Customer Reviews

Georgia Satellites

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Twangy southern vocals, an AC-DC power guitar crunch, with a style that brings out a harder edge to southern rock, some rockabilly, and old-fashioned rock and roll, the Georgia Satellites had a brief glimpse of stardom with their breakthrough single about a very prude girl who "tells me the story about a million times, no hugging no kissing till I get a wedding ring" and will not take any hanky-panky before the wedding day. The rest of the album is just as solid and crunchy, every song pumped with sound.

The pounding drums and crunchy guitar of the rowdy "Railroad Steel" is pure rock and roll, and it's clear lead singer Dan Baird is having a lot of fun singing this song.

"You got me tied down with battleship chains/fifty-foot long with a two ton anchor." It's a crime that the second single, the crunching AC-DC stomper "Battleship Chains" didn't do as well as its brother single. Apart from the imagery of the chorus, this song about how being committed to one hampers one's free-spirited ways. "I can't move my legs to chase nobody, to kick nobody but you." or "I can't move my tongue to taste nobody, to lick nobody but you." My favourite track here.

"Red Light" has the ambience of the swamp-type rock done by CCR and John Fogerty, say, "The Old Man Down The Road," mixed with their fast-paced rock and roll sound.

So what is "The Myth of Love?" "The bright promise of tomorrow, and tomorrows without end"? Something where "innocence" and "blindness is my only crime"? Something that's a light that will not shine? Sound about right.

"Can't Stand The Pain" is another fierce guitar and drums attack with some vocal and rhythmic nods to Tom Petty, another southern rocker. Another standout cut.

Things slow down to a more reflective mid-tempo speed with "Golden Light", which is equivalent to the truth here, where "the truth is a moment and it shines just like a flame." One note of interest is that bassist Rick Price originally recorded this song, presumably before he joined the Satellites. But it's back to the usual crunchy theatrics with "Over And Over" and "Nights Of Mystery."

They really burn things up with their cover of Rod Stewart's "Every Picture Tells A Story" which is another memorable cut.

That lead guitar and pounding drums really sets the sound-a-cranking on this release. Face it, this is one of those albums that DJs could've played any song and made a hit radio album-cut out of it. I only heard the title song from their followup album, Open All Night, and figured they still had some extra mileage left in them, but it wasn't to be. Their debut album, though, is what got them up there.

This album is a must for all lovers of 12 bar blues based rock music. There are only a handful of bands who can make a three chord song using a riff heard a million times before sound fresh and exciting. The Georgia Satellites achieve this repeatedly on this album.

The album kicks off with Keep Your Hands to Yourself, a track originally recorded for the Keep the Faith EP and the band's only hit single.

What follows is track after track of loud simple rock and roll with some classic slide guitar from Rick Richards (who later played with Izzy Stradlin's Ju Ju Hounds) and some serious QUO style riffing throughout. Standout tracks include `Nights of Mystery', `Myth of Love'`Battleship Chains' and the Faces cover `Every Picture tells a Story'. The only weak track being `Over and Over' a dullish medium paced rocker.

In summary this album is the ultimate straight ahead rock album with no hidden messages. A good old fashioned album from a truly great band.

The Georgia Satellites issued three high-octane rock n' roll records in the latter half of the 1980s, at a time when such a thing wasn't excactly in vogue. This one was the first, and a sizable hit, mostly due to the presence of the #2 hit single "Keep Your Hands To Youself".
But the next two sank without a trace, and that's a shame, because the Satellites were (and still remain) a really great listen if you like straight-ahead blooze-n-boogie styled rock n' roll.

The last regular Satellites album, 1989's "In The Land Of Salvation And Sin", is the best, the most mature, and the most stylistically varied, but this one is not far behind.
"The Georgia Satellites" opens with that single, the one which remains the only Satellites number most people ever got around to hearing, a swaggering three-chord "hick-rocker" topped by Rick Richards' lead guitar and Dan Baird's drawling vocals.
If you're really just looking for that one song, you should pick up the excellent compilation album "Let It Rock: Best Of The Georgia Satellites" instead of their original albums...but that's not to say that "Hands" is the only good song here, in fact it may not even be the best one. Other highlights include the tough-as-nails hard rock of "Railroad Steel" and "Can't Stand The Pain", a great, shout-along-friendly cover of the Hindu Love Gods' "Battleship Chains", and the melodic mid-tempo rockers "Over And Over" and "Golden Light".
A three-chords-and-a-cloud-of-dust-style rendition of Rod Stewart's "Every Picture Tells A Story" doesn't really add anything to the original, but it's still a great song.

The lyrics aren't excacly Bob Dylan, and there is not a lot of musical variation here, but "The Georgia Satellites" is a fun listen anyway. Casual fans will be perfectly satisfied by "Let It Rock", but Satellites diehards (there must be a few of those around) will want the "real" albums.

...This is timeless rock from a very underated band. The loudest cheers we used to get when I was in a covers band was for 'Keep Your Hands' and 'Battleship Chains'. Everyone loved them! Get hold of a bootleg of their concert at the Reading Festival 1987 - the best concert ever?

Crass? Loud? The appeal of the satellites to me comes from the raw power of a bar band you know will sound every bit as good live. As a general rule, I have little use for 'southern guitar rock', but this cd is a keeper. Nothing groundbreaking. Just good, blood-pumping rock n roll. 9.49? What a deal!

This was a good debut by a band who had a real chance to be something. However, a weaker second record scared people away. This has some highlights, especially the first half. Those who know the best known songs may want to seek out "In The Land of Salvation and Sin" somewhere and come back to this one.

This is rock and roll at its most basic. The best comment I ever read about the G-Sats is that they were like ten of your favorite bands rolled into one. It's not massively original, but every single song is great. I've seen the band live twice, and aside from the permanent hearing damage they were awesome. I wish they'd come back; I never get tired of music like this.

Let me start by saying that The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam's Vitalogy, Joni Mitchell, Metallica's Master of Puppets, and of course Bob Dylan are still the tops of all time. But I just can't help but comment on the 'sleepers'. The G.S. fits this to a tee. Keep your hands to yourself is cute - nuff said. battleship chains showed us a bit more versatility to them. but "Nights Of Mystery" and it's bleed into "Every Picture Tells A Story" is one of the few "i remember exactly where I was when I first heard that song" songs out there. I know the intersection I was passing when I first heard Eddie Veder bark out the lines to "Last Exit" just as I did when the first guitar riff of "Nights of Mystery" kicked in.
I agree this was a band in the rough - but they came together on those last two - pulling both melody, originality, and most importantly an expansion of a cover tune (nearly impossible to do) as their own.
Heck I don't even think they were ever aware of the strength of those last two tracks - they don't even appear on the greatest hits.
In short - they dared to take a haunted southern spin on their guitars during a time when "pour some sugar on me" blared across our radios. Had they followed this 'root' sound of theirs, I believe they would be much more than a favorite tune to play at hillbilly weddings.

Good ole Southern Rock music by the Georgia Satellites! Great stuff! I had been looking for an album from them for a long time. Glad I found this one.

Loved it and Amazon's service, always very fast service and let you know when order recieved and mailed. Use Amazon every now and again, esp. when trying to find hard to find items, and will continue to use it.