Customer Reviews

Paper Tigers

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Apparently around for the last eight years, Caesars have remained a hidden Swedish secret until now. Caesars Palace in their native country, but Caesars here due to the Las Vegas casino's right to the name, this band revives The Beatles, The Kinks, The Who, The Zombies, The Byrds, Badfinger and The Bay City Rollers all mixed into a great alternative pop confection. While "Jerk It Out", a song from an earlier album, is strategically placed to capitalize on its recent inclusion in an I-pod commercial, the rest of the album is just as strong.

In fact, this is the first band in a long while that I have heard that captures a free-for-all fun sound much like Smash Mouth did with "Walking On The Sun" back in 1997. The lyrics here are filled with great traditional themes of alienation, isolation, desperation and desolation. The album opens with a great one-two punch with "Spirit" and "It's Not The Fall That Hurts", both of which could be hits. "Jerk It Out" is a great get up and dance track while the title track is a melodic ode of losers hoping for a second chance. "Your Time Is Near" captures an almost Mamas and Papas "California Dreaming" vibe, and the cd ends with more potential hits with "Winter Song", "We Got To Leave", "Soulchaser" and "Good And Gone". The band utilizes unusual instruments such as the farfisa, philicorda and yttling piano reminiscent of Del Shannon's hit "Runaway".

All of this adds up to a near perfect cd that sets itself apart almost entirely from the rest of today's music. As of my review, I see only ten other reviews here which is disheartening, but perhaps this band will still catch on in America. Check them out!

This is not a heavy piece of work - i.e. Wilco or Radiohead or anything along those lines - and I mean no aspersion in saying so. There is a time for brooding, for sorrow, for walking around your empty, post-party apartment on a morbid partial patrol, shaking the discarded bottles for tasty dregs. The Caesars are not the band to provide the soundtrack for these moments; the Caesars are the band for the party.

As a rock record, Paper Tigers is uncommonly funky, which is maybe why it can withstand with so many plays. Even the ubiquitous "Jerk It Out" single wears well. The hook is so irresistible, and so weirdly timeless, along the lines of "Dirty Water" or some other garage rock classic. There's a lot more here, though - "Soulchaser", "We Got To Leave," etc. - all of it catchy and effortless in the same way, but never going soft, never losing the rock edge.

From a lyrical standpoint, I admit that they're not doing rocket science ("it's not the fall that hurts/it's when you hit the ground"), but I don't think they claim to be.

For fans of Fountains of Wayne, OK Go, Hot Hot Heat, and other finely crafted, hook-heavy rock, the Caesars should an appealing new option.

Caesar's Palace, The Caesars, The Twelve Caesars - they're all the same group. They go by different names depending on location - Twelve Caesars in most of Scandinavia, The Caesars in North America, and Caesar's Palace in Sweden, most of europe, and the rest of the world.

They currently have five albums:
39 Minutes of Bliss (as The Caesars)
Paper Tigers (as The Caesars)
Youth Is Wasted On The Young (as The Twelve Caesars)
Cherry Kicks (as Caesar's Palace)
Love For The Streets (as Caesar's Palace)

I hope this helps clarify some things.

I give EVERY SINGLE ALBUM five out of five stars - great vocals, great leads, great base, great melodies, great everything. If you like rock, don't pass this up.

I bought this CD on a whim when i happened to see it in the store. I had already heard "It's not the fall that hurts" on the radio and I also heard "Jerk it out" in Fifa 2004 (I actually never saw the iPod commercial). After buying it I was blown away. Every song on this CD could be a hit. I don't even think that "Jerk it out" is one of the top 5 best songs on this CD. Paper Tigers is one of the few CDs that I can listen to straight through without skipping any songs, and for that it gets 5 stars.

This is a really solid CD. Between this and the recent CDs from The Soundtrack of Our Lives (also from Sweden), there is some really interesting songwriting going on using the pop genre as its springing off point.

As with many folks, I became aware of the band from the I-Pod commercials. Jerk It Out had that flair of an instant pop classic much like Soft Cell's Tainted Love was as soon as it was heard (songs that always bring a smile). I listened to some of the snippets from the 39 Minutes of Bliss CD and was not as impressed. No sale.

Then, this CD came out and it had Jerk It Out on it again. But, this time, the rest of the CD is good and for some songs, clearly better than Jerk It Out. Songs like Spirit and Winter Song are noteable for the absence of drums for much of the song. How can you have a garage pop song without a driving beat? Well, the Caesars have done it and it works. After a week of listening, I consider Spirit the best song on the CD. It has a world weary feel to it but the 5 measure structure of the chorus and keyboard melody create a forward movement that supports the lyrics that end more hopeful. It's a really well-crafted song and when the drums do come in they have a much greater effect given their absence for the first half.

Much of the rest of the CD is traditional garage pop stuff, however, there always seems to be an extra tidbit added to the structure of the songs like a 6 or 7 chord progression instead of the simpler 4 chord progression or some 2/4 time measures thrown in. Also, most of the songs are written in minor keys. Like the song Spirit, this gives the whole CD a world-weary feel that ultimately is overcome by the basic optimism that the pop genre is based on.

End Result:
I really like this CD. I know it is possible to have pop music that is high quality and this is an example. OK, so why not 5 stars? Because the lyrics are not yet up to par with the music and I think these guys can do better.

This album is for anyone who fell in love with "Jerk It Out" on the iPod commercial. With a poppy, 60's retro, garage sound, reminiscent of the early Beatles, The Caesars deliver a surprisingly fresh collection of tunes. This is exactly the dichotomy that makes The Caesars a welcome addition to that sub-genre of alt rock that seems to be coming around again. Very melodic and very rockin'. A fun disc.

Better than ever. Not the fall that hurts is the best song ever! May the rain is a grr8 song as well. If I had only heard it's not the fall that hurts, I would have bought this CD anyways

I had never heard of the Caesars before until the fairly recent IPod commerical that was blast all over the US. Their music really seems to be inspired by the 1960's and similar to the Rolling Stones Era. However, this band could really work an audience into dancing their tail off. Give it a try!

[...]. Caesars have accomplished a great feat with this release...combined great melody on a solid Pop-Rock foundation without sounding like Coldplay or any of their clones running around. Keane? Do you hear me calling you out?

Anyways, I've been blown away by this album since I first picked it up a few days ago. I got it on sale and feel I ripped it off based on the quality of the music on it. The whole album is a hip shakin', boot quakin' masterpiece that tips its hat to the past but manages to be original in the songwriting department. The new music scene was looking a bit bleak a few years back but bands like Modest Mouse, Arcade Fire and now Caesars have been slowly bringing good music back to the masses. This is the album that Oasis could have made after What's The Story (Morning Glory) had they decided to grow musically and lay off the cocaine. I don't mean to say they are an Oasis knock off, they just accomplish the same style of music but in their own unique way.

Stand out tracks include Spirit, It's Not The Fall That Hurts, Out There, Jerk It Out, May The Rain, My Heart Is Breaking Down, Paper Tigers, Your Time Is Near, Throwaway, Winter Song, We Got To Leave, Soulchaser and Good And Gone...oh wait, I just listed every song on the album, oops, my bad, but that should tell you how much I love this album. It may not change the world or cause peace to break out in the Middle East, however, it just may brighten a single day in your life and that's what music should be all about in my book.

Hello everyone. You might be familiar with the caesars if you've seen the ipod shuffle commercial thats been playing on tv nonstop. That song is jerk it out, and it is a fun little tune that has a lot of energy and is really catchy. If you like that song, you'll love their full length cd. I bought 39 minutes of bliss a couple months ago, and i really liked that cd, but paper tigers is much much better. This is probably the most fun cd i've bought all year. If you like rock at all, you'll like the caesars. Every song is catchy and makes you want to get up and sing along. I give this cd 5 stars because every song is good. I bought it for only like 10 bucks too, so its a great deal. The Caesars rock!!