Just Fred

Fred Schneider | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 23, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• Run Time: 36 minutes
• ASIN: B000002N6H
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #252,106 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seriously Underrated, November 17, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Just Fred (Audio CD)

I can't believe more people don't know about this! I haven't listened to Fred's other solo album the whole way through, but the song I most remember--Monster--while it is a good song, it in no way measures up to the hard-edged punk rock sound of this recording. It's a huge departure from the usual B-52's stuff.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You put sugar in my hog!, July 27, 2007

By 

Mike K. (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Just Fred (Audio CD)

I am not quite a major B-52's fan; my overall impression of them is positive, but I don't really feel a need to own anything other than the Time Capsule compilation. However, a copy of this album caught my eye while I was in curiosity-seeking mode in the cheap bin (especially when I happened to look at the back cover and read the words "Produced by Steve Albini"), and, surprisingly, I ended up really liking it.

As it turns out, this disc pairs B-52's vocalist Schneider with 3 different bands, though an emphasis on driving punk/noise rock and Albini's production style make it so you'd be hard pressed to notice without scanning the credits. His vocal style fits this kind of music better than you'd think; "Sugar In My Hog" shows he has a formidable scream in his repertoire, and the more surf-rock-influenced guitar licks do sometimes bring to mind a heavier version of the B-52's from an alternate universe (as well as highlight his unlikely similarities with Jello Biafra and even Pixies-era Frank Black in vocal style). Lyrically there's some darker material going on at times (at least *I* couldn't imagine lines like "lick your wounds till you have no blood, take another slice" showing up in a B-52's track), but as track titles like "Radioactive Lady Eyeball" suggest, there's still a sense of surreal campy humor at hand (a bizarre deconstruction of Harry Nilsson's "Coconut", for instance). Diehard B-52's fans might not like the musical style, and people who would otherwise like the music might not like the vocals, but the three backing groups (Six Finger satellite, Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet, and Deadly Cupcake) all provide tight, aggressive but hooky arrangements, and at the very least Schneider seems more inspired here than he was with what I've heard of later B-52's material.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This guy really likes the Sex Pistols, November 27, 2004

By 

Daren "fearafter" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Just Fred (Audio CD)

I first heard this CD sometime around it's original release. I distinctly remember hearing "Coconut" for the first time and thinking that it was everything quirky, original, and exiting that I liked in my rock music. My tastes have changed since then but I still think this Harry Nilsson cover rocks. "Radioactive Lady Eyeball" is another standout. One of the backing bands on the album is Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet, (from Kids in the Hall fame), who play on "Sugar in My Hog," among other tracks. The sad thing about this CD is that I really think that the bands that back Fred are the best thing here. Throughout most of the songs I was feeling that Fred's singing was the only problem on this otherwise excellent TRUE punk album. If you have any doubts about the musical ability of the obscure backing bands here, just listen to the intros of "Sugar in My Hog" and "Bad Dream."