Customer Reviews

Hate Your Friends

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I put this right up there with the Replacements' "Sorry Ma Forgot to Take Out The Trash" as perfect examples of what can happen to a perfectly good rock n roll band when they get wishy washy. Both debut records (OK this is not really a debut record but a compilation of their early material) totally rock and stand the test of time a lot better than any of the pap being passed off as rock on the radio nowadays. Both frontmen went on to commercial success once they abandoned their roots. Not that there is no place for well crafted pop songs, but it seems like such a shame coming from people you know could absolutely scorch the earth with their 2 min. sonic blasts back when they were in their prime. This album goes down in history as one of the greatest teen angst (back when that term meant something) records of all time. A must have. Precaution: If you stumbled onto this section because you really dig the cover of "Mrs. Robinson" that was included on later pressings of "Its a shame about Ray" think long and hard about whether you really want to buy this much less melodic and much rougher-around-the- edges release. If you like your rock n roll songs short and intense, stop reading this and buy this thing already.

First of all this is not your typical Lemonheads album. It is nothing but pure Punk Rock as opposed to their later music. This is by far my favorite Lemonheads album and falls in my top 10 of all time great Punk albums.

If you are the kind of person who is afraid of anything that strays far away from the commercialized crap that you can hear on your local "alternative" station and think that anybody who likes some good old fashioned Punk rock is immature and has bad taste in music, you best go pick up one of Evan Dando's (I can't bear to associate the band's later music as the same band who created this masterpiece) later albums. If, on the other hand, you don't mind getting a little adrenaline going with one of the best Punk records of all time, by all means pick this bad boy up.

I don't care what the other compilation album claims to be-- This CD is the best of the Lemonheads! The first few songs are from the excellent but out-of-print "Laughing All the Way to the Cleaners" album. Almost every single song (and there are 20 of them) is amazing and sticks in your head. Probably not for the fans of latter-day Lemonheads. Although there are a couple of slow-tempo moments, overall, this is garage rock played at hardcore punk speed.

If your only knowledge of the Lemonheads is "Mrs. Robinson" or "It's a Shame about Ray", this may not be for you. In my opinion, onbe of the best bands of the 80's was Husker Du, and no one had the same minimal intensity and raw power EXCEPT for the first couple of Lemheads albums. Hate Your Friends draws a line between Husker Du and early Replacements, but has its own character. I was recently listening to this on my way to a friends funeral, and their version of "Amazing Grace" came on. It blew me away, and I understood what it meant to "Hate your Friends": all the mixed emotion and intensity of a friendship. Forget that Evan Dando was/is a heartthob, messed up individual. This album and Creator are must-haves for any fan of real punk, indy rock.

If your into SBC or any other Boston late '90's you'll enjoy this earlier Boston offering. Music needs to be paid attention to as anyone reading this will know. Keep in touch, Kord.

If you like rockin' out and having a good time than this is the album for you, featuring plaster caster a classic kiss tune to get you rockin and rolling on those cold winter nights.

Folks who LOOOOVE this album, then call later LEMONHEADS "wimpy" "60's sounding" and "changed by major labels" are obviously still in high school, or just immature and don't really like MUSIC...They like a SCENE. Namely punk. If it ain't fast and sloppy, then it ain't good to these folks.

This record is passable garage pop. It's fine, really. But any actual fan of music and songwriting will say this band didn't really get cooking until their 3rd record, LICK, and didn't hit a homerun until IT'S A SHAME ABOUT RAY.

And yeah, I'm actually just as big a punk fan as the folks who love this album, but that also gives me the knowledge that there's a LOT better than this in the genre.

Get this if you're a fan of the LEMONHEADS and want everything they did. Or get this if you only like one style of music; punk.

Otherwise, don't start here if you're just testing the band out. They were like 18, for chrissakes. How good could it be?

I got turned onto the Lemonheads a few years ago. This is still one of the better albums I have. Definately recommended

This is before they hit it big with crappy "masterpieces" such as "Come on, feel the lemonheads."(if you like that album, you must be listening to too much new kids/nsync/backstreet boys). This is powerful from the first song to the last song. If you are into real, powerful, honest yet slapstick pop punk music, buy this album. But if you like bands being changed by fat cat major record labels, wimpy lyrics, songs that sound like they came out of the sixties by other "changed by the major labels" bands, then "Come on, feel the lemonheads" may be the right album for you.

Without this gem, Greenday would have never made it big time. This unfortuntly was as good as it got for the Boston band; it would be after this album that they ventured into wussy acoustic ballads and long haired hippydom. One of the guys disappeared and the other directs videos, maybe that's why they weren't the same afterward.