Customer Reviews

Mr. Machinery Operator

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

 

 

Mr. Machinery Operator shouldn't have been fIREHOSE's last album. I love fIREHOSE to death, and in my opinion, they can do no wrong, this album's problem was the producer... J Mascis, of Dinosaur Jr. fame. He turned wonderful songs into his own sheperd's pie. J threw in his own fuzz and feedback. There are some great high points, Blaze, Witness, and any song that Ed Crawford sings. Mike Watt should have left most of the singing duty to Ed on this disc. In all honesty, Ed was the catylst that made all fIREHOSE songs beautiful. Mike and George gave the backbone. Out of all the fIREHOSE albums, this one is my least favorite, but still is leaps and bounds ahead of all the post punk garbage out there.

I am urging everyone to ignore the reviews that decry this album. It's a bittersweet goodbye for a band that by all means should still be together today (fIREHOSE reunion please!). Great standouts include Formal Introduction, Blaze, Witness, Disciples of the 3-way, More Famous Quotes, Sincerely, and perhaps the best song of the album, the Cliffs Thrown Down. Excellent as with any and all fIREHOSE material. Give this album a chance; you will not be disappointed.

I don't have any idea why this album was panned. Everything that I've heard off of it has been great. This was the only fIREHOSE album that I never bought - the reviews scared me off and I didn't want to remember this band on a bad note - but I will have to rectify that situation ASAP. Thanks, fIREHOSE, for many years of great, great music.

I had been avoiding this album for a long time based on the bad reviews that it received. Thank god that Amazon provided song samples here because after sampling the whole album it appears that I have been missing out on some really, really good stuff. This will definitely be my next CD purchase and I'm looking forward to getting into it. I miss this band tremendously and wish that they had gotten the attention that they deserved.

'cause it's the only fIREHOSE album that i have a few songs that i dislike somewhat, but i love 1, 4, 5 and 6.

This album, I feel, is much maligned. Sure, the band broke up after this one. Sure Mike Watt sings some songs that Ed Crawford usually sang.

Production by J Mascis adds some extra squall and grit that I really like. For once Crawford's guitar has balls to match its agility.

What really can't be discounted though is the songs. These songs are miles beyond "Flyin' the Flannel." They careen and ricochet, erupting into clouds of feedback and just as suddenly floating gently down like the shards of exploded lightbulbs. There is an intensity to "Sincerely" and "Witness" that just isn't present on the previous album. The anger is palpable in "Hell-hole," and one of the reasons behind that anger boils over the edges of "4.29.92."

Gosh, when this album dropped it got so unfairly ROASTED in the press by the snobby "alternative" music mags of the day. Did they honestly listen to it? In the era it almost seemed "trendy" in music circles to slam fIREHOSE in favor of the Minutemen. Maybe it's the "Oh yeah, well I was there first" schtik of the fickle punk scene littered with lemmings and bitter elitists unable to accept progression. Again, did they LISTEN to fIREHOSE's records? -- they are absolutely totally f-ing amazing.

10 years+ later I still enjoy this album. There are a couple slow points where the ride lags a bit... but the hills are tremendously higher than the valleys on Machinery Operator. The whole album is woven tight with phenominal loopy, pluck / slap melodic bass lines to kill for. Ed's guitar howls and screeches, now with a pinch of fuzz and buzz. Kira just WAILS on "Hell Hole", a song with a funky rhythm section to rival the Chili Peppers. "Blaze" is a peppery addition to any mix tape / list.

There's great stuff here, but you have to listen to it.