Customer Reviews

Holy Roller

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you're looking to build a music collection and have a limited budget that forces you to look at compilation CDs, "Holy Roller" is an absolute must. Nothing beats thrashing, wall-banging rockabilly for your entertainment buck, and "Holy Roller," with its 24 tracks, is a great capsule summary of one of the genre's defining bands.

Spanning from "Smoke 'Em if You Got 'Em" to "Space Heater," "Holly Roller" covers the glory year of the Rev. Not content with raging guitars and a frantic beat, the Rev. also throws out some of the most irreverent, hilarious lyrics around. "Big Red Rocket of Love," "Bad Reputation," "Big Little Baby," "Now, Right Now," and others are high-octane rockabilly.

The Rev. gets a little more humorous with "Bales of Cocaine," "Cowboy Love," and "Eat Steak" -- sure to drive any vegetarian to distraction. "Where in the Hell Did You Go With My Toothbrush" is musical and comic genius.

Clocking in at well over an hour, the 24 tracks are a true compilation . . . none of those wimpy ten-track greatest hits albums for the Rev! Again, if you can't get the entire CD catalog of the Rev, this is the way to go.

I didn't realize this was a compilation when I ordered it (Subtract a star from Amazon). On the CD it says there's two previously unreleased songs, but in actuality there is three. At this point I'd still give it four stars because it is mostly old songs, but they did pick the absolute best of the Rev. If I were to start buying his CDs all over again, and if I weren't such a fanatic, I could buy this one CD and hear all my favorites. (Still at four stars though, until now). If there was only one song on this CD, looped for 60 minutes, "Where in the hell did you go with my toothbrush", the whole CD would still be worth 20 bucks! This additional unreleased song is absolutely FANTASTIC!!! I'm not kidding, this song sums up the whole being of the Rev. I received the CD last night and I've listened to this track ten times already! I've cried, laughed, danced, and "sang". I can never seem to hear enough of this band. (I think it's Mazda that has one of his songs in their commercial, so it doesn't seem like I'm the only one who loves the music.)

If you believe in the evangelical power of rock then this is for you: a howling celebration of self-knowing musical stupidity
for those heavy, heavy drinking sessions. HOLY ROLLER is a fantastic 24-track retrospective that neatly encapsulates the Rev's career-from 1991's SMOKE 'EM IF YOU GOT 'EM to 1998's SPACE HEATER.

As is usually the case with this sort of compilation, themes emerge. The Reverend seems to be preoccupied with the positive effects of inebriation. Such tunes as "Bales Of Cocaine," "Marijuana," "It's Martini Time," "Baby I'm Drunk," and "Eat Steak" glorify excess with tongue planted firmly in snuff-filled cheek. It's difficult to think that a man who'll write a song called "Where In The Hell Did You Go With My Toothbrush?" isn't kidding. The songs are in the classic rockabilly format of guitar, slap bass, and drums, but the trio's fiery, noisy playing blows apart any notion of polite revivalism.

Oh man, there's no greater rush than hearing the intro stylings of Big Sky/Baddest Of The Bad. Marijuana and Now, Right Now are also more great speed songs. Even just the upbeat songs like Big Red Rocket Of Love, Bales Of Cocaine, It's Martini Time, and Baby I'm Drunk make for a fantastic album. The Rev is also writing some great guitar riffs for mellower songs such as Bath-Water Blues and Where In The World Did You Go With My Toothbrush?. I hear at the live shows, the Rev and Jimbo fret each others instruments while strumming their own, and then the Rev stands on Jimbo's bass while he plays it lying down. One of my friends was asked if he wanted to go see these guys before we'd heard of them...now he looks back on it and just says "Stupid, stupid me...". Seriously, buy this, it's great.

The Reverend Horton Heat are one of the pioneers of the "Psychobilly" sound, breathing new life into rockabilly by adding elements of punk, surf, metal, lounge, and psychedelia. Unfortunately, their studio albums have been wildly inconsistent, and having to wade through a sea of sub-par material to find the five or six gems scattered throughout each album can be a bit of a chore, and make it easy to write off the Reverend as a musical force. It's high time, then, that the Reverend got the "best of" treatment, bringing together an array of their truly great tunes. Unfortunately, "Holy Roller" acts as somewhat of a career overview, forcing us to sit through later tracks like the truly embarrasing "Lie Detector" from the downright disposable "Space Heater" album. For the most part, though, "Holy Roleer" sticks to the beer drinkin', hell rasin' good times that The Reverend is revered for.

This is a greatest hits package featuring songs from all five Reverend Cd's and two unreleased songs. It starts out with "Big Sky" and "Baddest of the Bad", one of the best one-two punches in all of music, and moves through such greats as "Wiggle Stick", "Big Red Rocket of Love", "Bales of Cociane", "400 Bucks", "Slow", and "Jimbo Song". The two new songs, "Bath-Water Blues" and "Where in the Hell Did You Go With My Toothbrush?", are kind of along the lines of "Eat Steak", which is also featured on this CD. I am at a loss, though, as to why such songs as "Cowboy Love", "Love Whip", and "Big Little Baby" were included on here when such live staples (and, not to mention, superior songs) like "Five-O Ford", "Psychobilly Freakout", and "Nuture My Pig" were not. Anyway, this is good overview of the Rev's music, but you'd be better off just buying "Liquor in the Front" and "Full Custom Gospel Sounds".

"I used to be a sinner, then I saw the Reverend Horton Heat" - RHH. Like The Mighty Mighty Bosstones' "Live from the middle east", and Uncle Tupelo's "Anthology", this is an awesome lengthy collection of almost all his best stuff. 24 tracks! Everything from "Wiggle stick" to "Big sky" is on here. It's a good sampling of all the albums pre-"Lucky 7". Get this for sure. If you get the chance to see him live, do it. It's one of the most fun, high energy shows I've ever seen. Pure sex, drugs, and rock-a-billy!

This was the first Reverend Horton Heat CD I have purchased and it got me hooked! His combination of Rockabilly, punk, country(in a cool way) and truely humorous lyrics are put on fine display with this fabulous "best of" CD. Although the songs are great - from rockers like "400 Bucks" & "Jimbo Song" to funny twangers like "Cowboy Love" and "Eat Steak" - his guitar playing alone makes this CD worth buying. If you don't know The Rev., get this CD, love it, and buy all of his others - just like me!!

This is an excellent greatest-hits compilation. Don't be overwhelmed by the inclusion of 24 songs - most are approximately 2-1/2 minutes, so you won't get bored, plus, many of the songs are quite humorous. The inclusion of "Folsom Prison Blues" is great.

a tasty serving of the Rev at his best. Comedy, romance (several kinds), whup-a** guitar playing and diet suggestions. This CD has it all.