Rip It Off [Enhanced]

Stroke 9 | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 1, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: Umvd Labels
• ASIN: B00006GFBS
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #168,224 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Only 2 years late on this one..., April 20, 2004

By 

Joseph Mackay (Placerville, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rip It Off (Audio CD)

I bought this with "Nasty little thoughts." Two years after it's release I finally purchased it, and loved it. I wish I would have had them both when they were first released. Rip It Off is a great CD. It's one of those CDs you buy for a couple of good songs, and then realize that EVERY song on the CD is totally good. Same thing that happens with the "So Long Astoria" by the Ataris, and a lot of older U2 CDs ("Achtung Baby" comes to mind). This CD is very much worth buying, and every song on it is just good.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I've come to love it, May 14, 2005

By 

regency reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rip It Off (Audio CD)

The first time I listened to this album, I hated it. I was ready to write a scathing review. Nasty Little Thoughts is one of my all-time favorite albums. When I attended a Stroke 9 concert in SF shortly after the band hit it big, I was blown away by the enthusiasm of the crowd. It was the first and only time that I have heard a crowd so excited about every song that I could barely hear Luke at all because the crowd's voices were singing along and drowning him out. That album was the kind of music that made you want to get up and move and just have fun.

I hadn't listened to Nasty Little Thoughts for a couple of years. So when I popped Rip It Off into my CD player, I mostly had just a memory of how fun and exciting the first album was and I'm sure I expected this 2nd album to be the same. And it really wasn't.

I agree with the other reviewers that some of the lyrics are horrible. I'm one who really pays attention to the words and if they are badly written, it can ruin the song for me. There are a few more songs on this album that just missed the mark completely for my taste. I was really pretty disappointed with the CD the first time I heard it. When I listened to Nasty Little Thoughts again right afterwards, it amazed me how much better that first album was.

But then I listened to Rip It Off again and you know, it wasn't so bad the second time around. I've since heard it over 15 times and I've grown quite fond of it. Some songs I cannot get out of my head at all. Of course, I still skip a few songs, but overall, this isn't the terrible CD that I thought it was the first time around. While it doesn't have as much of the tongue-in-cheek irreverence that Nasty Little Thoughts had, it does still have some (like "Kick Some Ass").

On the whole though, I think this second album is a little more mature. The music and the subject matter. And I think once I came to appreciate it on its own rather than as merely a comparison to Nasty Little Thoughts, I enjoyed it a lot more. While it doesn't make me want to just flat out kick up my heels and rock around the living room oblivious to the fact that I can't dance like Nasty Little Thoughts did (with the exception of "Kick Some Ass"), it does have a much wider range of emotions. "Do It Again" is an incredibly (INCREDIBLY I SAY!)sexy song, and "California" is an utterly beautiful ballad. I am reminded somewhat of Better than Ezra, another one of my all-time favorite bands, when I hear some of these songs.

Despite my initial aversion to this album, I know I will be listening to it over and over and over and over again.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best albums from one of the best bands this year, December 4, 2002

By 

ChiefSanch (New Hartford, New York United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rip It Off (Audio CD)

The only thing better than RIP IT OFF is NASTY LITTLE THOUGHTS. If you want good, nay great lyrics now-a-days, Stroke 9 is your band. I have had the extreme pleasure to see them in concert and meet them. Cool guys and they put on a great show. They are one of the few bands that sound just as good as, if not better live than on their studio recordings. (Pantera, White Zombie and Def Leppard are some other excellent live acts.)

1. Latest Disaster is what they opened their show with. You don't expect those opening licks but when they come, your eyes get wide and you turns your head and say, "Who am I listening to? They rock!"
2. 100 Girls is a great rock radio hit. The chorus rocks and the lyrics are are so sardonic.
3. Vacuum Bag is one of the best songs I have ever heard. These are easily top five lyrics of all time. This is the first song of their sound check and it kicked my ... when the chorus hit!
4. Kick Some ...is a great rock anthem! This songs is funny and fist pumping. It's not too hard and it's not to punk (as per today's trends).
5. Don't Worry is a quick and funky tune that explores the dealings and workings of human emotions. Probably the weakest song on the album.
6. Do It Again is DIRTY! And I love it. My girlfriend does too. ALL girlfriends will. TRUST ME! It's a great slow tune that showcases some delightful melodies.
7. Just Can't Wait is great. It's a harder song but another one of those bitter sweet "love songs" that only Stroke 9 can do to perfection.
8. We Were Wrong is another one of my favorites and is also some of their best lyrics/any lyrics you're going to find anywhere. The chorus is so infectious and I can't help but wake up in the middle of the night just to listen to this song. It's great. (I have the same problem with Tear Me In Two.)
9. Reject is a fast and rocking good tune. Some more great guitar rock and their exploritory lyrics in the realm of human emotions.
10. Anywhere is slow, but hard, and touching. The beginning strains and sounds sound almost like another band, but I can't put my finger on it, although Stroke 9 comes back through in no time.
11. Lead the Way is a tough, hard song. But it's gripping and emorional and is characteristically deep as most Stroke 9 songs are.
12. California is one of the most pleasant and confessionally honest songs I've ever heard. It's just Luke and a guitar. What better setting to showcase his vocals and phenomenal lyrics. This is a great song, very personal and honest.

I have never waited in greater anticipation of one album as this. The release was changed so many times and I'm just glad I could download some of the songs because after hearing them in concert, I had to have them and my mouth just watered with their new instrumentation and lyrics. It's a great album, well worth any price to buy it. Also worth any price is a ticket to one of their shows. Go try to see them wherever and whenever you can. I don't care what anyone says, this is one of the best bands on the market today, one of the best albums of the year and some of the best lyrics in a long, long time. I can't possibly give this album a higher recommendation.