Customer Reviews

Gone Fishin' [Vinyl]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
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This is Flipper's greatest moment. Everything about this album is perfect. Perfect songs, perfect production... everything about this album was done right. It's finally back in print and on CD! That's right, this album came out way back in 1984 and has never seen a CD release until late 2008! I've had a treasured copy of this on vinyl that I tracked down years ago in a used record shop and it is great to finally have this on CD. And it sounds GREAT, even better than the original vinyl. Plus you get great liner notes from Buzz Osbourne of The Melvins as an added bonus.

This is a great rock album. To me it stands proud and tall alongside masterpieces like The Stooges "Funhouse" (which many, including myself, consider as both the greatest rock album and punk album of all time), Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon", Joy Division's "Closer" album and pretty much all the true rock greats. This is a MUST own. Don't download this, lay down the cash and buy it!

I have had this on vinyl for years and made myself a copy on disc but I had to buy this just because I wanted the people who finally put this out to get some cash for their noble stand in defense of great art.

The remastering is excellent. Heavier on the bass than the original LP which gives it a slightly more "modern" sound. The packaging is very well done as well. Every picture that was on the original sleeve is in the booklet plus an extra and, of course, the cutout Flipper figures are there too but too small to actually play with. I wish I had two copies of the LP. I am listening to the album now and could so totally play Flipper Rock Concert on my desk.

The above was for Flipper fans. This is for those of you who have never heard Flipper or this particular album: if I had to pick the top ten rock albums of all time this would certainly make the list. Probably Generic Flipper too. Aw, shucks, of course Generic Flipper would also be in the top ten. And I'm not talking hipper-than-thou indie rock top ten either. I'm talking Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band top ten. Flipper was the best rock band of the 1980's. No one ever sounded like them before. It was No-Wave without the art-school phony intellectual NYC nonsense that was happening at the time (and has never really stopped...thank you SO much Thurston Moore and John Zorn). Flipper sang about life, death and trying to make it through each of those traumatic events with the least amount of pain possible over guitar noise, thick drums and deep distorted bass. Singer Will Shatter's voice has such a goofy schoolboy innocence to it that it is almost comic at first but you will never forget it. With this album they started getting more progressive (I hate that word in almost every context but it is true). I think somebody made them listen to the first Roxy Music album or something. They were always beyond punk, always beyond everything else that was happening and although one wishes to know what would have come next it is just perfect the way it is. Whether you stumbled upon this review or are a fan or who cares do yourself a favor and buy it. Do not steal it. It will change the way you think about music forever.

Interesting sidenote: Although I never got to see the real Flipper with Will Shatter I saw them once with their second dead bass player and one of them threw a beer bottle at my head and missed. Although it could have been Blag Dahlia. Probably was now that I think about it. He always did want to be G.G. Allin but never had the blood, guts and is a...

OK, I remember this album when it came out. At the time, I thought it was a little weak compared to their Generic album, but what did I know? I was just a kid. I hadn't heard it for 15 years because my record collection got dispersed to various friends over the years, and when I heard Flipper was going to be re-released on CD, of course I picked up a few choice discs.

Let's just say this aged well. In fact, it totally blows away most other bands in the idiom. And they don't even sound like they're trying. What makes Flipper so special? Maybe that they go all the way, both with the darkness and the humor. Maybe that, even with songs this good and this well-done, you're still not sure if they really know how to play their instruments. Maybe that it all sounds so damn natural and is so much fun. Well, don't come to this album looking for something professional and well-formed. They suck, OK? They're perfect.

What can I say. This is the studio masterpiece. This is their high water mark, their SGT. PEPPER. This is the highest achievement, IMHO, of Flipper's artistic craft. Of course, they are still viable today. Nonetheless, this is where it all coalesced. Some songs are the regular Flipper drone. Others are Flipper-jazz!!! Amazing!!! And every lyric is steeped in 1980's American truth in the way only Will Shatter (RIP) and Bruce Lose can tell it. And never forget, they, as I, have suffered for our music. Now it is your turn. Seen them, photographed them, partied with them, autographs, the whole nine yards. Great guys. Buy their music. Support them at shows. Go hear the truth from the band that has been spreading the word for over 30 years. There is no experience like a Flipper show. Shoot pool with Ted Falconi. He's good.

After 25 years on vinyl and almost 15 out of print entirely, Flipper's second record is finally out on CD. The music is a masterpiece, very different from the 1980 Generic Album while not sacrificing a bit of its intensity. Thank god a new generation can get their hands on this release.

A word of warning, however -- there is a glitch at about 1:55 of track 7, "You Nought Me". It's only about a second long, but it's present on two different CDs that I tried.

When I first saw a review of this LP in the Subterranean Records catalog 25 years ago the above quotation was used to describe the record's sound. It's still the most apt description I've heard to this day. That review along with the genius of the Generic album were enough for me to order Gone Fishin' immediately.

Around the same time I had a chance to see them at what must of been one of their last shows before Will died. It was probably also one of the last shows held at the now long defunct Mabuhay Gardens in SF. They began with their backs to audience and drank a case of beer on stage. Then they would start playing a song and stop after about 15 seconds. This happened over and over and went on for about an hour while many in the audience got more and more frustrated, shouting "Play Sexbomb!" or simply got fed up and left. Finally, the band not only gave the people what they wanted but shoved it right down their throats. They played Sexbomb for 45 minutes straight! The show epitomized everything the band was about: confrontation, contempt, and hilarity. The only other concerts I left feeling as assaulted and abused were Jesus & Mary Chain and the Swans. Who said rock n' roll has to always be fun? Sometimes it can be just as powerful when it is deeply uncomfortable.

Great to finally have this available on CD. It's hard to put into words how amazing and addictive Flipper "music", or whatever you want to call what they did, from their prime days is. I was never a big fan of punk rock back in the day when I discovered Flipper so many years ago now. At the time other bands like Husker Du were over-hyped and much more popular, but these guys were different in such a dark, twisted (and seriously fun) way; on my first listen to their single 'Ha-Ha-Ha' I was hooked immediately.

Tracks on this disc that especially blow me away and always will are 'First the Heart', 'Sacrifice', and 'You Nought Me'. But the highlight, as recorded here one of the best headphone songs ever, is 'In Life My Friends' - Ted Falconi's scrambled-egg-brain-damage guitar and Will Shatter's off-note bass runs during the song's middle to end, make for a sound and effect *nothing* like any other band could ever possibly do, and never fails to give me chills.

Having written this praise, I nonetheless have to state to preserve my sanity I only indulge Flipper in occasional small doses these days, but greatness in whatever form it manifests is greatness nonetheless, and it can be found here.