Customer Reviews

Make Your Mama Proud

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

On first listen, I found the songs all seem to blend together, but once you've allowed this CD to grow on you, I fail to see how anyone with an ear for a good rock sound, cannot love this album. It's far more full-on rock, than 'All the Pain Money Can Buy' (which in retrospect seems quite a diluted version of their original style), with a definite 70's influence. If you like your music loud and upbeat, with a hint of pain and anger to keep it edgy, I'd recommend you buy this album.

I'm in love. Let me start this off by saying this album has blown me away, and the songs are better than any of the experimental crap of "All the Pain Money Can Buy" and beyond.

I bought All the... when it came out when I was 14 in 1998, as I fell head over heels with the song "The Way", yet I eventually became tired with the cd as there was nothing as flat out catchy and fun as that song (In other words, I got to the point where I viewed them as a one hit wonder and gave up on them).

So when I read reviews of this cd, their debut, for a few years I only heard that everyone told them they had to put more hooks and catchiness into their sound after their boring debut, so I avoided this album completely until this year...but boy was I wrong.

I'm a guy who loves british invasion, grunge, and 70s punk equally, so to hear an album that combines the british invasion ("Are You Ready For The Fallout") and replacements style ballads and punk("Altamont" and "Telephone Calls" respectively) with...dare I say an unholy cross between Solcial Distortion-punk and a Foo Fighters chorus on "Make Your Mama Proud", is just heaven for me.

While the later cds showed them as a slower more "experimental" album that just ended up boring me in the long run, unlike the later cds that value musical style over substance, the songwriting and the music in this cd are just incredible. "Knock it down" alone will make you wonder how a band so vital became so boring to have to collaborate with the likes Sheryl Crow and Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne) on their new album, when neither of them have ever written music as good as this.

So for anyone who thought "The Way" was amazing but almost everything else on All The Pain Money Can Buy was pretty boring, buy this album and hear the band when they had more of an edge, because while the later albums might be more "varied" and "experimental", I honestly don't give a crap about that stuff anyway, and this freaking rocks!!

So you've probably heard of "The Way" on Fastball's second cd, but what about their music before it all. Make Your Mama Proud really goes back to the roots of the band and although some songs may not strike your fancy, overall it comes together as one BEAUTIFUL work of art! Yes, this is more punkish than their other albums, and yes there is a little foul language. However, I am not a very "punkish" person and I still think that this is one of their best cds. Buy it! It's worth it! What's not to like?

I got this CD for Christmas and honestly I wasn't that excited about it at first. I LOVE their other two CD's. People have said in other reviews that if you like the "radio songs" that Fastball has you won't like this. I very much disagree. This is the same Fastball. Usually you can chart a change of sound as a band slowly attains fame. With Fastball, you just have the same fantastic sound. I LOVE this. My advice: If you like the other two Fastball CD's, get this. It's just as good. Songs like Are You Ready for the Fallout, She Comes 'Round and Seattle make me want to hug this band and thank them for being so fantastic. Nice thing is, all the tracks on this disc are good. Some take longer to get used to, but I was hooked on this CD all the way after the second listening. Hooray, Fastball!

How come these guys weren't famous before? This album is awsome. it combines catchy riffs that get stuck in your head, and a punk attitude. songs like "She Comes 'round" and "Altamont" really bring out their punkish side. although "all the pain money can buy" and "The harsh light of day" are both excellent c.d's, I wish Tony, Joey, and Miles would have continued with their "Make your mamma proud" attitude. If your have a little more alternative and punkish blood in you, this c.d. is for you. if you like the slower but still clevar and amazing stuff, get "all the pain money can buy" or "The Harsh light of day" instead.

How can anyone not like this? I've read the reviews that basically say, "Ewww, too punky" and wondered, "What are you people thinking?" Granted, I first heard "Make Your Mama Proud" and "Nothing" on a snowboard video in 1995 (I think?), so maybe I came to expect all their songs to sound like that, but still...

Yes, some of the faster tracks like "Eater" and "Knock It Down" are more one-dimensional and much harder-edged than later Fastball stuff, musically speaking; but even so, the lyrics are spot-on. I mean, haven't we all met someone like the narrator of "Eater" ("I will make you hate you")? Who hasn't known someone (or been someone) who's scared of growing up and lets that fear get in the way of his relationships ("Make Your Mama Proud")? Those songs, plus "Emily", "Seattle," "Are You Ready for the Fallout" and others, are by turns angry, goofy, frazzled AND struggling toward maturity--in other words, remarkably similar to what it's like for many twenty-somethings in America these days.

Bottom line: If you like the Fastball you've heard on the radio, stick to their latter two releases. But if you like a bit more edge and, uh, assertiveness, while still maintaining that trademark Fastball knack for catchy melodies--or if you thought the "radio Fastball" was nice and all, but a little too laid-back--this CD is the one to get.

Different from their second album, which offers catchy guitar-driven pop and a greater variety of sounds. This album is more one-dimensional, raw, and straight-forward (with the exception of "Fallout" which is the only song that sounds as though it belongs on All the Pain Money Can Buy). At the same time, this album is still catchy and memorable in its own right. The songs here offer driving beats that end only two soon and the two lead singers switching off for many of the songs does lend some additional sense of depth and creativity. A few of the knock-out tunes on here are "Human Torch", "Make Your Mama Proud", and, quite possibly the best (and the shortest) piece on the album, "Nothing". All in all a worthwhile purchase for hardcore Fastball fans or for punk-oriented fans.

There are a lot of interesting songs. They all have good rhythms and beats, but the CD is way to short. It's barely 35 minutes long. But "Are you Ready For the Fallout" and "Nothing" make up for it. Highly recommended.

dang, i bought this cd a year ago because i liked their second one a lot and i think that this one is much better. if you dig faster, edgier, more intense fastball, then this cd will do it for you. they switch off on the vocals for almost every song. tony is the better singer and his songs stand out the most. i don't know, i just think that this is a good cd, especially with no more nirvana making music.

A little on the punky and headbanging side for my taste but these guys even do headbanging punk with style, class, and intelligence. I loved Tony's "Are You Ready for the Fallout" and Miles' "Seattle" (I can relate to all those heartfelt lyrics about being broke and p.o.ed at the world!) This was well worth the investment of time and money!