Customer Reviews

Golden Age, The

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What can I say about Cracker's "The Golden Age"? I have had this tremendous album for years and it is still fresh to me to this day. It is easily one of my favorite albums, and I have a lot of music. The album is awesome, consistent yet not generic. It hits you hard with bone-crunching guitar powered anthems (Sweet Thistle Pie, Nothing to Believe In, 100 Flower Power Maximum), then loosens up with catchy Crackeresque sarcastic songs (How Can I Live Without You, Useless Stuff) and then blows your mind with blissfully mellow thought-provoking tunes that sound out of a western ghost town (Bicycle Spaniard, Big Dipper). The core of Cracker was and always will be David Lowery and Jon Hickman - other members have come and gone - yet not missed that much. The Golden Age saw Cracker at an all time high when coming off their stupendous predecessor album, the platinum "Kerosene Hat," which featured the hits "Low" and "Eurotrash Girl." Some may feel that this album does not live up to Kerosene's greatness, yet others like myself, find this album even better and more consistent. This is a true great American band that has never quite gotten their due, and they should be recognized for bringing back fond memories of classic-rock bands like the Heartbreakers, the Byrds, the Eagles, Led Zeppelin, and even the great Neil Young with their tunes. If you have not heard The Golden Age, or Cracker for that matter, you are missing out - so what are you waiting for?. There have been so many flash in the pan bands as well as the other drek that fills our radio airwaves lately. A band like Cracker is truly a breath of fresh air and originality to the true "music" fan, not just some sampled, generic, over-the-hill, bubble gum, or boy band shlock that makes me want to puke. The opening track, I Hate My Generation, speaks volumes to me about what is going on in the music industry these days: corporate greed. This album, The Golden Age, in the words of Spinal Tap's Nigel Tufnel, truly goes to 11. Five stars out of five - a classic.

It's been a while since Cracker put out a "complete" CD, and Golden Age is one of those along with "Cracker Brand" and "Kerosene Hat." There are no throw-away songs, such as the case with "Gentleman's Blues" and their newest CD "Forever," which contain a few unlikeable and obviously wasted songs just to fill up space apparently. But to each his/her own.

The Golden Age contains classics and Cracker-fan favorites such as "Big Dipper," "How Can I Live Without You," "Sweet Thistle Pie," and "100 Flower Power Maxium," to name a few.

Every single tune on this one is likeable to me, and I will always consider it, possibly my favorite Cracker recording to date.

Beware songs like "Dipper, "Dixie Babylon," and "Bicycle Spaniard" are incredibly mellow, easy-going songs, but they just roll over you like a breezy summer day and stick in your head like only Cracker can do.

If you own one modern Cracker CD, make it "The Golden Age," one of the best, most under-rated CD's of the 90's.

The Golden Age is Cracker's most completely satisfying album thus far. It demonstrates a wide range of styles and moods not found on their other three albums. It is also much more of a "studio" experience than the others, meaning that the songs on this album are a bit more difficult to perform live with the same affect as the album has on the listener at home (By the way, a live Cracker performance is routinely one of the best live experiences around and is probably their strongest selling point for me still). From the opening fury of "I Hate My Generation" to the concluding beauty of "Bicycle Spaniard," this album never loses steam even through the slowest of songs. The album is held together, alternately and sometimes simultaneously, by David Lowery's wry, cynical lyrics and the rest of the band's outstanding musicianship.

In 15 or so years when I have kids and they ask me what life was like at the end of the century, I will sit them down, load the Golden Age into the CD player, and turn the volume to 11. From the tortured wails of "I Hate My Generation" to the textual beauty of "The Golden Age" Lowery and Co. flawlessly capture a wide range of emotions and the paradox of living in an era of splendor, filled with folks who have no idea of what life's really about. But in the end, you know what? "It's alright!"

Something amazing happens on "Big Dipper," not far into Cracker's third album. The band plays very quietly--it's a softness contest. The ennui the lyrics allude to is conveyed by the music. An angst and regret in "Dixie Babylon" leads to a dramatic and very moving baroque ending. It's a sad album, and a heavy one. When proclaiming this the "Golden Age," Lowery hastens to add "it's hard to imagine/with the way I feel today." He continues to be a tremendous lyricist, less sarcastic, more poetic this time around. The album's strong points--all the aforementioned songs, plus, to a lesser degree, "Sweet Thistle Pie" and "Useless Stuff" are very, very strong, but there are some bumps, chief among them the horrible opener "I Hate My Generation." What this album does much more than any other Cracker release is to convey emotion--in this case regret and anxiety that what lies ahead may not be much better than that lost in the past.

Do yourself a favour and don't listen the the CVB snobs who say that Lowery sold out on this one. It's a very polished studio record, but also features Cracker's strongest songwriting to date. Plus it's a joy to listen to, the varying song structures and tempos take the listener on a ride, from mucho aggressive (I Hate My Generation, Nothing to Believe in) to contemplative (Dixie Babylon is genius) to hilarious (How Can I Live Without You).

This record has it all and stands up with the finest recordings in my collection as one of my all-time favourites.

Do yourself a favour and don't listen the the CVB snobs who say that Lowery sold out on this one. It's a very polished studio record, but also features Cracker's strongest songwriting to date. Plus it's a joy to listen to, the varying song structures and tempos take the listener on a ride, from mucho aggressive (I Hate My Generation, Nothing to Believe in) to contemplative (Dixie Babylon is genius) to hilarious (How Can I Live Without You).

This record has it all and stands up with the finest recordings in my collection as one of my all-time favourites.

"The Golden Age" is just a great American album. It has the angry angst of "I Hate My Generation" (I agree) and "Nothing To Believe In" alongside the quiet, storytelling of "Big Dipper". Anyone who says this album is boring or dull needs to get a clue. Cracker is, in my mind, one of the top 3 bands in American music today.

When I first got The Golden Age, I was not as taken with it as I was with the raw and angry irony of the first two albums or some of the Camper Van stuff. HOWEVER, after a few years (yes, years) and having seen Cracker live (HIGHLY recommended!), I've gone back to this album to discover its value. Midway through, with the title tack, the music takes a somewhat wistful tone that continues with "Dixie Babylon" and "I Can't Forget You." It now ranks as one of my favorite albums and, I agree (albeit late) with the others here, this may be Cracker's very best. Lowery and Hickman have elevated their status to composers with The Golden Age. This is a great American band.

The album comes closer than most to having it all--great hooks, driving rhythms and deep contrasts in mood and style blended almost without flaw.

Be it an angry "Generation", whimsical "Rocket Ship", wistful title tune, or wall-crumbling "Sweet Thistle Pie" it somehow all works together.

The latter tune is my favorite--appealing to my most basic "rocker's rocker" instincts. Especially compelling if your amplifier goes to 11.

I'd say more but I've managed to work myself into a Cracker frenzy that requires immediate attention...