Customer Reviews

Money Don't Make No Man

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If you were a fan of the first two albums of this band and were expecting more of the same on this album, let me save you time, money, and disappointment. This incarnation of the band bears almost no resemblence to what came before.

The band retooled their sound for this album and jettisoned the sociopolitical fare for more standard r&b fare and the result is something foreign to their former sound.


Now, that wouldn't make this a bad album. post-funk synth r&b was dominating the landscape at the time and this was clearly an effort to stay relevant at a time dominated by Al B. Sure, Keith Sweat, etc.

What makes this a bad album is the quality fo the songs. There's not a single song on this album that sounds good, and that's before all the cheesy synth-funk aged it. If you listen to this album without ever having heard any other Bus Boys music it would still strike you as a horrible, horrible mistake.

Well, when you have one keyboard player (Brian O' Neal) and you hire two more (mainly synthersizer players), you must be looking in another direction of sound like imitation Prince or The Time. But why?

This is NOT your BusBoys of MINIMUM WAGE ROCK N' ROLL (1980) or AMERICAN WORKER (1982), The BusBoys' better albums. This time Brian O' Neal, Steve Felix and Victor Johnson recruit 3 new members (a bassist and two keyboardists) to replace the original 3 (which included the awesome songwriting talents to "Kay Kay Kay", "Respect" & "I Believe" written by Brian's brother Kevin) and additional vocalist Gus Lounderman. Look at the front cover. The two guys left of Brian O' Neal (center) look like Bobby Z (Prince & The Revolution) and Morris Day (The Time). Ya think?

Here you got the BusBoys gettin' funky like never before, but it's a synth-funk (almost like a new wave funk). Why did they feel they had to? The best track is the title track, with a similar groove to Hall & Oates "Maneater", it's the only refreshing track here. "Never Giving Up" is the first track. Apparently they lied. Sounds like the BusBoys still got the soul but without the rock n' roll and this song outlines the whole vibe of the rest of the album. And where is Victor Johnson? The band's guitarist. He's MIA like those other founding members I spoke about. A riff here and a riff there but the synthersizers rule (note this is their first CD in 16 years).

BB fans, if it wasn't the BusBoys and maybe a solo album by Brian O' Neal with 2 founding members added to a backing band for him, it's not half-bad but technically, it's NOT a Brian O' Neal solo album and it's not the BusBoys either. Skip.

If you were a fan of the first two albums of this band and were expecting more of the same on this album, let me save you time, money, and disappointment. This incarnation of the band bears almost no resemblence to what came before.

The band retooled their sound for this album and jettisoned the sociopolitical fare for more standard r&b fare and the result is something foreign to their former sound.


Now, that wouldn't make this a bad album. post-funk synth r&b was dominating the landscape at the time and this was clearly an effort to stay relevant at a time dominated by Al B. Sure, Keith Sweat, etc.

What makes this a bad album is the quality fo the songs. There's not a single song on this album that sounds good, and that's before all the cheesy synth-funk aged it. If you listen to this album without ever having heard any other Bus Boys music it would still strike you as a horrible, horrible mistake.

Here's the real deal, this is one of the Busboys best! Funk rock baby! the first song Never Giving Up starts the album off hard and funky you will not be dissappointed! The songs Hard Work, Meet you At The Top and Change My Condition all rock hard with a funky beat.

The Busboys showing a different side, but it's still a hard rocking side, don't believe anyone that says this album isn't good, this one showcases the funky rockin Busboys! Buy it, crank it, and you'll fall in love with it!!