Customer Reviews

Great Burrito Extortion Case

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If light-hearted pop punk is what you're in the mood for, then this is the album for you! Packed with clever lyrics, shameless name-dropping and laugh out loud moments, this fun album is the perfect thing to brighten up a dull afternoon.

The first single is "High School Never Ends", a catchy track with pop culture inspired lyrics like "Check out the popular kids / You'll never guess what Jessica did / How did Mary Kate lose all that weight / And Katie had a baby so I guess Tom's straight". Other good'uns are "Epiphany", "Val Kilmer", "Why Don't I Miss You", "Friends Like You" and "Don't Let It Be Love".

Caution: Contains some language unsuitable for tender ears or the easily offended.

Amanda Richards, November 17, 2006

First, a few warnings:

1) As someone pointed out on the message board for this CD, it's not punk rock. I wouldn't even put this in the same category as Taking Back Sunday or All-American Rejects. This is actually garage pop, or alt pop. Not that it doesn't rock, but there's nothing even remotely punk about it, IMHO.

2) If you're offended by foul language, look for a sanitized version of this CD. The Explicit Lyrics version has plenty of profanity. And if you have younger kids, keep that in mind when you're listening to the CD with them around.

Okay, now, on to the review:

The musicianship on the CD is competent, but what really stands out here is the lyrics. There are some hysterical lyrics here. The best way I can describe the sound is a combination of Fountains of Wayne and Weird Al. If you've got a decent sense of humor, and you at least don't mind the musical genre, you'll love this CD for that reason alone.

Funniest track to look for:

High School Never Ends (the current single)
I'm Gay (which is not about sexual orientation)
A Friendly Goodbye (which actually isn't particularly friendly)
Friends Like You
99 Biker Friends

When they're not trying to be funny, they're less entertaining, but it's still a good all-around CD.

There are cultural references to Brad Pitt, Jack Black, and Bill Gates in "High School Never Ends" alone, and there are probably a dozen other references throughout the CD, so that should give everyone at least a little something to laugh at. (There's even a reference to Danger Danger, an 80's-early 90's band that really isn't more than a Trivial Pursuit question at this point.)

Overall, this is a terrific addition to anyone's CD collection. Go buy it!

The Great Burrito Extortion Case marks Bowling For Soup's sixth album to date and in my opinion its one of their best.


On the new album, the guys of Bowling for Soup are just having a good time singing and joking around all to a pop punk beat. The music is definitely not for everyone but if you're a fan of the pop punk genre well you should get a kick out of this album because not only does it contain some great tunes but its pretty funny to boot.


The hit single "High School Never Ends" is probably one of the best tracks on the album and is also probably the most meaningful. While the song seems rather silly and upbeat, however, if you really listen to the lyrics the song is pretty much stating fact. Life is High School and it never ends until we die. I think it's interesting that Bowling for Soup can make such a silly sounding song but at the same time it can still prove true to our society.


Other noteworthy songs include Much More Beautiful Person, Val Kilmer, and my personal favorite track Why Don't I Miss You? While I can't say I ever felt the need to skip any of the tracks on the album and I have listened to this album well over 10 times now, I do feel the track I'm Gay is probably the weakest song on the album. It just seems to try to hard to be funny when after a while it gets old.


I have understood why Bowling for Soup hasn't become a big Pop Punk band like Blink 182 but maybe it's for the better. I personally think these guys rock and I am a dedicated fan to their music. They try really hard to have fun and upbeat music with a pop punk sound and I respect them for it. Some may even call Bowling for Soup a spoof of pop punk music but I think there awesome either way.


All in all, The Great Burrito Extortion Case is a great album. If you're a fan of Bowling for Soup and enjoyed their last few albums you will probably love this CD as much as you loved those.


My rating 4/5

With songs like "I'm Gay" and "99 Biker Friends", you know this is going to be a fun album. You most appreciate Bowling for Soup if you don't take them too seriously. They are certainly having a good time with the silly lyrics, so why not sit back and enjoy it for what it is. I think this is musically the strongest album they have done so far. Luckily they have kept the style that has gotten them this far. I can see several hits coming off this album. Just a note to anyone who might want to download this, Itunes album version contains the bonus track "Not a Love Song".

Grammy nomination day is always a great one as I scour the five hundred categories to see who got the nod. Every year there are always a few surprises like someone getting a nomination you wouldn't have thought would even be a contender, and rarely there is an act that comes out of nowhere to grab a nomination in a major category or two. That was the case back in 2003 for the Texas based quartet Bowling for Soup that got the nod in a couple of pop categories. The boys walked away empty handed that year, but they took the momentum and scored a hit the following year with the nostalgic 1984 and the even catchier follow up Ohio (Come Back to Texas). Now the band is back with their eighth full length album The Great Burrito Extortion Case.

On the new album, the boys get serious and try to channel their inner-U2. Just kidding, it's just more of the same power-pop sounds with lyrics that borderline on "Weird Al" territory of silliness much like their previous work. Headlining the album is the ever so true High School Never Ends that chronicles this nation's obsession with celebrity likening Reese Witherspoon to the Prom Queen, Brad Pitt to the quarterback, and Bill Gates as the captain of the chess team.

Other sophomoric ditties include Val Kilmer where they sing about who there life isn't how they thought it would turn out using movie themes as metaphors and even throw in a debate about the title's namesake's career. Then there's I'm Gay. No the band hasn't been outed by some lame blogger with nothing better to do, they instead are kicking it old school, so old that they are referring to the time when the word meant happy, ask your grandparents. See what they did, they made you think one thing, but then they turned around and meant something entirely different, you know, like you did in middle school. And there in lies the problem with the band, they create fun pop song but the shelf lives are not that long, and that's no different here on The Great Burrito Extortion Case. The songs are fun the first time around, but the more you hear them the less entertaining they become.

As it states on the front cover sticker, "The world's happiest band brings you the greatest album ever". This is their 6th album, 8th release total counting the compilation "goes to the movies" and the "punk rock 101" DVD ep, bowling for soup show no signs of slowing down. Their infectious punky-pop rock sound and interesting song material is still fresh and again, just gives off "happy energy", just because of their sacasm and jokes. Even songs about breaking up and feeling left out come off as a rebelious "take this, I'll show you" attitude that says "hey, we won't be depressed because of you". I had the luck of seeing these guys back in 2002 just as the "let's do it for johnny" album was getting big, leading to the smash album and grammy nominated "drunk enough to dance", and the just as sucessful "hangover you don't deserve". Not suprisingly, the first release "high school never ends" revisits the days of youth and the past, such as "1985" and "almost" from the last album. My favorite currently, track 5 "Why don't I miss you" , although many tracks are good. If you like the past two albums, then this album is right their agian. A must have For BFS fans. Get this one ASAP

Are Bowling for Soup funny? Yes. Are their songs dripping with anthemic hooks? Yes. Are they "laugh out loud hilarious". Undoubtably. Are they punk-pop? Possibly. Are they power pop? Most definitely!

What nobody else here is saying is that while they are all of the above, they are one of the most lyrically "heavy" bands I have heard in a long time. "Much More Beautiful Person", "When We Die", "99 Biker Friends" all deal with very sensitive issues that are not funny. This is where these guys succeed in a big way. When you tackle problems like social and spousal abuse in a way that really makes you not only laugh but cry the songwriter has accomplished something very rare.

Listen to this release and laugh, but also listen to it and let it tug at your heartstrings a little bit and you'll come away from it with perhaps more than what was originally intended.

If you like Bowling For Soup's previous CDs you'll like this one. Witty lyrics and a pop-punk beat make up the newest addition to the BFS world. And if you get this CD just for the lyric insert it will be worth it ;-)

The Great Burrito Extortion Case marks Bowling For Soup's sixth album to date and in my opinion its one of their best.


On the new album, the guys of Bowling for Soup are just having a good time singing and joking around all to a pop punk beat. The music is definitely not for everyone but if you're a fan of the pop punk genre well you should get a kick out of this album because not only does it contain some great tunes but its pretty funny to boot.


The hit single "High School Never Ends" is probably one of the best tracks on the album and is also probably the most meaningful. While the song seems rather silly and upbeat, however, if you really listen to the lyrics the song is pretty much stating fact. Life is High School and it never ends until we die. I think it's interesting that Bowling for Soup can make such a silly sounding song but at the same time it can still prove true to our society.


Other noteworthy songs include Much More Beautiful Person, Val Kilmer, and my personal favorite track Why Don't I Miss You? While I can't say I ever felt the need to skip any of the tracks on the album and I have listened to this album well over 10 times now, I do feel the track I'm Gay is probably the weakest song on the album. It just seems to try to hard to be funny when after a while it gets old.


I have understood why Bowling for Soup hasn't become a big Pop Punk band like Blink 182 but maybe it's for the better. I personally think these guys rock and I am a dedicated fan to their music. They try really hard to have fun and upbeat music with a pop punk sound and I respect them for it. Some may even call Bowling for Soup a spoof of pop punk music but I think there awesome either way.


All in all, The Great Burrito Extortion Case is a great album. If you're a fan of Bowling for Soup and enjoyed their last few albums you will probably love this CD as much as you loved those.

Jaret thinks this is BFS's best album so far, and I have to agree. I can see a lot of hits coming off this one. I had the chorus of Love Sick Stomach Ache gladly stuck in my head for days. It's nice to hear Erik sing a chorus. The chorus of A Friendly Goodbye is hilarious. I'm Gay is a great everyday anthem, and Don't Let It Be Love's adorable note-hopping chorus always makes me smile. A Much More Beautiful Person is rocking and has a different vocal sound and a great message. If You Come Back To Me is wonderfully sweet, even during its ludicrous section. Why Don't I Miss You fits a lot of long lost relationships. Everyone knows about High School Never Ends.
This album is by far my favorite so far; I've always loved the band, but I've never found as many addicting songs on one of their albums before. My favorites aren't the ones being discussed as being potential singles right now, and they aren't the ones featured on the band's Myspace page, and that's a shame, but it also says a hell of a lot. There are so many potential singles on this album, and everyone has a different opinion as to what they should be.
Jaret was the same old class clown back in high school marching band as he is now; I'm one of his fellow band geeks. I'm so very glad to see a classmate become successful, and the selfish side of me is glad that this is the first album of theirs that has completely, totally hooked me. I stupidly loaned it to a friend thinking I had already burned it to my computer, and when I discovered I hadn't burned it and didn't have access to it, I suffered withdrawals for days. It's rare for me to enjoy any album as a whole so much. ROHO, BFS!!!!!