No Silver No Gold

The Baptist Generals | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 4, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sub Pop
• ASIN: B000089CMH
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #394,482 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars miraculous, April 12, 2003

By 

ee smith "ryksmyth2" (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Silver No Gold (Audio CD)

In an interview, Chris Flemmons says that anyone who would listen to this album on repeat is "sick". I guess that's me. The first cut shows that Flemmons has 1) a keen sense of melody 2) the lyrical sensibilties of Roky Erikson 3) a voice whose intensity obviates the need for virtuosity 4) one hell of a temper. Some, though certainly not all, of 4) can be explained by the next song "Alcohol", without doubt, the best drinking song ever written in 5/4 time. A casual listener might write them off at this point as a novelty. As for production value, "lo-fi" is an understatement. I could get a better recording on my answering machine. Somehow, through the haunting, roots-inspired (which roots? appalachian? blues? gospel?) "Going Back Song" to the trash-rock "Burning", Flemmons' incendiary voice and lyrical direction (sometimes too obscure) burn through their pawn shop instruments, revealing, I say, without irony, a transcendent vision. "St. Christopher's Medal", written about his recently deceased father, could be placed in the John Lomax's archives of the earliest, rawest folk music ever recorded, and no one would notice for a long time. It alone is worth the price of the cd. Many people will HATE this album. The rest of us sickos will have this on repeat-- on the stereo or in our heads-- longer than is good for us.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars oh the potential... please stick around, BG's, May 14, 2003

By 

Bean Bagg "whythis" (Western Hemsiphere) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Silver No Gold (Audio CD)

Get it, the BG's? These guys are pure genius. OK, so that one was probably accidental, and why would a subtle BeeGees reference be laudable or considered clever anyway, but I digress. This is an amazing album. Track 11, "Diminished," is a must-have for anyone who still hauls out side 2 of Neil Young's 'On the Beach' on vinyl because sometimes you want to hear the most achingly beautiful (yet fully unpretentious) rock and roll ever made. If you qualify, buy this album. It's comparable to 'On the Beach' in many ways, including the fact that it isn't perfect from start to finish, but also in the fact that the moments when they get it right are absolutely irreplaceable, unique, beautiful moments that simply must be heard. By the way, if you scrounge through the many online reviews of this album and notice the plethora of GBV comparisons, I would say that they're wrong. The missing link between the Baptist Generals and forgotten college radio playlists is the late great Chicago minimalist band Souled American. Chris Flemmons, however, is a little less at ease than any band that would record a Little Feat cover. It works. Stick together, BG's, please.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Resurrecting the spirit of Roky Erickson, February 16, 2003

By 

Pedro A. Urias "tallman1962" (Phoenix, Az United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: No Silver No Gold (Audio CD)

This is the most difficult album in the world to describe. Equal parts acoustic madness,shards of electric guitar peeking out occasionally, some country flavor thrown in(though definitely not a country album), informed by punk and laced with the sick, psychotic vocals of lead General Chris Flemmons. He sounds like the cross between Daniel Johnston and Roky Erickson (both Texans, as it turns out)fronting the acoustic version of the Butthole Surfers or an acid fried version of the first Modern Lovers. Generally, the lo-fi production does nothing to obscure any of this and the highlights as they are are "Alcohol (Turn and Fall)" and the opening track with its mad, sudden stop ending in profanities and God knows what is being destroyed. Psychedelia for the madman in all of us.