Ultraglide in Black

Dirtbombs | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 29, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: In the Red Records
• ASIN: B00005BJI8
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,782 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #65 in Music > Alternative Rock > Hardcore & Punk > Garage Punk

Editorial Reviews

Take a stack of soul platters from the 1960s and 1970s from the likes of Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Sly & the Family Stone, Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder; mix generously with a propulsive mix of two bass guitars, two drummers, and the vocals of a Detroit rock legend; and you have an underrated gem in the Motor City music scene. Ultraglide in Black puts a rock spin on recognizable nuggets of soul and funk while retaining the original version's integrity and message. Most of the tunes covered here are spirited party tracks, including a sparkling version of Gaye's "Got to Give It Up" that features a strident breakdown. Vocalist Mick Collins, of the Gories fame, paints each track with a flavorful delivery which at times will have the listener literally transported to AM radio's yesteryear. The Dirtbombs have created a record that is akin to stumbling across a box of cool records in your parent's attic, and is suitable for continuous play at any house party. ~ Douglas Siwek, All Music Guide

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Who says rock 'n' roll is dead? October 8, 2005

By TimothyFarrell22

Format:Audio CD

The Dirtbombs manage to combine rock 'n' roll with soul in a way so fantastic few bands could ever pull it off. Like everything the great Mick Collins has done, it proves there are still a few great pure rock 'n' roll bands out there. The album is a series of covers (with the exception of "Your Love Belongs Under a Rock") that match and sometimes manage to be better than the originals. The thing that made the New York Dolls and the Ramones so great makes Mick Collins great - he knows his rock 'n' roll history. I would give anything to be able to go through the man's record collection. He covers well known artists, but chooses more obscure tunes as opposed to their hits. If most bands where to cover Thin Lizzy, they'd choose "The Boys Are Back In Town" or "Jailbreak". Collins picks "Ode to a Black Man" (coincedentally the greatest song on the album). An original mix of two bassists, two drummers, and the great Collins on guitar and vocals.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Hey, Dublin guy, go back to your U2 albums. July 17, 2002

By Barry Offwhite

Format:Audio CD

I wonder if the guy from Dublin realizes that "Ultraglide In Black" is a covers album. Shouldn't he be complaining about this album's songwriting on the Thin Lizzy, Curtis Mayfield, and Stevie Wonder product pages?

This album is great. It's old time soul/R&B (back when R&B actually meant Rhythm and Blues, not watered down commercial hip-hop) with a modern punk rock edge. But as frontman Mick Collins points out, "It's NOT supposed to be garage punk. It's a louder, faster version of the O'Jays."

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars music with SOUL! June 26, 2001

By A Customer

Format:Audio CD

Mick Collins is the MAN! This guy could sing the phone book and make it sound good. His latest with the Dirtbombs is a real, honst-to-goodness soul record made up of mainly covers from his early heros. All of these tracks are served up with a helping of fuzz guitar that lets you know they are not messing around. There are a lot of other bands doing the whole soul cover version thing, but none of them are this good.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST SOUL ALBUM OF THE DECADE June 8, 2001

By A Customer

Format:Audio CD

Mick Collins is without a doubt the best Rn'B/soul vocalist alive. It's amazing to me that this guy isn't making millions doing slick modern Rn'B with a voice like his. Instead, Mick fronts a number of the raunchiest garage rock outfits around. This new album is, appearantly, a tribute to those who influenced him as there are cover versions of Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Sly Stone, George Clinton and others. All songs have been suitably pumped up in the energy department and drenched in fuzz guitar, but this still sounds like a soul record. For Mick Collins it's obvious that Rn'B still stands for rhythm and blues. A classic!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Garage Soul August 6, 2006

By Glenn Nippert

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a great concept, Soul and R&B played like garage rock and in the process inventing a new sub-genre, Garage Soul!! Not just anyone could pull this off though because not just anyone can sing raspy voiced soul over screaming guitars and driving drums. You need a special individual like Mick Collins, lead singer of The Dirtbombs. This is a very innovative album for a cover song disc. It is pulsating, throbbing rock that will put a stupid grin on your face and a cocky strut in your walk. Even when a song doesn't quite adapt to the rock idiom such as Marvin Gaye's dance classic "Got To Give It Up", which has it's keyboard riff transposed to electric guitar, it still works better than it should. Stevie Wonder's "Living For The City" adapts seamlessly to the rock treatment and my personal fave is Thin Lizzy's "Ode To A Black Man". This particular cut should have gotten airplay and would have turned these guys from cult sensations to Rock superstars overnight. Few songs grab me the way this one does when it comes stomping out of the speakers. I've been known to play this one as much as 8 times in a row. The first time I played this album, I said it was one of the best things I had heard in a long time. I think I will be saying that for quite some time. Rock n' soul haven't been this cozy together in a long, long time.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Modern Soul Explosion. January 30, 2004

By jason gilmour

Format:Audio CD

Whoa! This is what modern soul/R+B should be all about.The super soulful vocals and Del-vettes style fuzz guitar take garage rock to a new level. Most of the songs are covers of 60's and 70's soul songs, but The Dirtbombs super-charge these tunes and blast them into the future! Put this on and get the party started!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars We've been trapped for too long. . . August 10, 2001

By Nathan Walker

Format:Audio CD

The state of rock music has oppressed us for too long. The revolution has begun and Detroit is the burgeoning capital. If you've felt a little disappointed with the lack of emotion and power in your radio dial (does anyone else still have a dial besides me?) and wondered what happened to the Roll of Rock & Roll, your answer is in this cd. The roll found a home in Detroit.

This band is amazing. Mick Collins will make you shake your hips like you were watching a Mick Jagger and James Brown duet! An album of obscure covers that makes you want to dance, move, shake, hell I even was so possessed by the music once that I jumped up and did the dishes. Certainly a rare occurence in my humble abode.

While you're at it, check out their friends the White Stripes. Although, I think they're getting to be a bit ubiquitous so you've probably already heard them.

Thanks for your time.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Ultraglide in Black August 21, 2009

By Morton VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

The Dirt Bombs-Ultraglide in Black ****

This is rock n' roll the way it should be played. Loud, raw, sleazy, and with no care for who cares. These Detroit garage rockers do it right, and Ultraglide in Black is their purest and best album.

'Chains Of Love' is one of the most honest songs ever recorded. And man does it groove. It's the perfect way to start off this killer album. 'Underdog' is just a what the f***? how is this so good!? While the cover of Stevie Wonders' 'Livin For The City' is soooo bad that you can't help but to groove along to it and then you realize he is vocalizing in Spanish. 'Kung Fu' shouldn't work but does. But the sleazed up cover of Marvin Gaye's 'Got To Give It Up' is just so perfect it makes you question the original.

The Dirtbombs were the real deal, it's too bad their no longer together. Ultraglide in Black is THE album to check out.