Customer Reviews

Rollins in the Wry

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

 

 

I'm intrigued by the backlash Rollins seems to be experiencing as he gets deeper into his 'speaking tours' and turns his back on more structured material. I stopped listening to Rollins' musical output years ago, although I still cherish some of his older work, and enjoy his spoken material almost as much. There is something to be said for actually SEEING Rollins perform as opposed to hearing him - so much of what makes the man a myth is his sheer physical presence. It's slightly less humorous to hear his portrayals of himself when you aren't observing what a raw slab of humanity he still is (especially when he goes on and on about women to a roomful of women who are practically hurling themselves at him.)

Sure, the material here isn't even what you would call true 'spoken word' - it veers around, tries to be funny at times, serious at others and lacks cohesion. At times it almost resembles some of Robin Williams' closings, when he would put aside the jokes and try to deliver the moral to his madness (something he did surprisingly well, as does Rollins.) Could it be that Rollins is slowing down a touch and realizing he is just as powerful talking normally as when he's bellowing? This disc certainly seems to point to that. Enjoy it for what it is - a series of humorous commentaries from an intelligent man.

This CD is fine. It's not wall-to-wall laughs like most of Think Tank. It doesnt get deep like sections of Big Ugly Mouth. It's not the absolute pick of the bunch (depending on what you're looking for) but it's not a waste of money either. RITW is a stand-alone performance and the biggest thing wrong with it is the lacklustre crowd, who seem to respond quite well to the mention of their own town's name and not much else. I believe Henry gives his best performances when the crowd is responsive (both with Rollins Band and spoken word) and the crowd at this gig sound like they are half asleep and more interested in eating their meals than getting into the show.

I won't dissect the CD and sing the praises of each individual track. If youre a fan, this is a worthy addition. If youre a first-time listener, its worth a go but probably isnt his best work in terms of outright comedic content or the make-you-think observations that characterise his previous offerings. That said, its not a dog either - I listen to my copy from time to time and certainly dont regret buying it.

One last note for the Henry-is-past-it gang; I saw Henry in Melbourne a year ago and it was about the best thing I've heard him do. Stories like The KISS Army were just brilliant and outshone even some of the best stuff on Think Tank. His take on the way people behave, coupled with the clever references and links to things mentioned earlier in the show had the crowd falling about laughing. Stuff from that show will hopefully be released soon and prove that Henry is only getting better at Spoken Word as time goes by.

Oh, and if any of the Powers That Be at Pioneer are reading - give us a spoken word DVD that isn't Zone 1 exclusive.

Most of the tracks on this album are very funny, especially "Death To Poets," a highly-justified rant about self-indulgent poetry readings, and "Clintonese," a funny comment on how Bubba used word games to weasel out of confessing. I especially like this track because it gives Bubba his due without brown-nosing him like most Democrats love to, with observations like "They should teach 'Clinton' in college." Also not to be missed: his encore, a short but absolutely hysterical rant on male-female relations. The album's only weak link: the "Maturity" rant, which goes on WAY too long and isn't particularly funny. Overall, it's still a great album, but it can't beat "Think Tank," Hank's funniest and smartest spoken-word album.

Okay, understand. I was Drama Geek Yuppie Larvae (TM) so Black Flag was not a band I'm terribly familiar with. The first time in my whole life that I actually became fully aware of Hank was a few months ago when we saw him doing some of his Spoken Word stuff on HBO.

My God, what have I been missing all my life?

Intensity? He has got it.

I recently got to attend one of his spoken word shows here in California. I walked up to the girl with the T-shirts, CD's, and Video tapes and said, "Look, I just discovered this guy. I have NOTHING of his and I don't have much money with me. You are the expert, what do you suggest?"

I walked away with this CD and Talking from the Box on Video. (And a T-Shirt and a couple of free stickers... CONSUME LITTLE AMERICAN! :) ) It was a good combination I think.

The CD was recorded in 1999 so I suppose you would say it is some of his later stuff. And right now, it's my most played CD.

Mostly it's just a bunch of his thoughts about things and people he's observed while he's on tour. (Which is pretty much of the time. The man has circled the world more times the SPUTNIK.) He talks about things like Language, how he reacted to being in Jerusalem, and his love/hate relationship with Rite Aid/Thrifty.

Definitely on the lighter side of things then the earlier stuff I see in "Talking from the Box"... So I suppose that's why long term Rollins fans might see this CD as "weaker". The nihilism that they've come to know and love is tempered with his since of humor far more in this CD then in the older stuff I've heard so far.

He talks a bit in the CD about maturity and getting older, at the time this was recorded, he was 38. And taking a long hard look at 40.

He is doing something different. He's making the gracefull transition from angry, cynical, young man to angry, cynical, old man.

I've heard some of Henry Rollins spoken word routines on MTV and stations like this. After hearing this,....I didn't realize that Henry is actually funny. Not only has he done Black Flag, Rollins Band, but his spoken word albums is filled with the same angst in his lyrics but taking everything in the world and making light of it. He is intellectual as a comic with that hardcore edge that we have come to know and love. I DEFINITELY recomend this CD. Pop it in, listen to it, reflect on it, and be prepared to laugh. I just don't see why he does more of this sort of thing.

To me, "Boxed Life" is still the best of Rollins's spoken word. The stuff from his twenties is intense and nihilistic, but lacks focus and often wanders off track, or peaks too early. His newer stuff, like this CD, is evenly paced and well thought out, but can seem a little diluted at times. "Boxed Life" was Baby Bear's porridge and shows the transistion between young maniacal Rollins and older, more thoughtful Rollins.

HOWEVER, this is still a good CD. Not his best, but it's still a solid performance. My personal favorite, and the track that seems to sum up the whole CD is "maturity". It's one of the greatest off-the-cuff performances he's ever done. To me, it's Rollins coming clean in his own way: accepting the fact that his youth is behind him and dealing with it in that funny, self-deprecating way that he's mastered over the years.

There are some truly laugh out loud moments on this CD. It may strike some as being too "PC" because he actually covers things like current events and seems pseudo-political at times, but it never comes off contrived to me. I think many assume Rollins is trying to be PC versus having an opinion that just happens to be PC. If he were racist and homophobic instead of ranting against those who are, would that transform him into some kind of avant garde rebel/artist? Please.

Rollins may have lost some of his intensity with age and success, but we should all be so lucky. He still has more energy in his pinky than most of us have in a whole year, and he's still one of the hardest working men in show business.

Yeah, this album is not his best. I'd say it's his weakest. BUT, when you consider that each and everyone of his many other spoken word albums are excellent I can't say it bothers me too much that this one isn't so. Especially when Rollins himself admits in the liner notes that he basically was asked to do this show as an experiment and he didn't have any new material. One would presume that's just not how Henry outputs his best. It appears he was right. But this album doesn't totally suck, it just sounds disjointed and haphazard and it's low on the gutsplitting humor one finds on previous albums. If you are new to Rollins do everyone a favor and get his Boxed Life album.

While not his best work to date, even he admits it, this CD is still useful for insight. If you even think for a second that you do not wish to be the spoon-fed, blindly led automaton that society wishes listen.

Many forget that Henry, like Nietzsche, is a man complex in word and thought. People often cannot understand the wordplay that goes into understanding his thought. Walter Kaufmann said it for Nietzsche so I now say it for Henry: Read between the lines; words, sentences, paragraphs often do not mean what is intitally thought. Mr. Rollins is not for the injudicious listener anymore than Nietzsche was for the glancing reader. They both want you to think! Nietzsche's writings were denigrated for being juvenile because he did not have a philisophical "system" or because people thought he was a "Proto-Nazi." Mr. Kaufmann refuted these admirably in his wonderful translations. While I am not in the same league as Mr. Kaufmann, I hope to stop any foolish judgment of Henry Rollins before it starts.

Henry wants you to think. He will not teach you think. He will not tell you what to think. His style, however, may just drive you want to think.

Rollins' spoken-word stuff is great, it really is, but this isn't his best work. Some of the material has already appeared on other cds, and the incisive/witty commentary doesn't really heat up until near the end of the cd. As Rollins himself explains in the liner notes, he didn't really have any new material at that point.

For Rollins neophytes, I highly recommend Think Tank, Human Butt, Sweatbox, and The Boxed Life. Those cds are a better indicator of what Henry's capable of when inspired. On a side note, I saw him live about three weeks after buying this cd, and he was terrific, talking for over three hours (I definitely got my money's worth!) and he was hilarious! You can't write someone as funny and insightful as Rollins off on the basis of one weak cd, but you're better off trying his other work, especially the cds I listed above.

This is some of Henry's 90's spoken word shows. He usually comes off in this album as more of a stand-up comic. This one has quite a few laughs in it and a must hear for many audiences. His language is relatively mild and he does hit on several controversial issues, but his commentary is witty, intelligent and very, very funny.