Customer Reviews

Performance and Cocktails

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The Sterophonics' second album offers a refreshing offering of Brit Stomp Rock (except they are Welsh). What a great album, full of great guitar hooks and band leader Kelly Jones' personal views of life and relationships.

The album starts of with a rousing "Roll Up and Shine", as good an album opener as you will find. The next track "The Bartender and The Thief" (one of the album's highly succesful singles in the UK) is an up-uptempo rocker, just great. "Hurry Up and Wait" (another of the singles) is an accoustic-based slower song, contemplating the question of why we wanna hurry up all the time. "Half The Lies" is one of the album's best tracks, another stomp-along tracks, and the same can be said for the ironically titled "Is Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow", demonstrating Kelly Jones' smart lyrics. "I Wouldn't Believe Your Radio" (another single) stems from a dream Kelly had about "Ringo Starr and George Harrison singing in front of my parents' house", and while originally intended to be sung by drummer Stuart Cable (in the vein of Ringo Starr), in the end Kelly has lead vocals on this one.

This album was the break-through for the Stereophonics in the UK and it's easy to see why: great melodies, great guitar hooks, and interesting themes. The band has made some headway in the US this year (most recently opening for U2), but they deserve much better. BUY IT!

It's good, but I just didn't find this album very original. It's okay for what it is, some basic rock and roll, but after the first three tracks all the songs sound the same.

Stereophomics once again produce a fantastic record. Following Word Gets Around with its catchy tunes such as More Life In A Tramps vest & A Thousand Trees which proved very popular the new album opens with the fantastic Roll up and Shine and continues the brilliance all the way through to I Stopped To Fill My Car Up. The singles Pick A Part , Just Lookin', Bartender And The Thief and Hurry Up And Wait are all great aswell as the accoustic I Wouldn't Believe Your Radio. The remaining tracks, especially T-Shirt Suntan and Is Yesterday Tommorrow Today?, are superb and the Rod Stewart-esque A Minute Longer is one of this album's highlights. Buy This Album, especially if you've only heard the singles.

I thought the national dish of the Welsh was Leek and Sheep pie but these boys are ravenous tripe hounds. The Bartender and The Thief and Pick A Part That's New were big hits but that's about all that's interesting about this derivative guitar music. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks but these boys show time and again that youth is no barrier to a deficiency of originality. I'm only giving them five stars cause I feel so sorry for them.

This was the last Stereophonics album that I purchased, and I wish that I had gotten it a lot sooner. Magnificent. All of the tracks are well mixed and the clarity of Kelly's vocals is crystal clear. What a sweet album, and by saying that I mean that I'm glad they chose to show some of their heart on it. Performance includes some of the most beautiful songs the group has ever put together in my opinion. Case in point being "Hurry Up and Wait". This song makes sense if you put it into context concerning the state of peoples beliefs in this day and age. I think they are saying be patient and the good things in life will come to you. In the same context is the track "Is Yesterday, Tommorrow, Today?". But I'm not saying that this album only has slow or mellow tracks. If you want to hear driving rock and roll, just listen to "Roll Up and Shine", "The Bartender and the Thief", and "T-Shirt Sun Tan". Excellent if you really want to get your head bobbing. However, the best two tracks on the album are of the slower variety. "I Stopped to Fill My Car Up" is beautiful in the fact that it's such a creepy tune. And the best has got to be "Just Looking". It's got great verses that build up to crashing choruses. Magical, just magical. This is definately one for anyone who likes great music and especially if they are fans of The Stereophonics.

This, the Stereophonics 2nd album, is leaps and bounds beyond its predecessor, Word Gets Around, in terms of production, songwriting, and performance. From the brutal opener of Roll Up and Shine to the storming rockers like The Bartender and The Thief, Half of the Lies You Tell Ain't True, and T-Shirt Sun Tan, to the pretty She Takes Her Clothes Off, I Wouldn't Believe Your Radio, and Plastic California, this album is rock-solid (pun intended!). The closer is a little long-winded and repetitive, and there are some limp ballads (Just Looking, Hurry Up and Wait) but overall, this is a solid album!

Grunge is just a memory now as the American masses go after Kid Rock. But bands like Stereophonics have been doing the great old punk/metal thing for a few years, and this new record was actually up for this year's Mercury Prize. Songs like "The Bartender and The Thief" and "T-shirt Sun Tan" are classic songs to get excited about. Also they are big on ballads, that show a softer side to the power trio from Wales. I saw them recently live, and they are entertaining, with singer Kelly Jones' head to the side approach, and the drummer Stuart Cable had as much energy as Keith Moon. Finally here's a band who can take the mantel from Oasis and Nirvana. A record for those who want to rock out!

(www.freewilliamsburg.com)

I was drifting aimlessly through the CD aisles at Best Buy one day, waiting for something - ANYTHING - to catch my eye that might prove to be the cure for what was quickly becoming the "rotation phase" in my CD collection, where although great albums in their own right, everything I owned had been overplayed and I was sick sick sick and tired. I then caught glimpse of Stereophonics: Performance and Cocktails, about which I remembered having seen a blurb in Rolling Stone calling it one of the most underrated and unknown albums of the year. So I took a shot in the dark, and BANG! I have a new favorite band. I found myself helplessly bobbing my head and tapping my hands on the steering wheel the whole ride home. The gritty Oasis-esque guitar styles, blended with the unique raspiness of Kelly Jones's vocals, and none of the awkward experimental/spiritual sound that veers some people away from bands like Kula Shaker (of whom I am also a huge fan), P&C is an unforgettable, inspirational album that shoots you uncontrollably into a positive state of mind. A+

I bought this cd after hearing Pick A Part That's New, the only song by the Stereophonics that has gotten any airplay here. I knew that they were No.1 in the U.K. and I like other British bands like Radiohead and the Manic Street Preachers and Muse anyway so I decided to try it. I am so glad I did. This is probably one of the best cds that I have bought in a while. Kelly Jones' voice is addictive. This cd is good for just about any taste too. It ranges from songs with more pop-like choruses like The Bartender and the Thief to songs with a more rockish tone like Roll Up and Shine. Then there are a couple of more mellow songs such as Hurry Up and Wait and Is Yesterday,Tomorrow,Today?, which is my personal favorite. I would encourage anyone to at least try Performance and Cocktails, I honestly think that you will find some aspect of it that you will enjoy if not all of it. You won't be disappointed.

If you like Oasis, if you know anything about the Replacements, then certainly don't shy away from Performance and Cocktails. I bought it on a whim for $7.99, and the thing gets played twice a day. It's got the melodic power of Oasis at their garage-band best, and some of the lyrical depth and insight of a good Westerburg song.

The hype about Jones' scratchy voice is a little overdone -- it's hard to ignore for the first listen or two, but then it becomes an instrument of its own, much like Tom York or the Gallagher brothers. If you like a pretty tightly-produced garage band sound and actually LIKE paying attention to the lyrics of songs, then you won't be wasting your money on this gem.