Customer Reviews

Too Much Stereo

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Yes, the Urge has definately changed alot since Recieving the Gift of Flavor. There are WAY less horns, and they have definately softened up a bit, throwing in some more "radio friendly" sounds. But that doesn't have to mean this CD is bad, I happen to think it's some great music, but besides steve's voice, I could barely tell it's the Urge at all. If you thought Master of Styles was too toned down from Flavor, maybee you should think twice about buying this. Me, I can't get the song "Too Much Stero" out of my head! I liked Recieving the Gift of Flavor more, but that CD it one of my all time favorites. A different Urge, but I love just about every song, so it still gets 5 stars. I'm VERY pleased, give this CD a chance, and get ready to hear "Too Much Stereo" on the radio real soon!

I typically only bother to write reviews when I find a gem. This is no exception. "Master of Style" is a GOOD album; a large portion of "Gift of Flavor" I found to be rather clumsy fumbling. NEVER on "Too Much Stereo". I have a fairly eclectic taste in music, from classical to indy rock, from jazz to industrial metal. Pretty much anything except country and rap shows up in my collection.

Here we have a truly wondeful album. EVERY song is solid and listenable. There are very few albums one can listen through and not find ONE track where you think, "*sigh*, when will this be over so we can get back to the good stuff?" Well, not only does this album sport that special property, but MOST of the songs are EXCELLENT. I don't just spin up the disc wanting to hear 1 or 2 of the best songs; 9 of the 11 tracks are fantastic. Though, I must admit that the sonorous and melodic lead-in to track 3, "What Do They Know", is particularly addictive.

The most difficult part of this review is to compare this album with other discs. If there exists a distinctive genre to which The Urge belongs, I'm not familiar with it. In some ways, they're Ska. In others, indy rock. Though it is a rather vague point of reference, this album is among my all-time top-N along with albums like "The Bends" and "Hail to the Theif" by Radiohead (well, OK, pretty much all of the Radiohead albums), "Chutes Too Narrow" by The Shins, "Electric Version" by New Pornographers, "Welcome Interstate Managers" by Fountains of Wayne, "Undertow" by Tool, "100th Window" by Massive Attack, and (perhaps strangely), "Wolverine Blues" by Entombed. (OK... placing it in that context probably just confused matters.)

If you like GOOD music - meaning, good tunes, clever beats, addictive riffs - buy it, give it a spin. You're almost certain to fall in love. If you liked the previous Urge albums, then you MUST buy this album - you already love it!

This album represents a big change from Recieving The Gift Of Flavor and Master Of Styles. Overall, Too Much Stereo, is much slower and more pop oriented. The loud guitars from the last two albums are toned down quite a bit. The horns are only backround music. On previous albums heavier guitars and horns led the Urge. This is a good CD though even with all the changes. The best tracks are "Too Much Stereo","Four Letters And Two Words","I Go Home","Living On The Surface" and "Warning Warning". If you are a big fan of RTGOF or MOS then listen to this before you buy it. If you want to hear the Urge do something new definitely check this out. I still miss the loud guitars and prominent horn parts. Hopefully they will be back on the next album. This will still be in my CD player all summer. The Urge are one of the best bands out there and Immortal Records NEEDS TO RE-RELEASE ALL of the out of print CDS.

I have to say that I really enjoy The Urge, that music has a great upbeat feel to it and it can always lift my spirits. I first heard about them actually from the CD sampler that came with Korn's - Follow The Leader. The song was "Straight to Hell" from Master of Styles. I quickly went out and bought the release, although the cd was quite a bit different than that single track, that was in no way a bad thing. I downloaded various songs off of their other two albums and eventually bought them off Amazon for like $2 a piece and I can say that it was worth every penny and a lot more.

I actually like this CD the best out of all 3, with Master of Styles coming in second. At first I liked Receiving the Gift of Flavor a lot, but its feel kind of lost its effect on me after a while. Here's a breakdown of the songs on TMS and what I think:

1. What is this - This is a great intro to an album, great lyrics and I love the sound of the bass. Very catchy chorus. 10/10

2. Too Much Stereo - An instant single, again amazing lyrics, you can tell that these guys have fun with the music they play 9/10

3. What Do They Know - A solid song, a little different from the rest musically but it works very well. But not one of my favorites 7/10

4. Four Letters And Two Words - This is my favorite track on the disc and actually why I bought it, this is a beautiful song that also rocks.. what more could you want? 11/10

5. Liar, Liar - Very catchy tune and chorus, this song keeps the momentum up. 8/10

6. I Go Home - This is the first "real" slow song but has great lyrics and a nice feel to it, I like it better than track 7 9/10

7. Say A Prayer - This is another slow song and winds down a bit, and although I like it, I think it wasn't put in the right place of the CD 8/10

8. Welcome to Gunville - You can't NOT like this song! The lyrics are amazing, the double meanings and the rhymes and the vocals and music are amazing. If this wasn't a single it should have been, 2nd favorite on disc! 10/10

9. Living on the Surface - Again, awesome bass and pretty decent vocals, but this song is lacking something, can't really place it though 7/10

10. Push on Like Flinstone - I have to admit when I first heard this song I didn't like it a whole lot but it grew on me, not one of the best but good 8/10

11. Warning, Warning - Although this is a somewhat short and slow song I think it's a good way to wind down the album. Has a really funky feel to it 9/10

All in all a great album and worth more than the Amazon used price.

Receiving The Gift of Flavor is one of my favorite albums from the 90s. Finally bought this because I wanted to hear more of the Urge, and it doesn't disappoint ! Only a couple listens through, but I really like it. Somewhat similar to RTGOF...

I caught on to the Urge bandwagon late and just now got this album. Not as heavy as the first two discs but still "Urge-tastic" Took a few listenings to really dig-it but now in my regular rotation.

My favorite from the Urge, this one is much more mellow & different than the others. But by far the best! Front man Steve Ewing has awesome vocals that really shine through on this album.

There aren't any bad songs on this album, but there are no really great ones either. It tends to just fade into the background, never coming to life and grabbing your attention like the Urge does at their best. "Receiving the Gift of Flavor" and "Master of Styles" are much more compelling albums.

ok. I'll be honest, i've never even heard of the Urge until i went to go see Goldfinger at Irving Plaza on sept 9. I'm a huge Goldfinger fan, but the urge stole the entire show. I love'd them ever since i first hear them play "say a prayer" because i really relate to that song a lot and it put all my feelings about life into music. right after they finished up, i went over and bought "too much stereo" right away. and it was a great decision. even though their very similar to fishbone, they also have a totally different sound from them. so if you like fishbone at all, pick this cd up

This is a great cd, The Urge has their own style of music, incorporating horns with guitars, and i think that's a great duo. If you liked Master Of Styles, you SHOULD buy this cd. Just because The Urge takes a step down in the hard rock category doesn't mean you have to stop liking them. Best songs on this cd i think are "Four Letters and Two Words," "Welcome To Gunville," "I Go Home," and of course "Too Much Stereo," which will stay in your head once you listen to it, go out and buy this cd, it's on of the best cd's of the year.