website, regarding the studio album, the fans all talk about One Fine Day, Guarded By Monkeys, Miss Santa Cruz County, Brides Of Neptune, Merry Christmas Emily (which was performed on the Craig Kilbourn Late Show on Dec. 21, 2001), Don't Bring Us Down, and Shine (performed on Letterman on Jan. 28, 2002).
My favorite cut, however, is Sweet Magdalena Of My Misfortune. Great song. Reminds me of something Dylan would do.
That's the thing about Cracker: This band has something for everyone.
And like the quirky, tongue-in-cheek closing song on the CD, it is Cracker with a C not a K, and lots of music fans out there don't know What They're Missing if they haven't tried this band.
Be one of the COOL, and get to know this band.
Cracker ... Forever!

I saw that Cracker had a new album out, after several years of nothing new from the band. After listening to the album, I'd have to say that I am really impressed with the quality. With Rock anthems like 'Don't Bring Us Down' and a quirky 'Shameless', you can't go wrong with this album. With several diverse tracks, there is a taste of something for nearly everyone on this disc. Camper Van Beethoven fans will appreciate the gem cover of Status Quo's ever popular 'Picture's of Matchstick Men' that is included on a bonus disc. Also of note is the song 'Merry Christmas Emily'. The song is not what you'd expect, but more of a tribute to ex girlfriends of sorts. 'Ain't That Strange' is another very catchy tune, that is immediately 'stuck in your head' so to speak. I hope this review helps everyone that is curious, and or wondering what the band still has in them. An excellent effort, and well worth the money.

I am a huge fan of Cracker and before that Camper Van Beethoven. I've enjoyed all of Cracker's twists and turns regarding their sound and that's one thing that's kept them around so long, like any great band.

"Forever" has it's share of duds, but has enough excellent songs to be very likeable as a whole.

Merry Xmas Emily, Shine, Fluffy Lucy, Ain't That Strange, Sweet Magdalena Of My Misfortune, Guarded By Monkeys and Brides Of Neptune stand out above the rest in my opinion. Every single one of those tunes are instant Cracker classics, and just as good as anything they've ever done. And hey, right there is more than half of the CD so it certainly gets the old 4 start treatment from me.

The songs still have that classic Cracker sound with some new modern sounding twists, and some more pop-oriented songs such as Bring Us Down. What're You're Missing is a complete throw-away song where Cracker ventures into some funny rap but otherwise isn't worth more than one listen. Beyond that one Hickman song is included, Superfan, and it's different from his rock 'n bluegrass sound completely and unfortunately just comes off as a bad pop song.

If you are a hardcore or passive Cracker fan, Forever is worth the purchase and your attention though, in this age of pretty young thing, no-talent pop stars and image-oriented, so-called "music," Cracker is a refreshing blast of moody, guitar driven rock n' roll, and the world needs more of that right now. And what the world needs now is more bands with the talent and creative juice of Cracker.

Forever gets a pretty enthusiastic thumbs up.

What can I say. I am a long time Cracker/Camper van Beethoven fan and I must say that this CD is incredible (probably one of their very best (if not the best)). Cracker has a very mature sound on this CD (similar to the feel of Golden Age, but a lot more mature).
This CD is different from other Cracker albums, yet it has a similar feel. One thing of note is the more dominant presence of keyboards (Rhodes, etc.) in the songs, plus no over the top fast rockers (which is good because Gentleman's Blues tried too hard to have too many). There are strings and lots of backup vocals on this album as well as some very unique and fun songs. Notable in the weird but very well done songs are " Guarded by Monkeys", "Superfan" (with its kind of world music feel), " Merry Christmas Emily", and especially "What You're Missing" (which is a very funny "rap" type song poking fun at many topics and having A LOT of inside Cracker jokes (jokes you'll get if you have been a long time fan of Cracker)). This is a very solid album that works as a whole album rather than having a few singles and filler.
The bonus disc that comes with this version is nice. A live CD from a show in Chicago with a lot of "hits" including Pictures of Matchstick men. Great to include for this price.

Cracker are a very talented band leaning towards pop-rock. It's very melodic and the album contains many songs with hit potential. If you want to hear good, clever and interesting music, not too soft or too hard, this would be a great choice. The best way to describe the music is that it's like The Wallflowers but 10 times better.

Very solid release that lacks the radio friendly songs that made Cracker Soul & Kerosene Hat college favorites. Overall i found the guitar work to be great, same good lyrics and much better vocals from Lowery. A more creative effort than Gentleman's Blues with less screaming. I don't know if i agree that this disc has shades of Camper Van Beethoven but this release does remind me more of their first effort Cracker Soul.

This is a record that gets better and better with each listen. Cracker is unique in their own way and this will please any long time fan. For those not familiar with Cracker but who appreciate fine musicians, this is a must. The live disc is one of the best live club recordings that I've heard in some time. No surprise as they always seem to give something extra in the way of 2 discs for 1 or some super hidden tracks. There is one thing better...seeing them play live. The smaller the venue the better!

I really like this album, and I adore the song "Guarded by Monkeys." I don't know that the album immediateyly grabbed me though. So maybe it does take some getting used to.
Also, it never occurred to me to think of "What You're Missing" as a rap. I always thought it was more like - if you've ever seen the show "Whose Line Is it Anyway?", when they do a 'hoedown' on there. That's all I have to say.

I was very impressed by the new songs on this album. I highly recommend seeing Cracker in concert, they're a lot easier to "get" that way. For me, a Cracker CD is just a fix to get me through to the next time they come to town. They're great live.