Customer Reviews

A Word From The Wise

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

......This is pure Pennywise. Their first release only to be followed by their, in my view best album yet.....self titled! But A Word From The Wise started it all off for this punkrock band.....I have been a pw fan for a good five years and through the years they have grown with their music experimenting with different sounds. Lyrically they are amazing.....they have such powerfull lyrics.....and if you don't read the lyrics take it from me every song they do has a point or a message.....so start reading the lyrics!On this record they do a good cover of Stand By Me, a Ben E King song.....The best song on it is Final Chapters and Covers is great.....but judge for yourself. Go and buy this record NOW if you don't already have it.....along with every other one.

THIS CD IS PRETTY COOL DEFINATELY NOT AS HARD AS I LIKE BUT COOL TO CHILL TO A MUST FOR PENNYWISE FANS!!!!!!

This is a very good Pennywise cd.Not the best, but still worth every penny. Stand By Me is one the best songs they've done and half the songs not even punk! A must buy or die.

What can I say this album ROCKS! The album is so good that you can hardly tell it is Pennywise's first album! My only gripe is that there is only 8 tracks, but who cares its Pennywise! True Pennywise fans should buy it NOW!!!

love love love pennywise this is one of the best albums in my opinion wish jim didnt leave the band

this cd is excelent. you have to ignore the release date, this was all recorded pre-self titled album. anytime an artist releases early material it will not be what you expect. Even with all this it's an excelent album. Any true pennywise fan needs this cd.

I've heard every Pennywise except for the self titled, and I can say that this is way different than anything else. The songs are different, and they significantly vary. Stand By Me, is, you guess it, a cover of the oldies song of the same name. Maybes is the biggest departure from Pennywise. It almost sounds like something Incubus or The Red Hot Chili Peppers would do. It's because it's more funk-oriented than most of their other songs. Final Chapters is the best song on here, as is Depression and No Way Out. No Way Out is a hilarious song that, say Blink (dear god) or the Offspring would do. but this is a great CD if you like independant releases or some of Pennywise's early material. It'll take a couple of repeated listens before you get used to this one, especially if you're a recent Pennywise convert like I am.

This is clearly the worst Pennywise release. The first 5 tracks come from their debut EP: A Word from the Wise. While, tracks 7-9 are songs from Pennywise's 7" vinyl that came right after "A Word from the Wise" titled: Wildcard. So even though all of these songs were released together as one CD after their Self Titled album was released, the songs on this album were still written and recorded before "Self Titled" was. Meaning, this is still technically their debut. And it really shows. Even though The background music doesn't really sound all that different from their self titled album, there is one quite noticeable difference between "A Word From the Wise/Wildcard" and "Self Titled". And that is the vocals. Instead of the usual new skool Bad Religion, Offspring style vocals. This is old skool snot-punk style vocals! In fact the vocals to the song "Maybes" come dangerously close to sounding like Beastie Boys! Some people like it when punk bands can't sing. However, I don't.

The lyrics aren't very good either. Their lack of experience is very obvious. The lyrics just don't flow very well. The message to the lyrics is also less clear and sometimes even metaphorical. In fact, I am starting to have a sneaky suspicion that their was no message to the song "Covers". Because the message I got out of it is such a big stretch it isn't even funny. I guess, this is why the only song from this album Pennywise plays in their concerts is "Final Chapters". Because they are aware of this albums lyrical flaws! Overall, I don't think that there isn't really anything special about this album. But then again, fans of Circle Jerks, Black Flag, 7 Seconds and the like will probably love this CD and would consider this to be their favorite Pennywise album. But of course, huge fans of Circle Jerks, 7 Seconds and Black flag probably already own this CD anyway! So please, I beg you, unless you have the above characteristics then DO NOT buy this as your first Pennywise album. It hurts me to think that new recruits could land up with this poor impression of Pennywise. I recommend starting with "Land of The Free" or "About Time". Peace.

For a normal CD, Wild Card would be great, but for a Penneywise CD it's their worst yet! Penneywise can and has done a lot better in their first and later CDs. I recommend this CD only for a hardcore Penneywise fan. If you're looking for something like Penneywise's better albums such as "Straight Ahead" or "Land of the Free" you won't find it with this CD which has more primative lyrics and an overall cruder, less put-together sound.

PW's great album! The "stand By Me" is great, great, great! PW's is great! The world is great! "Great" is a great word, don't you think?