Customer Reviews

Pair a Dice Found

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I got this CD when it was first released & it is as enjoyable to listen to now as it was then. Jacks bass is pounding, Jorma's licks are classic, and Harvey's drumming is perfection! Eve of Destruction SHOULD HAVE BEEN A BIG HIT and is one of the rare times a remake is ALMOST as good as the original. This is a slightly different road than Tuna's jamming albums, but it is surely a road worth driving! Enjoy!

When guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady founded Hot Tuna in 1970, it was an acoustic blues band playing blues standards. It was simply just Jorma's incredible acoustic guitar playing and Jack's distinct, yet awesome bass playing.

Fast forward 20 years. Take yourself to 1990. Hot Tuna hadn't released even an album since 1978, with the live album 'Double Dose.' The 1989 Jefferson Airplane reunion brought Jorma and Jack back together, so they decided to reform Hot Tuna. They were signed to Epic Records.


The result was 'Pair a Dice Found,' the 1990 Hot Tuna reunion album. This album blows in many ways. Hot Tuna was trying to find a more mainstream market here. The band is in top shape, as always, but it's just not what you would expect from a band that did so much better in so many ways in the 1970s.

And what about the addition of another guitarist? Michael Falzarano was added to the lineup for this album as an additional guitarist. WHAT!? Jorma Kaukonen does not need an additional guitarist!! He's a master, one of the best, so why was the addition of Falzarano necessary?

Now to the music. The only real cover here is Jesse Fuller's classic 'San Francisco Bay Blues.' A good cover, probably would have sounded great on one of their '70s efforts like 'America's Choice,' and it sounds pretty darn good here. This is a great song.

The rest of the album, though, blows. Falzarano dominates the writing credits here, writing 'AK-47,' 'Brand New Toy,' 'To Be With You,' 'Bulletproof Vest' and many others. Now these compositions, for the most part, are decent, but I, personally feel that Falzarano should have put them on a solo record.

Overall, 'Pair a Dice Found' is a major disappoint from a really good band. With the exception of 'San Francisco Bay Blues' and perhaps 'Eve of Destruction,' this album is not a great album.

Do not start here, new fans to Hot Tuna. Go buy 'Hot Tuna,' 'First Pull Up, Then Pull Down,' and then eventually 'Burgers.' This is not the proper entry point into Hot Tuna's catalog.

Recommended only for Tuna collectors and die-hards. This could have been so much better.

I agree with those who say this is not a traditional Hot Tuna album. That doesn't mean it's not a good album, however. It's a little more mainstream, a heck of a lot of fun and definitely worth adding to your collection. 4.5 stars.

With the principals Jack and Jorma focusing on their playing instead of jamming, "Pair a Dice Found" showcases this line up of Hot Tuna in quite good form. Though this music might become tiresome if heard too often, I enjoy this recording most when reserved for road trips or outside by bonfires. Give it plenty of volume---this is no subtle acoustic trip.

I bought this CD when it came out several years ago, and still enjoy listening to it. Hot Tuna lays down some excellent music here, so don't let the previous reviewer scare you off. I won't claim this is a "classic - gotta have album", but I'm happy to have it in my collection.

Why is it some people can't accept that artists move on? Thank God.
Who wants to hear the same formula over and over. This album is not a radical departure from 70's era Hot Tuna. I like it also!

The album gets tiresome after a few minutes.
But it's still Hot Tuna.