Customer Reviews

One Thousand Smiling Knuckles

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

 

 

This is a solid grunge recording by Jack Endino and company that is obviously overlooked. Hard to describe their sound. Kind of like Soundgarden, Melvins, and Black Sabbath put in a blender. But a little quicker. Standouts include "Words on Bone," "Psychoriflepowerhypnotized," and "Material Freak."

I'm agree with the revieuw downstairs.The following work by them,Inside The Eye,is even better.

Sub-genre names are (in my opinion) for people that have a lame idea to be part of something "unique" and different, even though there's plenty of other people at the party. "GRUNGE" is one such term. I couldn't stand it then and it practically makes me puke to hear it now. It demeans and undermines the music and pigeonholes it so that kids can feel cool.

Skin Yard was a great rock and roll band. Period. This is their finest hour. "Knuckles" is their sound culminating with flawless performances and mega-guitarist Jack Endino's evolving studio brilliance. This album blew my mind when it was released because it had more SOUL than a lot of SubPop poop. These guys understood songwriting, rhythm and Ben's voice is probably one of the most defining out of that whole period. I hadn't heard it since I played my old cassette close to 10 years ago and just got it loaded to the iPod via this disc. I can't recommend it enough. It's simply great rock and roll. Buy it.

This album's sound is like a combination between the last two albums, Fist Sized Chunks and Hallowed Ground. It takes the unrelenting heaviness and grunginess of Fist Sized Chunks, and the psychedelic intensity of Hallowed Ground and mixes them perfectly, which is probably why this is usually considered their best album. In my opinion it's not as great as Inside the Eye, but it's more than worth owning. Two songs in, you realize that Jack Endino is not only a fantastic producer but an amazing guitarist - it's a shame that he won't be remembered as a great rock guitarist because his playing is both original in sound and stunning in technical ability. Buy this if you're into Soundgarden or Alice in Chains, because this is on par with the former and actually surprisingly better than the latter.