Philosophy: The Best of Bill Hicks [Live]

Bill Hicks | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 18, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Rykodisc
• ASIN: B00005O7RR
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #171,757 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Come here, Mr. Dealer! Let me show you my balance!", July 29, 2002

By 

Michael Crane (Orland Park, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Philosophy: The Best of Bill Hicks (Audio CD)

Wow, there's a lot of mixed feelings about this album. I admit, I am not a die hard Hicks fan, at least not yet. I have just heard about the man a few weeks ago, and ever since then I have bought all of his albums, (or at least all of the ones I could find.)

Although I agree with the others when they say that listening to the albums whole is always much better, I have to admit that I like listening to this album. Then again, maybe it's because I already own ALL of the other albums, and am able to appreciate it more for what it's worth.

This is a compliation of Bill Hicks' best materials from his other four albums. If you really think about it, that is IMPOSSIBLE, because EVERYTHING Bill Hicks did was his best. But, it's a start. It's a good CD to listen to, especially if you have little time but would like to listen to a variety of Hicks' material from the other albums. Think of it as a companion to the other albums.

I don't recommend you getting this album first if you do not own any Bill Hicks albums but plan to. Get the others first. The magic to Bill's comedy is listening to them as a whole. At least if you already know the material by heart, chances are you will be able to enjoy this CD more than someone who has never heard of any his material. Might I recommend you getting "Rant in E-Minor" first? That is the one I first bought and it was the one that got me started.

Bill Hicks was such an underrated comic genius. Edgy and different, he talked about things others feared. The Church feared him. The government cringed at the sight of him. And shallow and fake people ran away to take cover when he was in town. I wish Bill was still around, and it is a shame I had to discover him long after his death. He really was a talent that had you in awe. A great commentator on the world's disfunction, error, and chaos, he was.

This album covers all of his rants and ideas on drugs, sex, politics, celebrities , Easter, religion, smoking, the show "Cops," and many more.

Again, I really did enjoy this album, but that's just me. It's really the listener who decides. Again, I do not pretend to be a die-hard Bill Hicks fan. Like I said, I only discovered the man a few weeks ago. But he has grown on me like no other comic. "Philosophy" is an album that'll make you laugh, make you think, and even maybe cringe at times. Bill Hicks was, and still is, a genius. Even today. And no, I am NOT saying that because I'm on some sort of "Bill Hicks Bandwagon." If that were the case, I would've given this album a low rating like everyone else, now wouldn't I?

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Please do Bill a favor..., November 26, 2001

By 

Kevin T. (Fairview, New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Philosophy: The Best of Bill Hicks (Audio CD)

Do Bill Hicks a favor and don't buy this CD. I enjoy Bill's material with a passion, but this CD is basically a recycled copy of Bill's 4 previous releases. And on certain occasions, you'll find Bill saying something that will go back to a joke he said five minutes ago that isn't on here. You'll be wondering why the audience is laughing and you don't get the joke. Now what Rykodisc would've been smart to do is compile material not heard on any of the four previous CD's and gather them onto one album. Bill was around the scene for awhile, there MUST be more stuff in the Hicks Vaults to make another CD of unheard material. Thank god for Kevin Booth (Bill's best friend and co-owner of a prouction company him and Bill started) re-assuring us that there will be a follow up to Rant In E-Minor, Bill's latest and greatest CD to date.

If you're thinking of building your Bill Hicks collection, then, yeah, this CD is for you. But don't let this be the end to your venture into the mind of Bill Hicks. I know alot of people who buy "best of's" and don't buy the REAL albums because they think they've gotten the best. That isn't the case here. Take the selections here from the album "Arizona Bay". Arizona Bay is a concept album and in order to take in the jokes, you must follow the CD all the way through because it will make much more sense. To cut up and edit Bill Hicks material is absurd, because you must get the full experience of a wildly funny and honest man.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars orange drink, October 14, 2001

By 

Tom Brown "Reader" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Philosophy: The Best of Bill Hicks (Audio CD)

there is no excuse for this cd. i had to listen to rant in e-minor immediately afterwards to do a sanity check that i still can appreciate multiple listenings of bill's material. there are several criteria stand-up comedy must meet to be good. one is continuity. on "philosophy", bill's material has been hacked up such that several times you're missing references that don't exist anymore. but that's just a side effect of the discontinuity. there's no "building level of intimacy" that a stand-up comedian relies on when somebody hacks up the material in this way. also, i want my money back. it's called philosophy and there is enough "philosophical" material that could be drawn from, but here's the punchline...it wasn't included. instead, the listener is treated to the material from bill hicks's body of work that most resembles what the liner notes promised would not be on the cd: the standard stand-up fare: flying saucers, smoking, hotel room experiences. it is a misrepresentation of a stand-up comedian's work when someone is allowed to remove the continuity and boldly call nonessential bits "philosophy". do yourself a favor, don't waste your money on this awful misrepresentation of his work. :)