Customer Reviews

Lean Forward

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Bottlerockets' fans should be rejoicing !
Rock 'n Roll fans should be buying this record without hesitation.

Lean Forward contains top notch songs that compare favorably
with their past efforts...Whoever said that their sound is like
"Woodie Guthrie & Crazy Horse" has got it right.

I've played this CD through from beginning to end five times in the first 48 hours after buying it.


Call me crazy but I can see the song "Kid Next Door" turning into a live tour de force ( sp? ).....Slow, intense, angry, sorrowful burning... not unlike a 20 minute attack on the senses that Neil & Crazy Horse have done to us with "Cortez the Killer" on many nights.

Why am I the first to post a review ?
Perhaps others are still stunned and recovering from their first
listen to this record.

Raw, honest, in your face and tugging at your heart.................. Long live the Bottlerockets !!!

The Bottle Rockets are back again with their newest release "Lean Forward." The title suggests the idea of engagement, something this album does well. From the first blazing notes of "The Long Way" until the slow fade to black ending of "Give Me Room," Lean Forward engages the listener with well crafted songs, crisp tones and production (thanks to producer Eric "Roscoe" Ambel), and clever lyrics that speak in simple terms, diving below the surface to uncover images of real life in middle America. On "Nothing But a Driver," songwriter and frontman Brian Henneman sings about working a job delivering cars for a wage that "might lead some to suicide." It begs the question "am I happier than you are? I guess I'll never know..." allowing the listener to consider how one might define personal success. Another high point of the record is the track "Hard Times," a realistic and yet optimistic look at life when the bills are late and the well is dry. Singing "I'm not broke down, I'm just out of gas" reminds us that hard times do in fact come and go, and we do what we can to get through.
Other excellent tracks include "Get On The Bus," a raucous foot stomper that's as much CCR as it is dixie, with choice slide guitar work by guitarist John Horton.

I've been a Bottle Rockets fan for a few years now, and this release is like a blast of fresh air through the heavy summer haze. In pure rock ethic, it rivals earlier releases like The Brooklyn Side and 24 Hours a Day; in complexity and emotion it rivals the 2006 release Zoysia (Stephen King's top pick of the year).

If you've never heard the Bottle Rockets before, this is as great a place as any to discover just how much of a gem this band is to American music.

Brian Henneman's Bottle Rockets have been around a while, and as Brian and company have stepped gracefully into middle age their music has grown with them. This is tough rock n roll in the most traditional sense, a melodic blast to the gut that you can sing (or shout) along with. Henneman's music sounds startlingly unique however, due in large part to a lyrical perspective that blends wisdom with humor and provides enough details to make the stories feel very real. Henneman is a national treasure and it's a shame that the Rockets aren't better known. In a year of great releases, this will be in my top 2 or 3 faves. It'll also stick with me for years to come. What a way to close out the summer - a gift for the fans and a record for the ages.

This album is by the Bottle Rockets which makes it intrinsically sweet and worth 5 stars by itself, but once I tried it in the CD player, that's when the magic happened. After checking to ensure that the CD would play on my Audiovox compact disc player, I walked from my trailer to Wal-mart with the CD on and was immediately approached by women. The women knew from the tunes on my CD player that I, like a roots-rocker, am a mysterious loner who knows how to 'howl at the moon' from time to time (if you catch my drift!). The women that approached me wanted to know if I would be their boyfriend and/or give them money for something they called meth. I told them no, because they didn't have enough teeth, and frankly a man with a Bottle Rockets album shouldn't settle for the first thing that comes to him.
I arrived at Wal-mart, mounted my courtesy-scooter (walking is such a drag!) sitting side saddle so that my disc player would show. While I was browsing tube socks, I could hear aroused asthmatic breathing behind me. I turned around to see a slightly sweaty dream in sweatpants and flip-flops standing there. She told me she liked the music on my CD player, I told her I wanted to Rocket her Bottle. She offered me a swig from her Mountain Dew, and I drove my scooter, with her shuffling alongside out the door and into the rest of our lives. Thank you Bottle Rockets, Lean Forward compact disc.

Pros: Fits my compact disc player, has Bottle Rockets on it, attracts women
Cons: Only 12 songs (could probably use a few more on the 'b-side'), cannot hear songs when CD player's batteries die, cover would have been better if it glowed in the dark.

Good Bottle Rockets sound, not quite 24 Hours or Brooklyn Side but still pretty good.

This disc is a keeper. It's been in my car's disc player for two weeks straight now, and not coming out soon. Crunchy, crackling guitars, snappy drumming that makes you pound the steering wheel, bass that's just the right amount of bottom, perfect R & R for driving around, and tunes that have a couple hooks apiece. And Brian H. singing his heart out. What else can I say? Nothing that's gonna bring world peace or fix the economy - just good solid tasty unpretensious rock and roll. And there's not a whole lot of that available these days.
This kind of music explodes synths and drum machines and frightens phony philanderers into hiding.

Lean Forward, the Bottle Rockets new album, returns to the rocking form of earlier classics The Brooklyn Side and 24 Hours A Day.

From the kick-off track The Long Way, the feel of this album is upbeat and fun. Way It Used To Be rocks like Radar Love did, and the humor in the lyrics makes this album a must buy!

Right On Bottle Rockets!

I agree with all those who have said this is the best Bottle Rockets album since their great '90s pair, THE BROOKLYN SIDE ('95) and 24 HOURS A DAY ('97 -- see my review). It's a great high-energy set with the excellent writing we have come to expect from singer-songwriter-guitarist Brian Henneman, produced by Eric Ambel. It makes great driving music!

LEAN FORWARD is jam-packed with hooks, melody, and riffs. It's off like a shot with "The Long Way," an optimistic driving song that proclaims "the long way isn't the wrong way, and a wrong turn isn't the end, if it's understood that something good is comin' at you round the bend." "Nothin' But a Driver" is one of my favorites, a portrait of a guy who drives cars for an auto dealer and has a great time taking the customers' cars out on the road.

"Hard Times" is another song with fighting spirit, with the refrain "I ain't broke down, I'm just out of gas." "Kid Next Door" is a poignant song about a football star killed in war. "Get On the Bus" is a rollicking little tune about the diversity and commonality of bus riders, from the "bum change riders with their sacks of wine to the young sharp-dressed ecological kind." There are just enough love songs and cautionary tales about relationships to round things out, but the album ends out on the highway again with "Give Me Room."

I had begun to wonder whether Brian and the band would ever again reach the level of those earlier albums, and I am happy to say the answer is yes!

And it's partially Eric Ambel's doing. By producing these guys,, the ex-Del-Lords singer, guitarist, has molded them into his vision of a great mid western band, somewhat like the Skeletons, with the loose but loudness of Ambel's second solo album couple with the songwriting of the bottle Rockets, this is another fine album in a long line of fine albums by the band. When will people discover these guys and make them the success they deserve?

Man, I wasn't quite so sure how the `Rockets would fare given the personnel shakeup. Zoysia didn't really quite do it for me but, frankly (and I'm a HUGE fan), a lot of their releases have been hit or miss. They ARE in the top 5 live bands I've ever seen and they have never disappointed me.
This CD is brilliant. Their best since Brooklyn Side, and restores my faith in a band I thought likely would fade off into blah.
Bravo, Huzzah, and what not.
Please come to Kalamazoo.