Customer Reviews

Life in the Foodchain

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

they put jesus on a cross, they put a hole in JFK, they put hitler in the drivers seat and looked the other way, now you got poison in your water and the whole worlds in a trance, but just because were hypnotized it dont mean we cant dance! LETS DO THE FUNKY WESTERN CIVILIZATION ! oooh thats clever! with lyrics like this how could one not like tonio k? i had this album on wax way back in 1979 after hearing it on WPLJ courtesy of vin scelsa the great new york disc jockey. 26 years later i asked for it as a christmas gift and it still sounds great. the lyrics are biting and satyrical, the music is hard baby hard. listen to THE DAY THAT THE CLOCKS ALL QUIT AND THE GOVERNMENT FAILED for social commentary on the state of civilization. for humour how bout HOW COME I CANT SEE YOU IN MY MIRROR?. and for those of us who have gone through hell with a spouse whats better then H-A-T-R-E-D??? who is this guy and when are we gonna get another album??

I was introduced to Tonio K by a crazy boyfriend who said this was the only cassette he had listened to on a three day car trip from Wisconsin to California. Luckily, the boyfriend left, but just as luckily, Tonio stayed. And I sang/yelled H-A-T-R-E-D at the top of my lungs in my dorm for two weeks. Ah, youth.

When I started hitting new and used record shops for his previous albums, I would get frowns and odd looks from the clerks. More than one asked, "What do you want with him?" I imagined he was some sort of rogue musician, on the lam or something, which of course, made him even cooler.

Twenty years later, I'm still grooving to these tunes and, although Tonio sings them with a wonderfully emotion-filled hard, scratchy voice, I'm still most in love with him for his brain. The lyrics are not only understandable, a rarity among singers today (see? I AM old!) but they're bright as a pin and just as sharp today as they were when they were new.

I feel compelled to mention that Tonio K is Armenian, if only because there are not a lot of Armenian rock stars out there for Hyes like me to cheer for.

Tonio K., aka Steve Krikorian had been kicking around LA, playing with what was left of the Crickets(of Buddy Holly fame) for years when his angry take on the world suddenly fit with the punk movement of the late seventies.

This is not teen angst, it's a 30-year-old's angst. He backs up the anger of the era with literacy rare for what was then a punk album. Taking his name from a Thomas Mann story (Tonio Kroger), K. would play off the Dadaists for the next few years, until he was struck down on the road to Damascus.

H-a-t-r-e-d is one of those perfect songs, quotable to a fault, that, once heard, will always be remembered. "How come I can't see you in my mirror?" is the weakest--a love affair with a vampire (pre-Anne Rice, of course), and little more than a gimmick song. In between they are all gems, including a special guest appearance by Joan of Arc.

These songs are all angry, but there is a humane and sad quality also. There are smacks of his later ! conversion here, but he is far too smart to be preachy.If you've not heard of this record, once you play it, you'll always wonder why not.

Amerika, the next LP, is almost its equal. The later albums lack the wit and the anger(they often go hand in hand.) They are not bad, though, with Ole being the best.

When this album first came out the rock critic Steve Simels wrote in "Stereo Review" that this was the greatest record ever. The next month Tonio K wrote in to tell Mr. Simels that the best album ever was "James Brown at the Apollo". They are both right.
"Amerika" is also pretty good. Willie & The Pigman rules.

Tonio K doesn't just lash out at the world as the punk movement he pioneered does. He makes sure that an intelligent point is made. This is probably the best Tonio K I have ever heard.

In addition to everything else, how could you pass up an artist who penned the following immortal lines:
"I wish I could be sensitive
Like for instance Jackson Brown.
But 'Fountain Of Sorrows my azz mo********er,
I hope you wind up in the ground."
-- from H-A-T-R-E-D

Tonio K. is like no one you have ever heard before. Looking forward to any new releases.

I bought this LP in 1978 because Steve Simels reviewed it as the greatest rock and roll album of all time and remember Mr. Krikorian's response well. I proceeded to listen to James Brown's Live at The Apollo... I agree with Simels. I still have the original copy and CD as well as his next excellent LP, Amerika.

When I first discovered this album in 1978, the reviewer who turned me on to it declared that it was the best rock album ever recorded and labeled Tonio K the rock and roll version of George Metesky. This obscure cultural reference could well have come from Tonio K's own wonderful absurdist lyrics. I have acquired this recording in almost every form known to man - LP, cassette, CD and mp3. If it had been released as an 8-track tape I would have bought that. Look up George Metesky, buy this CD, crank up the volume and experience funny, intelligent, raucous rock and roll at its absolute best.

28 out of 30 reviewers give "Life in the Foodchain" FIVE stars.
If only more people had heard this album Tonio K would be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!!!
It's great rock music with biting, satirical lyrics. Would definitely be one of my "desert island" albums, and might even be my favorite album ever.

This is one of those albums you get that never ages. I heard this in Boston when it first came out. The grooves on three records wore out! I played it till it died...bought a new copy...played it till it died...now I'm working on the CD.
This album is rockin', funky, sytarical, dancable and just plain fun. Buy it, turn it up real loud and enjoy. 30 years from now it will still be a favorite!!