Customer Reviews

Get Born

5 star:		(210)
4 star:		(125)
3 star:		(41)
2 star:		(31)
1 star:		(72)

 

 

Australian group Jet lived up to their name when they sonically swooped onto the music scene with their first full-length CD - "Get Born." The lead-off single - Are You Gonna Be My Girl? - is simply one of the most compelling rock songs in recent memory. Yes, it's highly derivative of earlier rock music, but it's brilliant. How many TV shows, movies, and products immediately used the song in ads? Sure, it burned out from overexposure pretty quickly, but fortunately the CD is filled with equally gripping rock.

The band deftly combines elements of 60s and 70s rock (especially the Stones and the Who) but adds touches of more recent rock for a fresh sound. For example, "Rollover D.J." is reminiscent of Oasis. "Move On" is a mid-tempo song that incorporates an alt-country sound, a la Wilco. "Timothy" is an interesting ballad with lyrics that could have been written by David Bowie during his Ziggy Stardust period. "Radio Song" has some nice prog-rock touches that wouldn't sound out of place on an early Radiohead CD. "Lazy Gun" is conceivably the pinnacle of the CD, as it changes tempo and style, weaving all over the place; it also, perhaps tellingly, sounds the least like anybody else. The lyrics, though, seem to sum up Jet's philosophy - Change nothing/ Futures in/ Close the door/ Wear a name/ Be the same/ Take some more.

Jet puts everything together so well that it's almost impossible to dislike this CD. Plus, let's face it, the artists they rip off are by and large past their prime - either disbanded or making musty music. Judged on its own merits, "Get Born" is an exceedingly strong rock record. Of course, Jet now faces the tremendous challenge of following up this CD and standing apart from the other raft of similar retro-rockers, including the Strokes, the Hives, and the Vines. Only time will tell whether the band will establish its own identity or become stale. In the meantime, this CD is highly recommended.

"Last Chance" (3/5): A decent song, not a great opener though.
"Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" (5/5): The lead single, a great tune that you can't help but sing along to.
"Rollover D.J." (4/5): This song always makes me wanna move.
"Look What You've Done" (4/5): A great ballad.
"Get What You Need" (3/5): An average song, but nothing more.
"Move On" (3/5): A good ballad, kinda Pink Floyd-ish.
"Radio Song" (3/5): Not a bad tune, just not great.
"Get Me Outta Here" (4/5): This up-tempo track is a winner.
"Cold Hard B***h" (4/5): The second single that should prove that the band isn't a one hit wonder.
"Come Around Again" (4/5): Another killer ballad.
"Take It Or Leave It" (4/5): Yet again, Jet proves they're the kings of the fast paced tracks.
"Lazy Gun" (3/5): A decent song, but nothing memorable.
"Timothy" (3/5): A less than thrilling conclusion to a thrilling album.

"Get Born", the debut from Aussie rockers Jet is music to my ears. Though some of the ballads can become tiresome, every fast paced song on this record is a winner. Definately worth checking out, especially if you're into the garage rock scene.

Rating: Three and a half stars.

Well, as it has been said in many reviews, there's nothing new here. So what. Jet draw upon and nick everything that's good about rock-n-roll. A bit of swagger there, a pinch of drunken chaos here. Couple that kind of stuff with a simple back to basics rock record and you get music that will definitely please the rocker within. Get Born is a great debut. A debut that is basically a hybrid of ACDC, a little Oasis, and a lot of "Taken Care Of Business" (Rollover DJ). Some might see this as unoriginal and predictable. Again, it IS all this, and that my friends, is a good thing in this day and age.

Lots of high-marks throughout the records' 13 tracks. Are You Gonna Be My Girl and Rollover DJ are really great, fast paced stompin' singles. I also really like Take It Or Leave It, and Cold Hard B...., another couple of raw energy rockers that please the 70's rock soul. My only complaint is that those, with another 2 tunes from Get Born, have been included from the Dirty Sweet EP. (I always like EP's to have something not found on the full lengths) Anyway this is a great rock record. Don't expect it change your life, but do expect it to get you moving.

Just when the onslaught of rock revival bands seemed to be dying down, the Australians come marching in. Apparently, The Hives, The Strokes, The White Stripes, and The Vines aren't enough. And despite lacking "The" in the band name, Jet lands smoothly in the already overpopulated genre in nearly all other aspects.

Similar to e=mc˛ (minus the genius), Get Born is a formula. Take four Aussies (two of which are required to be siblings), inject some traditional rock (creating the foundation), add a little garage punk (to give the mix a bit of an edge), blend in some sloppy production (don't be stingy with the synthesized background clapping), and (of course) name one of the tracks "Take it or Leave It".

Sure, the album brings some pleasurable elements to the table. "Radio Song" is an ironic yet oddly likeable ballad, and the cynically written "Rollover D.J." is sure to turn some heads. "Get Me Outta Here" and "Get What You Need" are sure to please fans of, "Are You Gonna Be My Girl", Jet's first single. "Lazy Gun" is a nice departure and "Cold Hard B****" is absolutely irresistible despite the somewhat harsh lyrics.

While Nic Cester's howling on "Look What You've Done", the flawed country ballad "Move On", and a couple short throwaway tracks might initially put off listeners, there are definitely more pros than cons within the album.

The final product? Get Born isn't so much a promising debut as it is a catchy carbon copy. Let's put it this way. If I hear Jet on the radio, I'd turn up the volume. It's not bad at all. To me, it would be senseless to actually buy Get Born because it's a lot easier just to flip through my CD collection at home and pop in Room On Fire, Veni Vidi Vicious, or Get Free. Why buy what I already have?

I'll be interested to see how the band approaches their next album. Who knows? Maybe they're just warming up. For now, however, I'll take a pass on Get Born. Naturally, this is all just my opinion. Take it or leave it.

Before I begin my review I would like to say that I am a 15 year old classic rock freak writing reviews for my day. Know this just so you can get where I'm coming from.

Normally, bands now a days disgust me. Wether it's the terrible, suicidal lyrics, under par singing of uninspired live shows, there is plenty of junk to go around. One day my friend (also a classic rock freak) gave me this album. I had heard "Are you gonna be my Girl?" from the ipod commerical, and decided to give it a chance. I was happily surprised.

No doubt these guys have indeed ripped off Humble Pie, the Stones, and even The Who guitar lines. But that is whats so great. They provide a fresh new take on great bases. All throughout the album, wether it's the Beatles like ballads, or the aforementioned rock a likes, it is all clean and impressive.

An excellent album. Makes me glad that a band finally knows what is good music.

I came across this band becuase my wife is a new aged rock fanatic, but being practically brainwashed with REAL rock & roll music (you know, Zepplin, the Stones, Floyd, the Beatles, the Who, Jimi, the Doors, the Dead, etc.) my whole life, these Australians are one of the few bands for whom I actually have respect outside of the late 60's/early 70's realm of greats. The reason for the respect is that these guys are actually playing Rock and Roll (imagine that). They're playing to audiences who aren't crying about how bad their childhood was (Disturbed & many others), who doesn't care to hear about how daddy didn't like me (Everclear), who are a little more intelligent than to be entranced by "creativity" through sexual shock value (Puddle of Mudd & others), and who are tired of hearing bands with only ONE sound and format (Nickleback, Linkin Park, & too many others). These guys from Jet actually WRITE their OWN lyrics and PLAY their OWN instruments, which is a pretty awesome accomplishment in this age of R&B, hip-hop, the Blonde Headed Air Heads of Pop, and American Idol. Grant it, on this album I hear plenty of George Harrison and Keith Richards rip offs on the guitars, and plenty of rip offs from the drums (sounds like a couple of Beatles beats from Abbey Road and SPLHCB), but where would Rock and Roll be without Clapton, Richards, and Page stealing chords from Robert Johnson and other great bluesmen? And I've also read about how the lyrical compositions on the album were pretty weak, but I'll bet Lenny Kravitz would kill to have half of the lyrics they've written for this album (read the lyrics to "Fly Away" and "She's So Fine" sometime so you can see the "Lyrical Genius of Our Time" in full effect). I personally think their lyrics are a bit weak (but that's me comparing them to Dylan, the Beatles, Pink Floyd, and others), but this IS their 1st album, and I don't remember Zepplin, the Beatles (remember "I Wanna Hold Your Hand"?), or Pink Floyd becoming lyrically competent until after a few more albums after their 1st albums.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that for a 1st time album, this one is a very good debut and a very refreshing sound from the slit-your-wrists "rock" being played to death today. If you're a fan of just pure Rock and Roll, this is the album, with everything from hard rocking songs with the influence of the Stones and Black Crowes to piano ballads with the influence of McCartney/Lennon. This album gives us a glimpse of their diverse talent that will only expand with time and could actually have them remembered 20 years from now.

I like Jet's style of playing for such songs as "Cold Hard B*tch" and "Are You Gonna Be My Girl", but I really dont care too much for some of the slow songs on this album, songs like "Timothy" that just seem to drag on forever puts the album down a bit. I really love the rockers on this album though, and I think these guys should stick with the rockers if they want to be a bit more successful. I like the way they play, influenced by favorite band of all time, AC/DC, I appreciate the way these guys can rock out. Im satisfied with it, I really could do without the boring mellow and slow tracks, but as far as everything else, its a good album and a good break from all this nu-metal and post-grunge bullsh*t that stations like Vh1 and MTV spoon-feed us. I give Jet the thunbs up.

Australia's Jet is a band that likes to wear its influences on BOTH its sleeves. Is it possible to forgive a rock band that rips off every other group from the Stones to AC/DC? Such naked theft can be pardoned only if the record is as good as "Get Born." While they have not one single original idea in their heads, the members (Nick and Chris Cester, Cam Muncey, and Mark Wilson) are clearly skilled musicans who know how to jam with a degree of conviction. The whole album seesaws back and forth from the 1960s to the 1970s with catchy rockers like "Last Chance" and "Are You Gonna Be My Girl," while "Cold Hard" recalls AC/DC of the Bon Scott era. But Jet loses altitude on most of the ballads, which bleed into each other without much distinction. They clearly are more effective when they kick up the tempo and rock. "Get Born" sounds like a valentine to the band's musical heroes, and there's nothing wrong with that. But while imitation is often the sincerest form of flattery, it wouldn't hurt Jet to get their creative juices flowing and strive for a bit of originality going forward.

It is about time music like this is being made again. I grew up in the 70's and 80's and most music now days just plain sucks. I love it that this album has many influences. The Beatles, Stones, AC/DC, The Ramones, maybe even a little Skynard? This isn't your pretty boy band. I enjoyed this album and so does my teenage son. Loved it. They don't sound like every other band out there.

Finally. An album I like. Even though I'm pretty young, I grew up listening to sixties stuff--the Stones, the Beatles (especially the Beatles), Cream, Hendrix, etc. Somehow modern rock just seems sad in comparison. Until now. These guys seem to have a way of ripping of bands that were good and not making the songs any worse. And so what if they ripped off bands? There are only so many ways a rock song can go, and if the purpose of the group is to return to the days when rock was just fun, then why not take stuff from other bands? Anyway, here's a song by song breakdown:

Last Chance: Good opening rocker, screaming vocals, pretty awesome

Are You Gonna be my Girl: This song is the reason why everybody bought this album, and it's easily the best on here. Great driving riff

Rollover DJ: Fun rock song, not quite as nice as the others, but still a lot of fun

Look What You've Done: Slow, weeping ballad that has a very Beatle-y quality. The piano chords are straight from Let It Be and it also has a little sound of Imagine

Get What You Need: No, no a remake of the Stones song, but a fast paced rocker with with a slightly harsher sound than some of the other songs on here

Move On: The one song on here that really isn't that great. A countryish ballad that really drags on. Skip it

Radio Song: The best ballad on here. Great falsetto vocals and nice harmony on the chorus

Get Me Outta Here: One of the weaker hard rock songs on here, but still good. It's all good

Cold Hard B****: Rough rocker with some, um, interesting lyrics

Come Around Again: Not that great. Another slow, dragging-on ballad. Not unlistenable, though

Take it or Leave It: Great song--great riff and a driving beat. Great screams by Nic. The tune and beat on the end of each verse is exactly the same as that on the Beatle's song I've Got a Feeling

Lazy Gun: Weird song. Trippy, druggy guitar and wierd groan on intro. Awesomely weird

Timothy: Really beautiful ballad apparently about one of the band member's older brother dying