Village Gorilla Head

Tommy Stinson | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 27, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sanctuary Records
• ASIN: B0002D2ODG
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,393 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Possibly the best Ex-Mat's Album Yet, August 19, 2004

By 

Timothy P. Young (Rawlins, WY, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Village Gorilla Head (Audio CD)

With all due respect to Mssrs Westerberg, Mars and Dunlap: all have produced great work since the Replacements folded. Chris Mars made some great one-man garage rock, with heavy echoes of '60's grunge (early Kinks, etc.). Slim Dunlap released the best Replacements song that never was ("The Ballad of the Opening Band"), and Paul has given us album after album of, well, trademark "Paul-ness." Heartfelt sandpaper vocals, ragged-but-right playing, sometimes reflective, sometimes fun, most often inbetween. And just for the record, I play all of their solo stuff pretty often, along with my Replacements records.

But Tommy has been different. Not content (or confident enough, maybe?) to be a solo artist, he formed Bash and Pop way back when, and released the great Faces/Stones inspired album 'Friday Night Is Killing Me.' Promptly dismissed by Sire records when the album didn't do well, he turned to old mate and Twin-Tone founder Peter Jesperson to release an EP by his second post-Mat's band, Perfect. The resulting 'When Squirrels Play Chicken' is a great slice of loose, garagey hard rock and punk, capped by a sloppy cover of "Crocodile Rock." By the time Perfect had recorded a follow-up, Jesperson's Medium Cool records was in limbo, and so was the album.

We all know what happened next: Tommy joined Guns'n'Roses. A few shows and A LOT of studio time later, G'n'R has yet to release more than one song, but Tommy got a record deal, and not only does this mark his de jure 'solo' debut, he has produced what is possibly the finest album by an ex-Replacement so far.

Why, you may ask? First of all, he breaks new musical ground and finds his own identity. The variety of styles on this album run from Big Star-esque plainative songs ("Without A View") to Dylanesque folk-pop ("Hey You") to good old fashioned pop-punk that made the Mat's what they were ("What's Your Motivation").

Second, he's finally got his own songwriting voice. Gone are the Westerbergisms of earlier efforts (ok, there's one, but it's minor), replaced with his own sense of song structure, heavily influenced by everyone from Alex Chilton to his current employer.

Third, this is easily the most heavily layered album by any ex-Replacement. Musically, it accomplishes what 'Don't Tell A Soul' only hinted at: complex, rocking, fully explored electric music with a bonfire in its belly. 'Don't Tell A Soul' mostly failed in this regard. 'Village Gorilla Head' fulfills the promise of that long-ago record: A hard, driving album, deeply complex, with massive intelligence and passion behind it.

I buy a lot of music, and I've got to say that this is possibly the best album I've bought in a year. As Jim Dickinson once said, "Tommy Stinson IS rock'n'roll." (And folk, and pop, and punk, and lots of other things.)

Buy this record. Tommy needs the cash.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Ex-Mats Project Yet!, November 17, 2004

By 

NiTRO - See all my reviews

This review is from: Village Gorilla Head (Audio CD)

Not to sound too redundant but Tim (9/08/04) really nailed the essence of this record in his more lengthy review.

This is an imaginative, creative, diverse and well produced rock record and I agree that this is absolutely one of the best albums of 2004! The sad part is that this is one of those projects that will go largely unnoticed.

VGH is a very palatable record that would be enjoyed by a vast audience if it were exposed. Tommy is not at all trying to recreate the Replacements althoguh there are a few songs that will remind you of why the Replacements were so great!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Recording!, October 26, 2005

By 

George Jordan (Scituate, Ma. USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Village Gorilla Head (Audio CD)

I love this CD. I 've bought everything Paul Westerberg has released while neglecting Tommy Stinson's work. Now I'm eagerly awaiting Stinson's next project. He is terrific here; thoughtful adult songwriting plus some raved up flat out rockers. I've been humming these tunes ever since I recieved the CD. It's great to discover new music again. I didn't know what to expect and now I'm a big fan.