Customer Reviews

Start the Machine

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

 

 

If you're reading this, chances are you're already a Fu Manchu fan. If you have yet to purchase any of Fu Manchu's albums, they are an unbelievably great band and you definitely need several of their albums in your collection. So skip the rest of this review and enter "Fu Manchu" & "Go For It Live", "King Of The Road" or "Daredevil" in the search box now; buy all three ablums if you've got the extra cash. For my other Fu Manchu brothers & sisters out there, I'm really disappointed in this album. Coming off the heels of a Marshall Stack, Tube Tone drenched, sonic powerhouse live album, this cd is very disappointing. The first listen reminded me of the line from the song 'Ojo Rojo', "She wanted nothing & I delivered". The songs, melodies, song structures and lyrics are classic Fu Manchu, but there is something in the overall sound & vibe of this record that just doesn't make it. The term "over-produced" sounds cliche, but it seems to apply here. The earlier Fu Manchu albums which were technically under-produced really serve the band's sound so much better. Anyone familiar with guitar amps knows the debate & preference of warmer, smoothing sounding "tube" amps over the somewhat lifeless, electronic, transistor ones. "Start The Machine" sounds very transistorized and compressed with very little "warmth & tone". I bought this after listening to the live album for a few weeks in my car. An album where the sounds of Balch's lead guitar in the left channel and Scott's rhythm guitar in the right channel are so friggin' powerful and in your face. Balch still plays some wicked leads here; but often the guitar sounds are just meshed & blended together sounding like a mono recording at times.
Reeder's drums are very powerful (rather than groove orientated) and up front in the mix, almost too upfront (the guitars should be louder). Reeder is a excellent drummer (his drumming on the live album reminds me a lot of Bill Ward's drumming on Paranoid"); but on this album, it seems he's trying to be David Grohl. On several songs here, the Nirvana fixation is quite evident; in some instances, the album sounds more like Nirvana than late 90's Fu Manchu. Brant Bjork's grooving, bass drum heavy sound (ala "King OF The Road") seems much more complimentary to the bands overall sound. Still this is still a good hard rock album (very little, if any "stoner" present here). I'm hoping this was just an unfortunate production job and not the start of a trend (dare I say more commmercialized trend). So longtime fans would be best served to hit eBay or zShops for this one. Wait a few months & I'm sure the price will tank somewhat.

I'm not sure what chip the first reviewer had on his shoulder, but basically the best review I can give is to say "ignore that review". Fu Manchu have flown under the mainstream radar long enough. Their time has come. Thier skills are honed. Their truly unique approach to Rock 'n' Roll is so refreshing in a time when bands start to sound the same. Fu Manchu stands out even in the genre they have most often been lumped into (Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss, etc.), but the scope of thier talent is more diverse and enjoyable to more people than that genre can hold. This album reminds me of hearing Van Halen for the first time by the way it hits you as so much better than the rest! I give this one 4 stars because it is on par with King of the Road, and California Crossing, both great albums in thier own rite, but I reserve 5 stars for legendary status albums such as the Beatles Sgt. Pepper, or Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. The more people hear and agree that Start the Machine is as I say, the more likely I'd give it 5.

Basically, what you would expect from Fu Manchu. Heavy riffs and laid back grooves. Has a pretty cool laid back, dreamy instrumental on it. No real curveballs on this record. Just straight up Fu Manchu the way we like it. Kind of reminds me of King of the Road in sound. The reason I give it 3 stars is because it didn't blow me away but I have no regrets about buying it. The Fu machine just keeps chuggin' along!

While I have always been able to detect the sounds of bands like Black Flag and Circle Jerks gurgling underneath Fu Manchu's sludgey rock, on "Start the Machine" the old school skate-punk influence moves to the forefront. These new Fu songs are heavy, fast and pissed off. The laid-back melodies of "California Crossing" have vanished in favor of pure hard-rock aggression. New drummer Scott Reeder proves he has the the chops to fill Brant Bjork's shoes and guitarist Bob Balch continues to impress with stellar leads, especially on the powerful track "Understand". In the middle of all the AC/DC meets Black flag madness comes "Out to Sea", without a doubt the mellowest track they have ever recorded, providing an essential moment of relief and proving that the band has diversity to boot. While the Fu Manchu live record "Go For It. Live!" remains their heaviest moment, this album totally delivers the goods. Also worth noting is that the pinball, skateboarding, sci-fi imagery and 1976 cover art have been abadnoned in favor of often angry lyrics and straightforward packaging. Other great tracks: the bluesy hard rock of "Make them Believe", the hardcore fun of "I Can't Hear You" and the almost pop-rock closer "I Wanna Be".

if you like fu manchu,or stoner rock(qotsa,kyuss,hermano,floating widget)get that one,it rock from the track one till the end,king of the road was my favourite album from fu manchu till that one came out,they kinda slow down fore there latest album(california crossing)but they came back with a slap in you face with start the machine,faster and a lill touch of punk to spice it up,loud crunchy and RAW!!!

It's been a while since Fu Manchu started (over twelve years) and guitarist Scott Hill is the only one of the original members still standing. Now they are on a new label -- DRT -- and it's been three years since their last release. The Album opens with "Written In Stone" which is a Fu Manchu stoner rock meets punk not being completely one style or the other song. You can't categorize their music. Then you have the more punk-ish track "I Can't hear You", which is hard driven and is filled with energy.

Vocalist Scott Hill blends his voice with the music rather nicely together. Other tracks on the album are "Make Them Believe", "Understand" and a more trippy, slower tune called "Out To Sea". It has twelve tracks in a mere thirty five minutes but I still like it.

the fu can do no wrong. i've been a fan since 1991 and this is a great album. scott r is an awesome drummer, following well in brant's style and there are very well constructed songs here with the usual great riffs and lead. best songs: hey, it's all the same and i wanna be.

This is my favorite fu manchu album, certainly worth five stars. Don't listen to all the negative reviewers their just a bunch of old burned out hippies. This is more modern rock. Just because this one is too edgy to trip out on doesn't mean it aint good. Go out and get this CD as well as Dare Devil, Action is Go, and California Crossing.

Returning once again to the candy metal shenanigans of TAIG and CC, Fu Manchu have apparently reneged on the promising power resurgence of KOTR--probably for good. Age has a way of mellowing even the hardest of metal tacticians. For those who wish to revel in Fu's pinnacle of power, please seek out the Eatin' Dust EP from 1999. The last two songs, as cited in the header, form one of the heaviest, most primordial one-two punches in the entire metal canon.

Dear Fu Manchu,

The time comes in any relationship when things should be reevaluated, and the question should be asked: what have you done for me lately? Sadly, I cant say that youve really done anything...and whats worse is that you dont even seem to be trying.

When California Crossing came out I figured it was time for us to go our separate ways, move on and all that. And there was also that dull, muddy live album. But I decided to give you another chance with Start the Machine...after all, we do have some history: In Search of and The Action Is Go were great. Those were the days.

But now youve gone and brought me down again, and Ive got say that this has become unacceptable. The thrill is gone and Im just plain bored. Dont get jealous, but I get more from Monster Magnet's Monolithic Baby!, Lowrider's Ode to Io...and for live albums, Corrosion of Conformity's Live Volume really does it for me.

So lets make a (semi)clean break of it. Id love to say that its all been great...but I cant. So Ill just say dont go away mad, just go away. And dont let the door hit you in the behind on your way out.

Oh, and Im going to need you to just go ahead and drop my Black Sabbath Vol. 4 cd in the mail.