Honey's Dead

Jesus & Mary Chain

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 14, 1992)
• Original Release Date: March 1992
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002LSJ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #174,008 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
UK version of the alternative rock act's 1992 album releasenow out of print in the U.S.. Tracks include, 'Reverence', 'Far Gone and Out', 'Rollercoaster' and 'Sugar Ray'. Standard jewel case. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Horribly underappreciated, May 29, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Honey's Dead (Audio CD)

This is one of those "every song could be a single" albums. There aren't many albums like that. Def Leppard's Hysteria, the Stone Roses debut...all I can think of right now.

JAMC was an incendiary band, coming out of nowhere preaching a gospel of teenage girls and unhealthy living over the fuzz of a few chords and a pedestrian drumbeat. Their debut is a justifiable classic and far from a pop masterpiece. Honey's Dead lacks the danger and crude frantic energy of Psychocandy, but the slick production and clear melodic vocals make for an altogether addictive experience.

Automatic gets a lot of praise, but you get the feeling after hearing Honey's Dead that Alan Moulder was just getting a feel for the band. The guitar hooks are more immediate on Honey's Dead, the moods are sharper, the lyrics deliciously simpler. There might not be a song as great as Head On, but you won't find any filler on Honey's Dead. And Monti, the drummer, provides the best early 90's beats this side of Loz.

In a just world this album would have sold millions of copies in America. Buy it, then tell all your friends to do the same.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "I'm television sick and I'm television crazy...", July 30, 2004

By	Cubist (United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Honey's Dead (Audio CD)

If any album was going to break the Mary Chain through in the US this is probably would have been the one. The songs off this album were in heavy rotation on their ill-fated stint at Lollapalooza and they cranked out a few videos as well (including, the controversial one for "Teenage Lust").

This was a fine return to form for the boys as they kicked things off with the feedback-drenced "Reverence" that made no bones about their love-hate relationships with the US. Lyrics like "I wanna die just like JFK/I wanna die in the USA" certainly didn't endear them to the politically correct.

But above all else, this album has some very catchy tunes throughout. From the bouncy, rockin' "Far Gone and Out" to the hopelessly romantic "Almost Gold." One of the strengths of the Mary Chain's music is their insanely catch hooks in their songs and this readily evident in songs like "Tumbledown" and Rollercoaster." And yet they can also slow things down and let their fine songwriting shine through as on "Sundown." And then they end things off with an affectionate homage to Jonathan Richman's "Road Runner" with "Frequency," which takes his infectious music and puts to a reprise of "Reverence."

This is a really good album. As others have said, very underrated--even among Mary Chain fans. This is a good one to pick up.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Hardest Walk, December 6, 2000

By	Greekfreak (Pusan Korea (South)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Honey's Dead (Audio CD)

It's unfortunate that this album isn't given more credit, especially so many years after it's release. Most critics (although positive) kept bringing up "Psychocandy", and by the Reid brothers' own admission, they were not trying to release "Psychocandy II".

I started my JAMC with "Automatic", and had an older brother who'd been there since the beginning. In his opinion, "Automatic" was their best LP for a lot of reasons. It was improved songcraft in the vein of their first album, but without the distortion, and created with a killer-concert venue in mind. And when you take the distortion away from the band, you're still left with two guys that know how to write classic pop songs.

"Honey's Dead" starts of with the oft-rotated single "Reverence" which was a good lead-off single at the time. But it would have been a killer tune if they'd have turned off the drum machines. Their rock numbers are harsh (especially the hit that should-have-been, "Sugar Ray"), and their ballads are never less than superb ("Sundown" particularly).

Unfortunately the album got lost in the shuffle of '92, although it was a relative success for the band. That much is a shame, because unlike the grunge wave that swept this album away, it still holds up 8 years later.

Need proof? You can find numerous copies of Pearl Jam's "Ten" in any used store ANYWHERE. Anybody that bought this album still owns it.