Customer Reviews

We Are the Radio: Mini Album (Dig)

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

 

 

Brian Jonestown Massacre is one of the most respected bands in Los Angeles and the world today. They are a band of a high caliber that has paved the way for many bands. Anton Newcombe is one of the great songwriters of our time. For years his band has been working in the margins and in the underground because of Newcombe's intensity and his staying true to his pure vision. Since the movie Dig! has come out, a wider audience now is aware of his various talents. Now Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Perry Farrell, and Steve Jones (of The Sex Pistols) are fans. In the past three years BJM has done many successful tours and have spread the gospel. A few tours in the UK have added to the legend. Now people who have seen the film expect Newcombe to be this bizarre wildman. That was more where he was in 1997. It's only a fraction of his personality. Years have passed and it's obvious by now that he has a dedication and a love of music. Anton Newcombe is one of the last real rock and rollers. Most others are doing karaoke in comparison. Newcombe is a shaman. He revives the ghost of real rock and roll every night in a club. Whether or not the hipsters "get it" is not his job. They will be talking about BJM years from now when all these media fads and pretenders have disappeared. So we have an EP, which is supposed to be a taste of the new album possibly. Newcombe is always developing and changing his musical landscape. The previous album "And This Is Our Music" featured many different lead singers. It was as if BJM was this traveling troupe and anyone could join. This EP is much similar. Except all the songs are co-written by Sarabeth Tuceck. The first song "Never Become Emotionally Attached" is a soft mellow folk song that features Tuceck on vocals. "Seer" has more techno elements. Newcombe is a genius at manipulating sounds. The clicking sound in this song is very addictive. This song reminds me of some of the stuff Mazzy Star did. "Time Is Honey" has great multiple vocals. This is a classic BJM song. Newcombe sings the lead on this one. The next one "Teleflows vs. Amplifaction" reminds me of some of the Bowie/Eno collaborations around the time of Low. A fascination with Krautrock it must be. The final song "God Is My Girlfriend" has the vibe of "All Tomorrow's Parties" but goes further. It's good that all this attention is on BJM. They are a great band. Now you just have to shut up and listen.

I am a huge BJM fan. I actually think this is Newcombe's best album to date. Each album this guy makes tends to be great, regardless of the constant abandoning membership of band members. This album seems to be more artistically inclined -- more on the order of something you'd hear from Brian Eno -- and less pigeon-holed on 60's revilalism. I am frankly surprised to hear any poor reviews on this album. It is a great album.

YOu can never compar the dandys to BJM, more like the dandys wanna be like anton and bjm....... BJM is and will always be the best band out there...... this new ep is great, everything from them is great.... i recommened thank god for mental illness....

I am surprised to see such great reviews already for this disc. I have been a BJM fan for many years, right around the time they started. This disc is a huge letdown. First I will begin by saying that Anton is a genius and it shows in his music. Unfortunately, not much of that is to show here. The first and the last songs are the only real decent songs here. Frankly, the female vocals annoy me. By the way, I love female vocals but these are just pretty drab in my book. The use of electronics (if that is what it is on songs 2,3,4) does not add anything. The disc is mega short and quite a rip off for $9. I feel that Anton took us for a major ride on this one. I just hope he bounces back in a great way for the next release. Even though I don't reayy like this ep so much, I am still glad to support one of the last true rock n roll bands/Anton.

If, as is advertised in these pages, this is any indication of what their upcoming full-length cd will sound like, many BJM fans will be disappointed, I'm afraid. Simply put, this is significantly inferior in every way to the three BJM cds I know inside and out: Bringing it all back home again; Strung out in Heaven; and ...And this is our music. These three are great. 'We are the radio' pales in comparison (and the new female singer sounds too similar to Grace Slick): repetitive, lacking energy and urgency. Even the one instrumental comes nowhere near the brilliance of 'Heroin and Prozac revisited' off of 'And this is our music'. That's got to be one of the many high points of this extremely talented band. Keeping me fingers crossed- and looking forward to seeing them this May and June (2006)...

PEOPLE, I COME TO YOU AS A PROPHET. HEAR MY WORDS. TAKE THEM AS BOTH WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT AND WORDS OF WARNING. THIS MINI-ALBUM IS TALENTED ORIGINAL MUSIC. HOWEVER, THIS MUSIC IS NOT THE MASSACRE WE ALL LOVE AND RALLY AROUND. AS A PROPHET, I REGRETFULLY PREDICT THAT THE MASSACRE'S NEXT ALBUM WILL SOUND SIMILAR TO THE STYLINGS OF THIS RELEASE.

"The absolute worst thing that can happen to a prophet is to be wrong. The second worst thing that can happen to a prohet is to be right." - Aldous Huxley

I AM THE ONLY PROPHET IN HISTORY WHO HOPES TO BE PROVEN WRONG.