Customer Reviews

Original Sin

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

 

 

An instant classic in 1985 ansd sounding better with each passing year, Fear and Whiskey is improved in this CD reissue by the dynamite EPs which followed it. However, one imperfection: a ludicrous cut called "Mr. Confess" by a different edition of the band than that which appears on all the other cuts. And they dropped a killer of cover of Merle Haggard's "I Can't Hold Myself in Line" for that? Oh, well, call it an imperfect reissue of a perfect album. But buy it!!

Robert Christgau in the early nineties wrote an aritcle in which he claimed that the Mekons were the greatest band in the world. Not greatest unknown band, just the best. I wouldn't go quite that far, but having seen them around 10 times (I live in their unofficial second hometown, Chicago, where leader Jon Langford now resides--Leeds, England is their official home) and owning nearly all their albums, I can attest that they are an unjustly neglected treasure. ORIGINAL SIN contains the entirety of their classic album FEAR AND WHISKY, as well as a couple of other EPs. It is absolutely essential for any serious rock and roll collection (though that is redundant, since if you have a serious rock and roll collection, you already own this album).

I must add that one of the great tragedies in music at the moment is that their greatest album, ROCK 'N' ROLL is available only as a hard-to-find German import. If my memory serves me correctly, Christgau named this his album of the year when it came out. And this time he was correct.

The album Fear and Whiskey goes down easy. It rolls along etching melodies in your brain that seem like they were a part of you your whole life. The music is filled with melancholy, but is also invigorating like an old southern hymn. This album alone is plenty, but you also get two EP's of added material, which also contains great songs from the high point of the Mekons career. This CD is a treasure.

This album is so great that it should be in everyone's collection. From the opening line, "I was out late the other night, Fear and Whickey kept me going" to the Hank WIlliams and Gram Parsons covers, this album hits all the right notes. Jon Langford should be in the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Mekons should have a string of Platinum records!

fear and whiskey may be the best "rock" album ever made. i only say may be because they released the edge of the world, rock 'n roll and the curse of the mekons... they all challenge this. but fear and whiskey has an aura, a feeling... it gives a violently real vision of an emotion that is completely unexpressible with words alone. go get this. now. if you like bowie, U2, REM get this. or maybe you like the clash, germs and sleater-kinney. if you do, get this. If you like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard, get this. If you like Brahms, Mendelssohn, and Mahler, get this (have an open mind, or don't-- but you're missing out) beethoven is better than the mekons. i admit it. but they're in the same business. One of the best things about "classical" music is it's purity... the emotion isn't confused with words. mozart once played a piece for someone (i don't remember his title) and the man asked "but what does it mean?" mozart played it again. the mekons should answer that question the same way. This goes straight to the heart. words don't mean anything, merely stand for memories and reflections and common experiences. Fear and Whiskey means something.