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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Check this out, the next mellow group from Britain?, April 16, 2001
I heard minibar on the radio and I loved the second track "Choked Up". The cover of the album said "featuring Holiday from Myself", which happens to be my least favorite song on the CD. So if this is the only one you've heard make sure to find a way to check something else out by them. This bands sound reminds me of Pete Yorn (another new artist). Strange that both of their albums came out at about the same time. It is alternative country sound, but it's just more mainstream than Wilco or Old 97's. And the mainstream sound is refreshing, not cheesy at all and the fact that they are from the UK definately doesn't hurt. So if you are looking to branch out from Accoustic Folk/Rock, or move from the current Rock/Country fusion popular stuff this would definately be an album for you. And as far as bands they sounds like don't leave out Whiskeytown. Check it out, it's solid all the way through.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mixed album, some great songs, April 27, 2001
Minibar's debut feels as though some corporate moron was in charge of track selection. The opening track, "Holiday From Myself", is wretched. The writing stinks, the chorus is annoying, and, of course, it is the first single. The Ryan Adams penned "Choked Up" is great, but the glossy production (and a couple of line changes) makes it a little less appealing than the Whiskeytown demo recording. Still very good, though. After that, though, the album really gets good. It feels as though the PR guy threw the singles on at the beginning and the band put the stuff they liked on after. Not surprisingly, the band picked the good songs. "I Know Without Asking" has some superb songwriting:"Cause if you need a shoulder, I"m not going anywhere, 'cause if you need a moment I've got hours of time to spare, 'cause if you need pickup you can smash my old guitar" Beautiful! The title track, "Road Movies" is probably the most impressive cut on here. An epic song about moving from England to California that is good enough to make oyu think that you could relive the American West of the 70's. Maybe if they released that as a single this album would actually get heard by people who love good music, rather than the twits who'll get it for "Holiday From Myself" , which, fortunately, sounds nothing like the rest of the mellow, introspective songs that color this record. Overall, its a pretty good album with some incredible songwriting and excellent songs. Definately worh picking up, assuming you know how to program your CD player to skip the first track.
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I Want To Like It More Than I Do, June 4, 2001
I had heard the songs Road Movies and Cool Water before I bought the CD and was encouraged by those tunes. I liked the simple pop sensibilities, the heartfelt lyrics, even the county influences. Maybe it's because most everything else on the radio is crap, or perhaps I thought Minibar was the next Wilco, but my expectations were high. The reality of this disc is that it's quite ordinary. Unlike a lot of other reviewers, I think Holiday From Myself is fine. As a matter of fact, the whole CD is fine. And while that's good, I hoped it would be great. Instead of an album that makes me want to listen to it over and over, to sing along and tell all my friends about it, I have a disc with a collection of decent singles which, in small doses, I'll listen to for a long time. There is a market for this band and this disc, and I think I'm a pretty good representation of that group -- I want smart, well-played pop rock music that compells me to keep loading it into my CD player long after the novelty of being new wears off. While Road Movies comes close, I hope Minibar ups the stakes in the future. I want to love this band, but with this disc, I can only like it.
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