Customer Reviews

Hot Animal Machine / Drive By Shooting EP

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

 

 

Henry Rollins is now no longer the just the lead singer of the legendary and sadly depared Black Flag (my favorite punk band of all time), he now leads the successful and experimental Rollins Band, has recorded quite a few hillarious spoken word albums (a string of T.V. specials based in it followed), and has played parts in many movies. Though he does all of that very skillfully, he has yet to capture the intensity and rawness of his solo recordings "Hot Animal Machine" and "Drive By Shooting E.P." (both make their home on this lovely C.D.). Even though he seems not to have found his niche at this point in time, Henry still shines with this extreme and intelligent record. Besides Rollins's voice and writing ablity, "Hot Animal Machine" contains many memorable riffs but some shakey drum work. The songs on the album range from flat out in-your-face punk music ("Black and White", "Followed Around") to a more experimental sound reminisent of his later years ("A Man and a Woman", "No One"). I for one love this record. It is original and - though there are many references to what his has done and is currently doing - different than anything he has ever done. The best tracks on 'Hot Animal Machine' are "There's a Man Outside", "Followed Around" (my favorite), "A Man and a Woman", and "Ghost Rider" (Suicide cover). Also, the cover of the blues classic "Crazy Lover" is golden.

For the 'Drive By Shooting" E.P., Rollins and Haskett (Chris, guitar) try all sorts of different things. The cool-as-he ll opener 'Drive By Shooting' has a surf rock type guitar riff playing with very ...er...um... differnt lyrics than you might expect. Also, it shows Henry at his vocal peak! The genius "Can You Speak This" is the highlight of the dual album. It is for the most part spoken word, but just brilliant. Also, the message behind "Men are Pigs" would not make that many ment happy (listen to it and you'll know what I mean). As the title implies (well blatantly states), this is the last punk album that Rollins recorded, so all you Black Flag fans will be happy!Though I perfer Black Flag and the Rollins Band to this, it makes a mark on music just the same. A must buy for diehard Rollins fans!

This is real punk rock, hard, gritty and funny.I listen to this cd alot.

Screaming laughter: how else can you react to the 'b'-side of this cd, the work of the fictitious "Henrietta Collins and the Wife-Beating Child Haters"?! This album rocks _and_ has you rolling on the floor, from the bastardized Beach Boys frolic "Drive By Shooting" (complete with "First Gear/Second Gear" homage) to the bass-heavy Queen outtake "I Have Come To Kill You".

Oh - and "Black and White" is pretty good, too. ;)

This is one of the best tongue in cheek efforts by him, not the best cd, but it has lots of great moments and brings back awesome memories for me. Recommended.

Drive By Shooting is just plain funny. Hey Henrietta and Can you Speak This are the jewels of this recording. Men are Pigs, if you haven't heard it, is a classic piece of Henry's spoken-word era. This is history, folks, before the debate circuit, before his appearances on Politically Incorrect, before he was a big movie star.

The first half of this CD, " Hot Animal Machine," is mediocre. Rollins is certainly not at his best. I just wasn't captured by anything presented, neither the music nor the lyrics.

Now, the second half, "Drive By Shooting," is simply amazing. There's humor. There's stuff that just plain makes you uncomfortable. It's obvious that Rollins is having fun and experimenting; it works.

I doubt too many people would enjoy this CD; however, I do recommend it. Just realize, it's really not like anything else performed by Rollins.

This CD is a transition from Black Flag to the rest of his phenomenal career. Proceed with caution...

This is f***ing brilliant. I got this CD as a Christmas present from my uncle. Although I thanked him, I thought "what the hell is this?"

I finally listened to it a few days ago and was blown away. "Drive By Shooting" is fun to listen to, with great lyrics and a riff blatantly swiped from "Wipeout".

"There's a man outside" is impossible to listen to at 3 AM without checking your windows and/or door at least fifteen times.

"Hey Henrietta" is pure genius. "What if I told you I raped a police woman?" "A man came up to me and said he hadn't had a bite in weeks, so I SHOT HIM!" "Why did the chicken cross the road? 'Cause I SHOT HIM!"

"A man and a woman" is most likely the best song on the first half of the CD. "He's beatin' her head against the frigerator door. They're in LOVE!"

"Can you speak this" is my absolute favorite. "She comes back with this HEAD. It's her husband's, as it happens, and it looks just as old and stupid as it did when he sat around the barber shop telling lies to the boys. She puts it down as if it were a pumpkin and looks at it as though she doesn't like it any more now than she did then..."

"I have come to kill you" is just...plain...awesome. Give it a listen.

There's also some stuff that's just...there. Like Track 18. It's just...on the CD. That's all you can say about it. "Men are pigs" is mediocre till the end, when it's just plain freaky.

Overall, I'd say...proceed with caution. A lot of the stuff is either love it or hate it with no in between. And if you aren't too satisfied with the first few songs, make sure to listen to the Henrietta half before deciding to return it.

Ok so I bought this on the recommendation of Sean and true to his word, it kicks arse! Yes it lacks the "full custom sound" of later Rollins Band releases, but that's part of it's appeal. The lyrics are smart and edgy, the riffs catchy and overall it's a cool little album. It usually takes me a couple of listens per Rollins album to really get into it - this was the exception, I liked everything I heard first time. Best songs are Drive By Shooting and I Have Come to Kill You (why do people stare when you laugh aloud at music?!) Just for the record, I NEVER award a perfect score so this is as close as it's possible to get.

This is Henry Rollins immediately post-Black Flag! A younger (and maybe slightly less jaded) hot animal machine can be heard on this album belting out some classic early material. A really cool cover of Suicide's Ghost Rider is also included. A must have for hardcore Rollins fans!

Hank's first solo recording away from Black Flag, he seems a little unsure of himself vocally here when handling cover tunes..trying to imitate the vocal stylings of the original rather than making it his own..something that he'd quickly correct soon afterwards. The material is quite good here and the playing is much hotter than the last few Flag releases although not the jazz/metal that the Rollins Band would specialize in later on.
The addition of "The Wifebeating Childhaters" EP shows Henry's growth as a vocalist, corretcing the problem stated above (see Wire's "Ex-Lion Tamer") and showcases his sick sense of humor.
Worthwhile for Rollins fans but others proceed with extreme caution.