Customer Reviews

Get Real

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

 

 

Take 3 parts Go-Go's, mix in 1 part Donnas, 1 part Veruca Salt, maybe a smidgin of Bangles, and vocals that alternate between Belinda Carlisle, Nina Gordon, Juliana Hatfield, and Tanya Donnelly rolled together and you'll come out with the Halo Friendlies. The bite-sized songs, averaging 3 minutes in length, crunchy power pop, a perfect substitute for anyone who left their Donnas or Ramones CDs at home.

The songs have a consistent overall sound and it's hard to tell one from another--only by chorus, and I'm not going to do that. However, let me give a few samples.

Judita, the vocalist of "Sellout" sounds like Belinda Carlisle The lyric "Was it something I said that it went to your head" reminds me of a similar lyric in Elastica's "Stutter," although not as hard as that song. There is a hint of Elastica in this song as well.

With "Over It" the guitar and rhythm is definitely vintage Go-Go's. Vocalist Ginger is more Juliana Hatfield-ish, although more potent and less cloying.

"I'm All Eyes" starts out like a distant cousin of the Bangles "In Your Room" before going back to Go-Go's sound.

"Just Like You" is one of my favourites here due to catchy hooks and an 80's style chorus which ends with "I'm just like you, only better."

In the Belly-like "Don't Let Me Down", which is also reminiscent of the Murmurs' "Smash", the drums and chords hammer in tune to the words of the chorus--1-2-3-4 (Don't-Let-Me-Down), making this another standout track. A Go-Go's-like guitar solo follows mid-song.

And "Selfish" has guitars that nearly match an Elastica-like snarl. One of the girls closes with the sweet acoustic ballad "Unsaid Goodbyes."

Get Real is one fun anthem and catchy hook after another packed with punky guitars and sweet and sassy vocals. If the Go-Go's had made an album like this instead of Talk Show, they would have lasted another five years.

When I first received this CD as a gift, I was excited because it looked interesting, but I was also a little hesitant at the same time. After listening to it, I discovered that it takes a while to really enjoy the songs, but it can be done. Here's a breakdown of some of their good songs:
2)"Over It"-While the lyrics for this song isn't anything I haven't already heard ("I know what you're thinking/I know just what you think of me...")and there's the occasional whining, this is one of the better "after the break-up" songs I've heard in a long time.
4)"Just Like You"-In this song, the girls sing really well (no whining can be found) but the rhymes sound forced ("I'm hesitant/Call the president/Maybe he will say a prayer for me..." This aside, it's an enjoyable song.
5)"Anything For You"-This is one of those songs that takes a while to like, but I now do. I especially like the lyrics for this song ("Summertime burned a hole inside your heart/Winter's bite froze the feelings deep inside...")and once again, the girls sing well.
6) "Milwaukee"-This "break-up" song, while having lyrics that aren't anything new, does have good description. Also, I think the girls' "angry" singing has improved because there's little whining. Definitely worth a listen!
9)"Don't Let Me Down"-This song surprised me by how upbeat it was. It's hard to describe the actual song than by saying that it's easy to enjoy.
11)"Selfish"-When I first listened to this song, I disliked the lyrics ("You messed up in so many ways I don't think that you'll understand me...") and found it in general to be annoying. Now I like it, but I recommend to NOT listen to it all the time.
My thoughts for this CD in general is to ignore the occasional whining and focus instead on the music and some of the lyrics. I myself hope that these girls will release a new, semi-improved CD sometime.

If you're a fan of punk/pop girl singers this is the album for you. Combining voices of Belinda Carlisle and Tasha Ray-Evin, this comes out to anything but girl singers such as Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson. When I first heard of the HF's I thought girl songwiters and musicians so listened to the song clips and got the CD. The girls from Long Beach know how to rock. Sell Out and Nice Guys are my favorities. This band will appeal to you if you like Go-Go's, Donnas, Avril Lavigne, The Bangles, Skye Sweetnam and Lillix. Worth the money and a great buy!! :-)

I originally bought this because I liked their performance of "Me vs. the World" on the Freaky Friday soundtrack. So I went the the record label's site to see if they had any cd's available. When I saw "Get Real" was available, I took a risk and bought it. Originally, I really only liked Sellout and Unsaid Goodbyes. But after a while, I really got to liking this CD. It was worth the $10. Unlike other reviews, I really love the song "Selfish". It just really gets me moving. If you like music from bands like Lillix, buy this CD

This album really rocks.It is girlie rock at its best,if your looking for something to cheer you up after a [bad] day then this is it and while not being my most favorite cd i seem to be playing it pretty frequently.
They have the vocal talents mirrored in the work of veruca salt, with the happy flower pop element that gives letters to cleo its unique alternative pop-rock name.
Despite having its odd cheesy moment its easily made up for with high points such as get over it's empowering lyrics,the acoustic guitars in unsaid goodbye,and the bubblegum pop of nice guys this album is well worth the money and is all round feel good fun.

I put the Halo Friendlies on Winamp to see if my memory serves me correctly, and it does: The Halo Friendlies are a talented, hard-rocking group that puts "girl bands" to shame, but their lyrics leave much to be desired.

I remember "Over It" and "Just Like You" being a couple of my favorites for being real catchy and easy to sing along with. The ladies switch lead vocals on songs, which gives the album some diversification, and a little something that makes them stand out from other bands.

My inital reaction to the album was, overall, "Wow! They play like guys!" I even described them to someone saying, "not to be sexist against my own gender, but these girls don't play like girls." If you like real bands like The Donnas, you'll most likely get along with this. The Friendlies are NOT poppy. They are very straight attitude and punky.

The lyrics are weak, often contrived, and a lot of the same subject matter. Not all of it is bad, but a lot of the time you might wish they'd just throw some instrumentals in there.

So, Great Sound + Mediocre Lyrics = So-So Album. If you get it as a gift, might as well keep it. The music is worth it.

well i'm not really the bigest fan of all girl bands (except Kittie) so of corse i don't really like this CD very much. it's better than i thought it would be and a little different too. over all it's a pretty good CD and the Halo Friendlies are a pretty good band but there should be more treble/high end on the CD and their song writeing as far as lyrics could be a little bit better. over all tho this is a pretty good band/CD and i'd give em' a try.

I got this CD after hearing them on the Freaky Friday Soundtrack. I had also heard them a couple of years on a small appearence on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". I got my CD, and looked at it. I thought "Cool, four chicks that play their own instruments." I popped it in my CD player, and it was awesome. There isn't a song on this that I didn't like. My favorites were "Sellout" "Just Like You", and "Selfish". I do reccomend that all go and hunt down the video for "Sellout". It's cool!

I really like the music on this CD. It's powerful, energetic rock, in a similar vein as Veruca Salt. (With their fierce-edged music and in-your-face attitude, naming the group Halo Friendlies seems to be a misnomer. Their poses on the album cover are fitting to the music, however.) Unfortunately, the lyrics make it difficult for me to listen to this album much. Song after song drips with bitterness toward former lovers and cynicism about romance in general. After awhile, I feel like yelling to the band, "MAYBE YOU SHOULD GET OUT OF THE DATING SCENE FOR AWHILE AND LEARN ABOUT HOW TO PICK A GOOD BOYFRIEND."

This album is on Tooth & Nail Records, a Christian label. Many artists on Tooth & Nail tend to do songs about life in general from the worldview of a Christian rather than do songs specifically about Christianity. And that's fine, because these days the stuff on secular labels can be so outside of my life experience or worldview that I can't relate to them...and are often even offensive. But this CD by Halo Friendlies, I can't even detect a Christian worldview. Sure, a Christian may have to deal with bitterness or cynicism, but there's no evidence in these songs of dealing with such destructive emotions; rather, the collection of songs gives the impression that this is all there is to life and love...bad boys who will put the screws to you and there's nothing you can do about it. The only song that clearly shows a Christian worldview is one with the chorus, "Nice guys wait." The opening song could possibly be talking about dealing with Truth, but if it wasn't on a Christian label, I would not even be inclined to think that's what it was about.

I'm not judging the spirituality of the bandmembers; I'm only saying that the product is not enjoyable to me for these reasons. Since their music is so great, next time they come out with an album, I'll check out the lyric sheet. If they have moved on from jilted lover whining, I'd buy the album. If they have more lyrics like these, I'll pass.

I think this album is great, because I can't help but dance to the great beats.