Customer Reviews

Ska-Core: Devil & More

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

 

 

A good example of ska core. This EP shows the excellent range of the Bosstones with songs like "Someday I Suppose" and "Think Again," an excellent cover. One of my favorite songs on the EP; the Bosstones add a nice horn section into this hard-core song. The live songs at the end are an excellent addition. Watch out for the hidden song "HowWhyWuz,WhoWhyAm." It's a different sound than LFI, but any Bosstones fan should really like this excellent EP. The other covers are "Police Beat, Simmer Down" and "Lights Out"

PS. "Drugs and Kittens" is another version of "Drunks and Children"

This is probably their best EP ever!! I listened to it over and over again and learned the whole thing in just a few days. If you are a fan of The BossToneS this is a must have. The hidden song at the end is awesome, but it takes a while to skim through to it. I'm a huge fan of the BossToneS and I don't think that they can ever come out with a bad cd. I love the BossToneS!! Dicky, you are so awesome!!! BUY THIS CD!!!

This is one of my favorite Bosstones cds. Songs like Someday I Suppose and Simmer Down are what I listen to the Bosstones for. I was underwhelmed with the amount of tracks on the cd, but I did pick it up for 1.49 at a used Cd shop. I didn't think that it was quite as good as Lets Face It, (my favorite album by them) but it was a great CD and was worth more than $1.49, and the amazon price of 5.99. If you like the Bosstones, or just Ska in general, this is a good CD to buy.

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones sound totally awsome on this EP. If you don't have it yet, get it! They crank out some amazing music on here and it can be listened to a million times if your a ska-core/punk fan! Also, check out their other albums because they're just as great!

This album whoops major ass. Polce beat hasta be one of the best BossToneS songs ever. There's a secret song at about 36 min on the last track. The BossToneS never sound the same on any two albums. Always evolving they are. Let's hope they keep it up!

great album returns to the bosstones earlier days Dickies grissly voice shines on this album.

I'll start off with this- This EP is what introduced me to hardcore, it is a crossover, and if you like ska or hardcore, you need to check this one out. You have 3 Bosstones originals(2 are live versions of older songs) 3 Hardcore covers, and one Wailers cover, that is definitely one of my favorite versions of "Simmer Down".

The first track ,"Someday I Suppose," shows the band transition from their earlier work into the era that produced the album Lets Face It and its lack luster follow ups. This one appears also on the album Don't Know How to Party. Its a straight forward track and is pretty solid. Don't get any ideas of what the next 3 songs are like from this song though, because the boys are about to visit a whole other place once we get to track 2.

The first cover is a rendition of Minor Threat's song "Think Again," and the band does a good job putting their own twist on the song while keeping true to the original. Lights Out is a little harder to rate as a cover as its the most obscure out of the four covers. For some reason it feels more like a regular Bosstone's song to me. I've yet to hear the original version as performed by Lights Out, but it should be noted that it is the strongest of the four covers, and appears on the Bosstone's live album as the closing song of the '97 Hometown Throwdown. The cover of "Police Beat" by Boston's legendary S.S.Decontrol is sadly the weakest track on the whole album. I think its probably the most down tempo song that the Bosstones ever released. It also has almost no mark of the bosstone's take on the song, sounding more like what an SSD tribute band would put out. It is interesting to note that Bosstone's vocalist Dickey Barret's first band Impact Unit used to open for SSD in the 80's.

The band breaks from the hardcore sound to deliver a ska tune from the Wailers' early days at Studio 1. I have to say I think Dickey improvised a lot of the lyrics, as they don't quite match up with the original, but this does give some originality to the tune. I personally prefer this version of the song over any other I have heard, as ska covers of older ska songs are often pretty bland.

The last song it that live medley. It contains what is the 3rd renaming of the Bosstone's anthem "Drunks and Children," this time named Drugs and Kittens, and continues into another early fan favorite "I'll Drink to That." This is, by far, the gem on this EP, capturing the sound the band is known for, and giving a tiny slice of what one their legendary live shows were like. There is a hidden track of "Howwhywuz, Howwhyam" at the end of the 11 minutes or so of silence recorded at the same show as the other two.

I generally do not recommend EP's as a starting point or introduction to a band's catalogue, but this EP is affordable and give a listener a full taste of the Bosstones' sound and give insight to the band's roots in Hardcore as well as traditional Ska of the 1960's. This is probably one of the best crossover releases I've ever come across as well. At the price you can get this CD for, you might as well take a chance on it, even if it doesn't seem to be your cup of tea.

Simply put, if you like other Bosstones stuff, you'll definitely like this album. Someday I suppose is a fun tune to start it off, and Think Again, Lights Out, and Police Beat, none of them very long, are harder rockin' songs.

Simmer Down, a cover of a Bob Marley tune, is more relaxed as its title implies. It's a nice change of pace for the usually very-intense Bosstones.

The last two songs, Drugs and Kittens and I'll Drink to That, were recorded live at a concert in Boston, on December 2, 1992. It has some banter with the crowd at the beginning and end, and if you wait a long time (almost 25 minutes) after it ends, a hidden track will start playing. The hidden track is a moderately-paced song about getting older - I see why it's bonus, since it doesn't really fit in with the other songs on this EP.

Overall, a great little EP - don't pay too much for it, and you will definitely not be disappointed.

I don't know if they have sold out or if they're just having a lot of fun. This album doesn't compare to the hardest songs on Don't Know How to Party. If your looking for the up-beat sound found on other Bosstones recordings look somwhere else.

I would have given this a no star rating, but the lowest it went was one star. Their pictures need to go up on the dartboard, right next to No Doubt.