Customer Reviews

All the Love You Need

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Being such a HUGE Big Head fan it is a bit difficult to be impartial when reviewing this latest effort. What have fans come to expect from Todd Mohr and the boys? Continual solid efforts from the beginnings to the present era of this underated band and once again they have achieved that. Big Head once again serves up a great, solid album with cuts on the hard edge of blues to the melodic alternative country sound that they have fine tuned so well throughout the years. Is this one on their best albums? No. Is it a great effort by a band just having fun, giving their fans what they want and not bowing down to some record executive telling them what to do? Absolutely.
Whether you are a current Big Head fan or not, this album should be owned. For crying out loud, the boys are offering it as a free download from their website and if you want to buy a ready made copy it is only $5 - well worth every penny! From the start of the album, "Her own Kinda Woman" & "Cashbox" offer you the hard edge blues, underappreciated guitar work of Todd Mohr - simply awesome with tight support from the rest of the group. "Cruel Fate" and "Fortune Teller" serve up another pleasurable helping of their trademark alternative country that they have so finely tuned over the years. The rest of the album offers a good mix of jams - some slow, some fast - but all melodic with meaningful lyrics and tight composition. For those of you who are Big Head virgins, do yourself a favor and get hold of copy of "Live Monsters" circa 1998 - available from Amazon. This great album will begin your journey into a band that will provide you with hours upon hours of entertainment. Do yourself a REAL favor and go see them live - you will not be disappointed and will wonder where has "Big Head" been all of my life. Again, don't want to sound too one sided, but this album is a "diamond in the rough" for 2008 - just get it and enjoy. This is one truly hard working band that deserves more attention than they have gotten over all of the years. To Todd Mohr and the boys: Keep rocking and bringing us great music - I'll see you at the HOB in Cleveland on March 1st! Thanks for staying true!

After just a few causal listens I have to say this cd is a quality effort from BHTM. I was a big fan of this group I college and own 3 of their cd's. They're coming to town for a live show and figured I'd be a fool not to see this great band live. I would recommend this cd and all their music. They are no doubt, in my view, a dying breed...a pure, solid, American rock/blues band with an original sound and strong talented artists. Get it!

This was my first Big Head Todd purchase. I do not know what their other albums are like, but this one certainly has a personality conflict. Some of the songs are real hard rockers, while other ones are straight out adult contemporary. I like both generes, however, it is strange when an album alternates between the two.

I'm more old school where I buy (and listen to) albums and expect a "theme". Perhaps this album is good for the MP3 / IPod people who throw random songs on a memory stick.

I did buy this CD mainly for the fantastic "All The Love You Need" and a few other songs.

All the love you need is a musical feast! There is passion behind the music and power behind the lyrics. These guys make the kind of music we would go listen to in the bars when I was growing up. Full of raw energy. The ultimate garage band thats bringing the music to our living rooms! If you are a BHT fan you need this in your collection, if you are new to the music you need this in your collection.

To this day Todd Mohr remains the most underrated guitarist and composer on the current scene.
I rarely give out 5 stars to a release, and it took me 4 months of listening to All The Love You Need to truly feel confident in this album's deservedness of that rating.
This Cd is incredible! It is straight up rock and roll with solid guitar riffs , powerful vocals, singable lyrics and moving rhythms.
Cruel Fate, the title song, Cash Box, Fortune Teller and Spanish Highway are absolute rock classics. And none of the other tunes are by any stretch mere filler.
FYI, the only other release in recent years I felt was worth 5 stars was John Mayer's Continuum.
I might add that BHT&M is one of the best live shows you will find these days. They phone nothing in and give it their absolute all.
Truly, it is a crime that these guys have not gotten more coverage from the so called rock mags out there.
Nothing against their other releases but if you are looking for your first BHT&M CD I would suggest this. Sister Sweetly (circa 1993) has stood the test of time well and is also a sure bet.

I bought this CD awhile ago and loaded it onto my iPod. I've always been a big fan of BHTM but this CD didn't really strike a chord with me. The songs were all decent, but nothing that really made me think "wow" or rate each individual song higher than three stars on my iPod.

The biggest question I get asked from new listeners about Big Head Todd and the Monsters is "what do they sound like?" And the only answer I can give is: they are a bluesy, hard rock, funk, folk, R & B, jam, alternative, country, adult contemporary, punk, soul... you see where I am going with this? So the reality is Big Head Todd sounds like, well, Big Head Todd, and yet nothing sounds quite like them. Their catalog of work is as diverse as their influences, and the album "All the Love You Need" is a superb example of that.

"Her Own Kinda Woman" grabs you from the first riffs and propels you through Todd's gruff vocals, the Monsters' amazing rhythm, blistering guitar solos, and yes, even horns. It's a killer track to start with and it's BHTM saying this is what we do, and we do it well.

Whether it's tight harmonies, driving guitar, growling vocals, keys, bass, or drums, every track stands out for its own reasons. Overall, the album is more heavy handed with faster paced rockers, especially the last half, but even some of the the funkier or soulful songs, have the band's characteristic tendency to ramp things up a bit. If there is a theme to "All the Love You Need", then it feels like that of acceptance, of moving on past the hurt, realizing the present, and looking to the future.

It's hard to pick favorites, but the aforementioned "Her Own Kinda Woman, Cruel Fate, Fortune Teller, Cashbox, Spanish Highway, Blue Sky, Under a Silvery Moon, and Beautiful Rain" make it frequently onto the band's set lists. To see this band live is really what they're all about, and if you like what you hear here, seek out their live at Red Rocks (2009) DVD and 2 disc album to experience the music on a whole new level.

Why Big Head Todd and the Monsters' material doesn't get air time on the radio compared to the drivel on there now is a mystery to me(oh look, I answered my own question), but if that's the case then it was a blessing they parted ways with the music industry to make their own journey. Godspeed.

Any BHTM fan knows how hard it is to follow BHTM with anything other than... MORE BHTM!
Different album, different flavor. This is a repeater like Beautiful World.
Big Head Todd plays to their fans, not the popularity contest of the music industry.
They are a must see live.
Fantastic!

Solid excellent CD. This is as good as it gets. Great adult rock music. To this day I still get surprised when bands this good and CD's this good just can't get the recognition and praise they so richly deserve.

First saw these guys at Regis College (Denver) Ranger Days in '86 or '87. Killer version of Brown Eyed Girl. Moved to Indiana and heard them on the radio with Sister Sweetly. Killer CD! Had my own CD business and sold many of these and never had a bad review from any customer. Have also seen them numerous times live and they always deliver.

Waited for years for a comparable follow-up. This is it and then some! I actually think this one is better from start to finish. I don't know what happened to Todd (if you listen to the cd it sounds like the love bug has bitten) but I hope it happens many more times with results like this. "Her Own Kinda Woman" guitar and bass lines will excruciatingly suck you in and delightfully encourage you to listen to all other titles. They will not disappoint.