Customer Reviews

Oot & Aboot

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

 

 

The Real McKenzies are an amazing band. If you already know and love them as I do, then you certainly won't be disappointed. This has some great tracks. I only wish it was a bit longer with some more pronounced bagpipes (cuz that's the best part) or I'd have given it a 5. The studio production with help from Fat Mike (NOFX) and some backing vocals by Spike Slawson (Swingin' Utters) provide for a more polished product.
If you're new to this band but love Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphy's, and the Swingin' Utters, BUY THIS NOW...and go back and buy their first two if you can find them!! And don't miss them live cuz they put on one of the best club shows you'll ever see!

Let me start by saying this band's music has helped me through the past year of cancer and chemo.... so they will ALLWAYS have a special place in my heart. This CD shows a more metalic side of the band while also presenting a stronger effort on almost every front. The songwriting is getting better, Paul's voice never sounded finer and the liner notes and packaging are more complete (...no lyrics though!). So why not 5 stars?.... Because the pipes are so far in the background as to be non-existant (w/ the exception of "Taylor Made" & "Ye Banks & Braes"). That would be a short coming of the production... not the band. With that said, I consider this a great recording and well worth the money (highly recommended!!). Highlights include "Ye Banks & Braes", "Oot & Aboot", "Jennifer Que" & "The Night the Lights Went Out in Scotland" (THAT would be a great show opening tune).... I hope to see them perform someday as they are a legendary live act. Go see them if you ever get the chance!!

McKenzie and Robertson weren't minding the store when this album was mixed. The highland pipes got put in the background instead of up front where they belong. Good stuff but not like Loch'd and Loaded where the pipes are the lead guitar. There's a zillion punk bands- no point in sounding like everyone else. Be different, be Scottish.

This album comes as my follow up to "loch'd and Loaded", which caught my ear from the beginning and kept my interest throughout. "Loch'd" was probably the only album with a bagpipe I can never be guilty listening to. It was a really fun album with an incredible amount of energy and catchy hooks throughout. I eagerly pursued more songs by the band, and the results left me a bit dissapointed. I will start off by saying that the songs on "Oot and Aboot" aren't by any means terrible. The problem is that I could crank the album on my computer cd player while surfing the web and not one distinct track would stand out and make me want to listen. After a few listens, i've pinpointed several ways it could have been better.

The biggest problem with "Oot and Aboot" is that its too clean. In punk equivilance, its like when they redid the Texas Chainsaw Massacre using all the best state of the art cameras and film quality. Some things are best left grainy. Punk is no exception. The production may be to fault in this respect because there was never any sense of "rawness" that is so vital to a good rock album.

The second problem also centers around the whole "sounding clean" issue. The singer is trying to go the Bad Religion route by incorporating too much melody in his voice for a punk band. It works for Bad Religion. It doesn't work for a gruff hardknockin band of guys trying to preserve the integrity of being dangerous. He needs to keep a small mix of melody and "grainy" vocal flatness like the vocals in "loch'd and Loaded."

The third problem and most significant in my mind is the drummer. The tempos were consistantly "pop rock"y and lacked the energy of "Loch'd." It sounded more like the drummer was more interested in keeping a beat rather than going out and kicking as much tail as possible. It was simply too tame for a great punk album. "loch'd and Loaded" was a great punk album. This one, not so much. Probably worth getting if you are a diehard fan though.