15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
There's nothing I enjoy more than anger mixed in irony, December 23, 2004
This review is from: Have You Seen Me Lately (Audio CD)
I was just barely a teen when this record came out, but I think it helped shape my attitude through to this day. When you're young, angry and rebellious, saying things you shouldn't... well, it just comes naturally.
And Sammy was like a guru for the disaffected of any age. That trademark wail bellowing from an otherwise-average little man was Ginsberg's "Howl" personified, Whitman's "Barbaric yalp," the vented frustrations of a generation of culturally-confused men.
I haven't listened to this record in a long time; but I can still remember many of these tracks vividly. Opening with an attack on the social responsibilities just coming into vogue in the late 80s. Sam revels in his ability to drink heavily and operate heavy machinery (much has been said of the irony of this bit, given his future struggle with sobriety, cut tragically short by a drunk-driver).
Then come the tracks which are for me the most satisfying and side-splitting, Sam's takes on religion. The former preacher rails against the excesses and abuses of modern Christianity from the "Pope mobile" to the PTL scandal, and tells some very humanist versions of classic bible tales. My friends and I quote and reference these bits to this day.
Feeding off the bitterness of his failed past relationships, Sam goes into several tracks on women, marraige, and the ways men can avoid them. Finally closing with the made-for-MTV promotional cover tune, Wild Thing.
This record is a little cultural time-capsule for the 80s. Along with Andrew Dice Clay, Sam Kinison was a high-profile icon and magnet for controversy. Looking back on some of the material, it was clearly misogynistic, homophobic, and spiteful. Some of it still makes me uncomfortable, grating on the few politcally-correct nerves I possess. I've seen other Kinison reviews on this site praising the man but panning his more hateful material. But how can you separate them?
Best only to put them into context. Think of how very weird the 1980s were: the re-definition of gender roles, the outbreak and panic of AIDS, the push of gay rights, unmitigated materialism, reaganomics, cocaine. All of this served to completely deconstruct the self-view of the American male. Men had come out of the machismo of the 50s and 60s, survived the sexual revolution and the softer/gentler man of the 70s, then crash-landed in the contradictions of the 80s. Sam was not only a product of the times, his comedy gave voice to the growing pains of that decade. Talk about your fire-in-the-belly.
And who can deny that Sam took his place among the great comedians and social satirists. In my opinion, ranking only behind the venerable Bill Hicks (both launching thier careers from Houston, TX) as the most influential comic of the 80s/90s, without whom Denis Leary, Louis Black, and many other of my favorites wouldn't have careers (much less material).
And besides all this, I will always have a warm place for this record. It was the exchange of this cassette tape back in Spring of 89 in 8th-grade homeroom that began a friendship lasting all these 16 years. Last year I stood as best man to my best friend at his wedding. Thanks, Sam.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
OH-OHHHH!, April 21, 2000
This review is from: Have You Seen Me Lately (Audio CD)
The only reason I didn't give this five stars was because nothing can touch Sam's first album, the hysterical "Louder Than Hell" (yes, it is out of print, but if your local record shop still sells cassettes you might get lucky). Sam Kinison was a true comic genius who would do material on stuff no comic would even dream of and make people laugh even when they were absolutely horrified at what he said. The phrase "Nothing's sacred" seems to have been invented for Sam Kinison. He was still in his prime when this album was recorded, and you will be convulsed beginning to end. Warning: Do NOT listen to this or any Sam Kinison recording while driving. I know of five people who have narrowly avoided or gotten into accidents because they were laughing so hard. Yes, I was one of them . . . . Rest in peace, Sam--you're still the best!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sam Kinison - 'Have You Seen Me Lately?' (Warner Bros.), October 4, 2004
This review is from: Have You Seen Me Lately (Audio CD)
This has got to be one of the top five best comedy releases of all time.The very first time I heard this album,I was LITERALLY rolling around on a friend's living room floor.I could not stop laughing for like maybe a week.Sam(R.I.P.)KNOWS about life.That's for sure.He may even see everything in a totally different light than the rest of us do.When I listened to this album for the next ten(10)times,it's like I could relate to about 90% of everything he was saying.Some lines from the lp(w/the swearing taken out):"Condoms....guys,do we hate rubbers?They're unromantic,they're uncomfortable and your tool doesn't understand what's going on...why the mask,boss?Are we doing a guy?Is she THAT ugly?"Another example:"I'm not afraid of hell,I was married from two years!!Hell would be a resort!If you go to hell when you die,you make the devil look like an over worked Ronald McDonald like character.He'll offer you a job as tour guide if you tell him you've been married twice.One more:"Jim Baker...can this loser pick THE women or what?He goes from Tammy Fae to Jessica Hahn.Jim's motto is no one can get into heaven without my personal seal,as I know God personally".You get the idea.A really great CD to play at a late night bash.
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