Customer Reviews

Odds & Ends

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I've been listening to this CD for the past week again, and it sounds especially good over the Fourth of July holiday. Summer, warm weather and this CD go well indeed.

It's been 12 years since this was released and around 9 years since I posted my initial review in ALL CAPS. I was just reading it and....yeah, it really shouts at ya doesn't it? Eh, I've done worse.

I still admittedly enjoy the second half of this CD better than the first set of tracks. The "C" and "D" tracks beginning with the uplifting and catchy "My Sky", and of course the timely "American", even "Raised On Riots" with it's profanity laced, yet very hook heavy anthem get's me reaching for the volume up button. "If You Think You're Bad" that closes the CD is one of my all time fav Warrior Soul tracks, and one of the earliest, obviously they were very hungry and young....and I can't help but think this sounds just as punk as anything they tried to revive with the first set of songs on here.

"NYC Girl" to "5 Ways to The Gutter" are okay tracks, I've grown more to like them than in the past, perhaps it's just the knowing them by listening to them over and over or whatever; but I find myself not skipping them like I used to just to get to "My Sky".

The only song on here I rarely listen to is "Can't Fix Your Broken Heart". Just never been able to get into that song at all. Probably more of a Chill Pill song type, I forget at what point it was recorded. But to me it is the only 'throwaway song' on here. I've got favs and what not, but they are all on my list of 70 or so Warrior Soul songs over the years.

Perhaps with the release of the Live Cd, this one will be reissued, not sure. I used to think you had to be a hardcore fan of the band to get into this, but the more I hear it; the more I think this is a pretty good place to start, or even continue to enjoy their music.

I GUESS THIS IS THE END OF WARRIOR SOUL, AS THE LINER NOTES SAY, "THE BAND THAT FOUGHT THE SYSTEM AND ULTIMATELY LOST". MAYBE NOW, BUT FUTURE GENERATIONS SHOULD SEE THROUGH ALL THIS POST-NIRVANA B.S. THAT'S BEING SPEWED OUT AND SEE THAT SOMEWHERE IN THE LATE 80'S THERE WAS THIS BAND OF PISSED OFF GUYS MAKING SOLID , HEAVY, AND VERY EMOTINAL MUSIC-WITH HONESTY. EVERYTHING HERE IS GOOD, EVEN THE UNDERPRODUCED THROWAWAY TRACKS ARE SOULFUL. KISS ME, AMERICANS, AND THE ROCKER RAISED ON RIOTS COULD SUPPORT A NEW CD, ALTHOUGH THE RECORD COMPANIES WOULDN'T SEE DOLLAR SIGNS AND REFUSE IT. BLAST IF YOU THINK YOU'RE BAD, AND FEEL THE POWER OF WARRIOR SOUL.

After 5 records, worthy praise, high hopes & dismal sales, Warrior Soul finally called it quits. Mayhem Records issued "Odds & Ends" in '96 and it's exactly what the title suggents. All the outtakes, extras, demos, etc. over the course of their carrer. Die-hard fans will definitely want this in their collections.

There are 17 songs plus a couple of hidden bonus tracks. And it's well over a hour in terms of running time. And nearly every type of musical style & sound that W. Soul put-out over their career is featured here. Kory Clarke's maniacal spoken-word rants. The political power of "Last Decade Dead Century," the metallic urgency of "Drugs God & the New Republic," the punk rawk of "Salutations...," the art of "Chill Pill" & the sonic partying of "The Space Age Playboys." It is raw and it is distorted and it is muddy. But it's supposed to be. If odds & ends is what you wanted, then you get it with this collection.

And don't forget to read the liner notes by Kory Clarke, a bitter & brilliant man. You can almost taste the bile in your mouth while reading through his thoughts. Long live Warrior Soul!

They came from the back streets and dark alleys of New York City. Signed to Geffen in 1990 after only four live performances, their first release, "Last Decade Dead Century," featured the breakout hit, "The Losers" which received heavy rotation on MTV's Headbanger's Ball. This was followed up with "Drugs, God and the New Republic" in 1991, 1992's "Salutations From the Ghetto Nation," and "Chill Pill" in 1993. In 1994 they parted ways with Geffen due to the label's lack of support. That year also saw the departure of guitarist Johnny Ricco and drummer Mark Evans (who was later murdered!), who were eventually replaced with lead guitar wunderkind Alex "X-Factor" Arundel, rhythm guitarist Peter Jay, and drummer Scott Dubois. They signed to Futurist/Music For Nations and recorded their ultimate opus, "Space Age Playboys." A unique brand of "hypersonic metal" with squalls of guitar noise, riffy bass, and incessive percussive attack topped off with vocalist Kory Clarke's cryptic prose, it was apocalyptic and psychedelic-laced rock `n' roll for a new millennium. Kory vented his sociopolitical frustrations with insightful, subversive and thought-provoking lyrics and his anger could ignite a five-alarm blaze. Their live shows were full of raucous intensity and although they toured extensively all over the world, they received their most favorable press from Europe. Sadly, not many people really got it and they disbanded at the end of 1995. Were they punk? Metal? Performance art? Rebel rock? Answer: all of this and more. Now, from the band that "Fought America, fought the system...and ultimately lost," comes "Odds & Ends" - 17 tracks of previously unreleased material taken from various recording sessions over the years. Fans of "Space Age Playboys" will recognize the early versions of the songs "Punk Rock and Roll" and "Five Ways To The Gutter" which became "Rotten Soul" and "I Wanna Get Some" respectively. There's also "Last Decade Dead Century" which never made it but became the title of their first CD, as well as a few tracks of Kory reciting some of his psycho poetry. Indeed, "Odds & Ends" is a tasty nugget that will satiate the appetites of die-hard supporters of Warrior Soul, but also make new fans of those who aren't familiar with them. For the uninitiated, this is a good place to start.

Simply put, Warrior soul was the greatest band of the 90's