Customer Reviews

Rockin'

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

FINALLY after 3 tries someone finally got it right !! Although not comercially successful, this has always been a favorite of true Guess Who fans. I'm not going to re-hash the songs because any fan is totally familiar with the material. After two abysmal attempts on CD, this great album is finally given its due in the digital world. The sound is GREAT !! I can finally put away the many vinyl copies I have for safe keeping. This was a "back to basics" album for the band, recorded LIVE in the studio for the most part with very little in the way of over dubs. You can tell the boys were having fun when they did this & the liner notes confirm that !! I'm so glad "Sea of Love" was included as a bonus track. Burton had this version on his my space page a couple of years ago but on the CD its cleaned up & never sounded better. The Guess Who made a special 45 of Sea of love to play in a jukebox as background during the "HI Rockers" medley. I may be wrong but I believe the tape never was recovered & Burton had the 45 in his personal collection. Also, "Lost sheep" is very interesting & fans may notice the lyrics being used in a GW song a couple years later.
ANYWAY, the liner notes & artwork are superb. This great music never sounded better so whats not to like ??!!

They did finally get it right . this version blows away all of the previous versions.
The sound is crisp , with no compression or over recorded issues at all .
The bonus tracks are great as well.

This album should have been huge. The single, "Heartbroken Bopper" was every bit as great as "American Woman." It rocked. Kurt Winter went somewhere else while playing the solo. Cummings' vocals are without peer in the rock community. Listen to "Get Your Ribbons On" and throw away your Robert Plant albums. Am I the only one who understands the beginning sounds of the album to be the notes of a time machine taking us back through the history of rock music? Bom Gazing! By the end of the record, we have hard everything: Fats Domino, Frank Sinatra, and the beautiful music of the Guess Who. Buy this album! It is a record of beauty; it is a record of humor; it is a record of a band who just wanted to rock the world.

For the hard core Guess Who Fan, "Rockin'" is one favorite albums by this great Canadian group. In fact this is one of Burton's personal favorites. Thats why I can't understand why RCA (or BMG) let everybody down so much on this one. Most of the other Guess Who CD releases (#10, So long Banatyne, Road Food) that came out around the same time as this were pretty good. This CD is so dead sounding, (quality & dynamic range) its breathtaking. To me, it almost sounds like they recorded off the vinyl but put it through some sort of filter or processor to get rid of the pops & surface noise but they also got rid of all the dynamics. If you put a nice clean copy of the vinyl version on a good turntable, play it along side the cd (switching back & forth between the two), you'll find the vinyl blows it away. Instead of spending $50.00 to $100.00 for the cd, get a sealed copy of the vinyl for alot less money, burn that on to a CD & you'll be much happier with the result ! BURTON, if your listenng, please suggest to the folks at BUDDHA (BMG-RCA) to re-issue a remastered version of this one ! (How about "Artificial Paradise" while your at it)

I bought this on vinyl in the late 70's. It was in the discount bin and being a Guess Who fan I figured $1.99 was worth risking. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this is a terrific album. Unfortunately there are no "top 10" hit type songs on it so the unwashed masses passed it by. For fans of good music who would rather listen to something that they havent heard on the radio a million times this is an excellent buy.

I own this recording on vinyl.Have an engi.friend who put it on CD for me.Anyone want a copy?One of my favorites from the 70's.

I've owned all The Guess Who albums on vinyl for many years. ROCKIN' is probably my favorite. It was at least the one I played the most. I still have a copy on an 8-track tape, which I used to play over and over in my car. I especially like "Gun,Guns, Guns". Buy it if you don't have it already. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

The chorus to "Guns Guns Guns" is *brilliant on every single emotional level*. "Godspeed mother nature- never really wanted to say goodbye". If you've never heard this song, you have NO IDEA WHATSOEVER how emotionally rewarding that chorus is! It strikes me on so many personal levels. Burton Cummings voice simply leaves me speechless. He even lowers his register on one particular occasion of the chorus to make it even *more* devastating. A serious shock to the system. One of my favorite songs ever written, bar none.

"Heartbroken Bopper" I swear has a verse melody that resembles that of Black Sabbath's "Wicked World" from their groundbreaking debut released a couple years before Rockin' was. Probably a coincidence or perhaps not. Either way, the song rules. REALLY heavy and bluesy electric guitar soloing for most of its 5 minute run, too. "Back to the City" contains a style of rock that resembles the simple days of the 50's and the whole dance scene that took place back then. I like it though. Actually when you consider what the world of rock music is like today (and HAS been for the last 20-30 years) it's easoer to appreciate a nice moment of diversity like this. Perhaps the COOLEST moment on the entire album occurs when "Herbert's a Loser" arrives. In 3 and a half minutes, this song effectively accomplishes more than most bands can in 60 minutes! The vocal melody is catchy for one thing, but it's also so much more. Boogie rock, harmonica blues, piano jazz, pop/rock, even a catchy guitar solo at the end!. There's a LOT going on here!

"Get Your Ribbons On" is a really sloppily written and exceptionally heavy rock song for its 2 and a half minute run. It features a unique style though. I'm not exactly sure WHAT style this song is supposed to fall under, but it's enjoyable nonetheless. Perhaps a radically innovative tribute to the late 50's rock scene. "Hi Rockers!" is a strange multi-part song. It begins with a rather pointless 2 and a half minute introduction involving the band members having a conversation about sports, a jukebox and "like old times, hey Burt?" while listening to "Sea of Love" on said jukebox (the Phil Philips song). When the song finally gets going, it begins as a spiritual ballad of sorts... strangely addicting and reminds me of the Beatles "Sunking", and then switching into an Elvis Presley-inspired blues melody. It's really cool though, the entire song I mean.

Speaking of experiments, "Your Nashville Sneakers" features vocals that sound remarkably similar to Frank Sinatra! The piano solo in the middle is excellent too. I honestly did NOT know the Guess Who was capable of this kind of songwriting! I don't know exactly why I'm surprised. The Guess Who could apparently do it all back in the day. Not a big fan of the drippy ballad that is "Smoke Big Factory" because the verse melody sounds so ordinary and similar to soft rock, but it's a nice example of diversity for the band I suppose. Those who grew up in the 70's would probably be able to appreciate a melody like this better than I can, since they can remember when this type of stuff was popular. Me? Well I wasn't born until the dreaded, commercialized and glossy pop years of the 80's! The song does have some nice guitar work at the end, though.

If the reason Rockin' isn't getting the same kind of attention or radio play as previous albums has something to do with this being a supposed downfall in quality, I simply do NOT believe it. It's awesome!

People who know The Guess Who's material beyond the obligatory Greatest Hits tunes know that the band did survive after Randy Bachman's departure and, in many respects, got better. Kurt Winter was not only an incredible guitarist but also an excellent songwriter. Together with Burton Cummings, the two churned out some fantastic tunes, many of which appear on "Rockin'", which was unavailable on CD until BMG released the double Rockin/Flavours CD, of which the sound quality is decidedly poor. There's not a bad song on Rockin', and "Heartbroken Bopper", "Guns, Guns, Guns", "Nashville Sneakers" and "Smoke Big Factory" are among the best songs the band ever recorded. I think this was their best album, period.

I had this record years ago, then spent many years looking for a replacement, to no avail. It was great to find it available thanks to Amazon. Radio seems to think The Guess Who only recorded a few songs, so its good to hear them outside their AOR contemporary box. Heartbroken Bopper really captures Burton Cummings' intense vocal style, and sounds like no other group. Get Your Ribbons On has a great boogie woogie feel, and I still remembered Running Bear almost verbatim. Back to the City is one that stays in your mind for a long time after you hear it again. This record is worth every penny!Rockin'