Customer Reviews

Hot Shots 2

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I had the Beta Band- 3 Ep's album, and although i liked it a fair amount (especially when stoned ), i was not prepared for how much I would love Hotshots 2....

This is one of those albums that takes me a couple of weeks to get all the way through...The reason? Because as soon as the first song has finished, I absolutely must hear it again...and again...and again....

Eventually, I make it to the second song....and the whole process starts again...but after listening to the second song ten times...well, i have to go back and listen to the first song again....

So, after 3 days, I've only managed to get through the first 4 songs....but every minute has been aural bliss to me...

The beautiful hypnotic melodies are layered onto super-cool trippy beats in a way that makes me think I'm listening to what the Beatles would be creating if they had lasted till 2001....

Others may disagree, but i'd say this is one of the essential recordings of 2001, so far....

Most people first learned about the Betas from "that movie", when John Cusack puts on "Dry the Rain" in order to sell copies of the 3EPs... sure enough, everyone in the store started doing that by-now-familiar Beta Band dance. "Who is this?" a patron asks. "The Beta Band".

"Dry the Rain" was the only song on the 3EPs with pop potential, but anyone buying that CD was pleasantly surprised at the diverse, driving melodies and rainy Scotland day lyrics. But, that one song kept coming up.

With Hot Shots II, the Betas have gotten past High Fidelity, John Cusack, and Dry the Rain. Oh, and they've also gotten past that inconvenient other CD that happened two years ago. New millenium, new Betas. Hot Shots II is probably the best CD of the year, period, and it is still, incredibly, being overlooked. Every song is an original. All the tracks, starting with "Squares", are incredibly catchy, well-produced, and interesting from start to finish.

And, here's a news flash- these guys can PLAY their instruments. While it would be impossible to generate all of these sounds without a lot of overdubbing and sampling, all the guitar, bass, keyboards, and most of the drums is all Human Being-produced. Anyone who's been to a live show can attest to this.

Specific songs do stand out. "Dragon", a dark song about strange people (I think fellow musicians) is haunting, with an amazing synth bass riff. "Human Being" could be the highlight of the record, the Beta Band's equivalent to "A Day in the Life." The banter between Betas on "Eclipse" between the people with the answers and the people with the questions adds a funny, light atmosphere to the record.

Hot Shots II is the closest thing I've heard to what a new post-Pepper Beatles album must have sounded like in 1968- everything is so incredibly new, fresh, and daring. And it sounds great. You will wear out your CD player on this CD.

I picked up Hot Shots II shortly after I got ahold of the Beta Band's new album Heroes to Zeros, even though I was already familiar with several of the tracks. As the follow-up up to their much-maligned (even by the band itself) first album, Hot Shots II was generally regarded as a more polished and deliberate effort than its predecessor. While the record is certainly better than most of the trash out there today, I would say that it suffers from two weaknesses in the end. The first is its uneven quality; Squares is perhaps my favorite Beta Band song, but Eclipse is either a satire I don't get or simply a silly song with bad lyrics. The final track, a cover of One is the Loneliest Number, also sounds pretty out of place and probably should have been left off the album entirely. Another potential weakness is the fact that the album seems to find its sonic range early on and sticks with it to the end. Upon first listen, many of the songs sound fairly similar to each other. After a couple more listens you begin to appreciate the depth and subtlety of the music, but the fact remains that most of the tracks are assembled from the same combination of relaxed vocals, looped melodies, and spacy electronic effects. Those looking for more spontaneity and variety may want to check out the Three EPs or Heroes to Zeros first. If you're in the mood for some laid-back music with a touch of electronic psychedelia, though, Hot Shots II is a sure bet.

Ignore the cheeky title which both plays on the band's frustrated potential and pays homage to a so-so Zucker-Abrams comedy. Ignore that, because I think the first half of this record is the best, most fully realized concept album of the past decade... and I don't even know if it's supposed to be a concept album. But it is complicated, addictive, beautifully melancholy and each song meshes perfectly with the one in front of and behind it (only two songs, the last two tracks, "Eclipse" and "Won" don't measure up to the standards of the rest of the material but everything else is primo).

Imagine a blend of Portishead, early Pink Floyd and, oddly enough, the Alan Parsons project and that's what this is. It also functions as a soundtrack to both heartbreak and the first rush of being in love; and those dual-roles are, of course, what the best pop music does.

A couple of years ago, I was pleasantly surprised by the Beta Band's 3 EP's, which was, and still is, quite beyond anything i'd ever heard. Their self-titled full length debut was..well, i don't think disappointing is the word for it; I simply don't know what that album is all about.
But I was always hopeful that the Beta Band could produce a brilliant album, and indeed they have. Hot Shots II is truly an excellent exploration of sounds and original song structures. As soon as I heard 'squares', I just laid back on my coach and thought: Yeps, this is the real deal.
And Hot Shots II just keeps getting better. Whether it's chilling mixture of synthesized and garage-ish drum beats (Human Being, Dragon), or some nice, unexpected emotions (Gone, Life), The Beta Band can't seem to go wrong.
Hot Shots II is the ultimate chill-out album, yet it is too brilliant to be dismissed as background music.
Good job fellaz..

Reading through some of the other reviews, I found myself disagreeing with many who stated that Hot Shots II was a disappointment for them. Granted, it takes time, but once you have broken through the topmost layers to the rainbows of colourful psychadelic sound underneath, it's well worth it.

There seems to be a widely held view that the best tracks are the first and last, namely 'Squares' and 'Eclipse'. These were the two tracks I liked the least! 'Squares' is plodding and sounds too much like I Monster, and 'Eclipse' has its moments but is generally a bad attempt at an epic with a message. It's overlong by far and the lyrics (mostly bad ones) don't fit the melody.

However, all the remaining tracks are superb. The highlights for me were the chorus and guitar burst finale of 'Human Being', the intro and lightning-quick piano interlude of 'Dragon' and the lovely ending to 'Alleged' when a distant acoustic guitar is strummed and the band croon 'Oh, I love you, how does it feel without me?'

Hot Shots II is different to the previous Beta Band material, such as The 3 EPs where they would lay down a catchy melody on acoustic and build it up to a dense, funky beat with bass, piano and percussion. This album is different as there is more structure to the songs and they tend to last for far less time. For example, you wouldn't have heard such a simple song as 'Gone' on anything that went before, as if they're not afraid to be simple. That said, you can tell it's the Beta Band, and not just because of Steve Mason's distinctive chanting vocals. The great choruses are retained, in part at least. It is my opinion that The 3 EPs is better, but this album is almost as good and far outstrips the two or three good songs of their eponymous album. It does take time, but that's part of its charm. Probably the moments most remeniscent of old Beta Band are 'Al Sharp', the twinkly single 'Broke' and 'Quiet', as they all have big shout-along choruses, as do 'Human Being' and 'Dragon'.

Hot Shots II is the most dashingly inventive album of 2001, and the most enjoyable (even outdoing the Avalanches!) for me at least. It was my album of 2001, no mean feat considering new offerings from Radiohead, R.E.M., Super Furry Animals (admittedly all under-par), The Avalanches and The Strokes. If you loved the 3 EPs, I urge you to give this album a go, and another one. It really is fantastic. Go Beta!

Somehow, this CD pulls off feeling much more focused than their previous album, yet manages to keep a very languid, chilled out pace. The fuzzy analog electronics still bleep and bloop through the chilled out 'rock', but the Betas have regained some of the clear vision that made the 3 EPs CD such an amazing experience. You definetly feel that each little burst of noise, or insturmental noodling, is there for a reason, and was carefully placed there after much thought.

Unlike the occasional muddled mess of the last disc, different songs actually are distinguishable as different songs, and there are some monster verbal and insturmental hooks that are more than prepared to dig into your skull and ride around for a few weeks. Somehow this CD comes across as 'uplifting', in that i've gotten a big smile on my face while listening to it more than once now.

Be not scared by the horrific CD cover, and have no reservations about picking this one up ASAP. When you get it, sink into your favorite chair, turn the lights down, mix a drink and let the disc wash over you. You'll come up feeling relaxed and refreshed.

An amalgamation of post-modern hippie psychedelia with deep folk-rock roots. Imagine early 60's NYC lower village beatnik meets late 60's San Francisco Haight-Ashbury guitar god with a sprinkling of today's electronic sampling, and you're getting close. A mountain of "flower power" here. Sounding like everyone you can't remember and no one you've ever heard, all blended into an individual hypnotic soundscape. Funky, quirky, harmonious, idiosyncratic, and stately elements all combine to make a fresh grand entry in today's stale music place. These guys definitely don't know how to dress and probably haven't traveled much outside their homeland, Scotland. But they know the parts that go into making a masterful whole. An accident perhaps, as most creative genius is. Be happy. Take a magic carpet ride into the Age of Aquarius. Rock on.

Be warned. Once you have played this album once or twice you wont be able to stop listening to it. soon enough you'll be humming along to "squares" on public transport.
Not obnoxiously catchy from the first listen, but a band that sound better and better each time you listen to them, the betas deliver sincere, sonically eclectic, original songs.
They consistently manage to deliver climactic moments of bliss on this album. For example the rolling drum beat and the wonderful layering of vocal harmonies on "Quiet".
"Gone" has a quiet beauty in it throughout, the harmonies and the dreamlike layering of muted electric guitar and keyboard creating a poignant atmosphere quite different from the rest of the album. The sound of the Beta Band doing a love song is not a sound to be sniffed at either. When they're being funny you laugh but when they're being sincere you believe them.
The Beta Band: the sound of dreams, the sound of occasional orgasmic bliss. the sound of four guys who dont take themselves too seriously, but are very serious about what they do.

... since an album (I know I'm dating myself) has had such a profound impact on me. From start to finish, The Beta Band's "Hot Shots II" sounds unlike anything I have heard in many, many years, even though it evokes pleasant memories of past brilliance. I hear echos of The Beach Boys, Spirit,Pink Floyd, heck even Depeche Mode, but the music here is so original, so joyous that it stands very much on its own merits. Of course, The Beta Band has no chance of being popular, but who cares? Buy this CD and be transported to a place rarely visited these days.