Customer Reviews

Philosophy: The Best of Bill Hicks

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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?

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.

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. :)

I will say now, I don't own this release, and I have no intention of buying it. But, I do own all the other releases that have been picked-at to make this 'best of'. To be fair, I don't usually rate best of's of any variety (- music, films, books/writings,etc) because they tend to be somewhat selective and far, far to gentle an interpretation on what the artist inquestion is about. I especially don't like best-of's that the artist had nothing to do with compiling. In many cases, neither does the artist it seems.

This is an exception to the rule. There is no best of Bill Hicks. The reason is that there is no bad of Bill Hicks. It's only compiled around the contents of four albums, so there can't be enough material to be bad anyway. Bill Hicks was unique, thought-provoking, and anyone who was offended by what he had to say should seriously start to wonder what is wrong with them mentally.

If you have no Bill Hicks in your collection, you might do well to buy this release, but I would strongly recommend the actual four releases it's made from as well. You will find no wrong on any of them. They are good. You will be an even more intelligent person that you are right now if you own and appreciate them. They will guide you. You need guidance. We need guidance. Bill will be our guide.

Not convinced? Ok, here this;
Bill Hicks died seven years ago, right? That's SEVEN years. And, now this release has come out of nothing brand new at all, but it's still making as much of a critical and respectful impact as the albums did all those years back. That's SEVEN years of solid, fearfully good comedy. That's longevity. It'll go on for seven years more, and seven after that. At which point will you be hopping on the band wagon? Come join the wagon now. Join the Hicks society of evolved people.

But, if this stuff is still causing such major ripples now... what's wrong with modern-day, living comics so that they cannot compete with a dead guy? Hmmm...

Bill Hicks is a master commentator (it sounds to belittling to call him a comedian). This CD collects the "best of" Hicks's routines from his other CDs. The work is masterful. However, it loses some of the momentum when parsed and compiled here.

Part of the mark of a legendary comedian is the ability to "compose" a comedy routine which is like a symphony, it has crescendos, valleys, ebbs, and flows. Hearing the routine in full gives it the greatest comedic impact. This CD, by cutting the routines up, takes away some of that impact.

Therefore, if you want to get your feet wet with Hicks, start here. But please, don't stop here. Go to the original material to discover the full impact. The material is five star; presented in this manner makes it a four star CD.

Bill Hicks was one of the brilliant minds of our time who died tragically at the age of 32. Therefore, due to the brevity of his career, only 4 comedy albums have been released thus far. This is a collection of his "best" material from those albums. Therefore, the material is dynamite, however his material was so consistently brilliant that, in all honesty, any of the four albums are as good as this one. Anything with Hicks' name on it deserves 5 stars, but since there isn't any new material on this one (and considering how much unreleased material must still be out there), I'll give it 4 stars. If you've never heard Bill Hicks before, you are truly missing out on a comedic and philosophical genius (it is no coincidence that this CD is called "Philosophy". This would be a good place for a newcomer to start, but so would "Arizona Bay" or "Rants in E-Minor."

If you are dubious about Bill's rep as 'the next Lenny Bruce' etc., start here, you'll soon be convinced enough to buy all his albums. The entire school of angry, independently minded socially conscious comics - Dennis Leary, Bill Maher, Chris Rock, Dennis Miller - owe a debt to this guy, who labored at the edge of obscurity, totally brilliant, totally uncompromised and totally screwed over by the media in this country. Like all true American geniuses, he was recognized abroad (England) and died early and the world is a worse place for his passing. This guy was not only caustic but also insightful; angry, but compassionate; smart but willing to be foolish from time to time; iconoclastic but spiritual. Nobody could touch him. Willy, we miss you, man. At least i do.

The content gets five stars; Rykodisc gets one.

Shame on them for releasing this; without consulting Hicks' camp, no less. Especially tragic is the fact that they have at least two more albums' worth of "new" material they could release instead of this.

If you want to buy a Bill Hicks album, buy all four others. Start with Rant In E-Minor and work your way back.

Hicks died in 1994, he released only 4 albums in the last few years of his life - Relentless, Dangerous, Rant in E Minor and Arizona bay. This album is culled from these fine gems of comedic observation and so it is not a "new" album.

Nevertheless, for a first time Hicks initiate, it would probably be a "gentle" foray into the turbulant world of Bill Hicks.

If you want unseen Hicks, find the "Sane Man" video, offerd by Hicks friend, Kevin Booth - it's a commercially unreleased video of Hicks in a small comedy venue and is funnier and more biting than a snake with a clown hat on.

One of the previous reviewers pointed out that this stuff can't compare with the comic genius of the 80's sitcom "My Two Dads." It's probably a goof review, but I SO hope it's not because Bill would certainly get a kick out of a response like that from the Joey Lawrence/Everybody Loves Raymond, side of our population.

If you're looking for a good sample of Bill Hicks comedy, this is a pretty good cd to start with. Some of his best subjects (although some of my favorites are noticably absent: Sharon Stones "talent", Jay Leno's satanic tryst, etc.) Be warned, if you are easily offended, better stick to Jeff Foxworthy, cause Bill pulls no punches, which is why I love him.

In my opinion this guy was not only funny as hell, but a true free-thinker and an exposer of hypocrisy. Something we need more of.

I only wish Bill had lived long enough to skewer "W" in his routine. I think the second Bush woulda truly inspired (sickened) Bill into some of his finest material yet.

RIP Bill.