Customer Reviews

Youth Is Wasted on the Young

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you think the Hives are something special, then do yourself a favor and check out The Twelve Caesars. Like the Hives, the Caesars are from Sweden, and both bands infuse gobs of energy into the classic garage rock formula. But the Caesars go one better by incorporating infectious melodies into the 13 three minute gems on Youth Is Wasted On the Young. Oh, and if you've seen the SMIRNOFF ICE(tm) commercial - the one where the guys start a party in a laundromat - then you've heard The Twelve Caesars.

Youth starts out with a mild paring of acoustic guitar and piano, but seconds later the guitars are kicked up to eleven as the singer rants, "I wanna smoke crack/ 'cuz your never coming back/I wanna shoot speed balls/ bang my head against the wall/I wanna sniff glue /'cuz I can't get over you." I've played this album for my 18-year-old daughter Caitlin, and even though she's been riding the modern rock bandwagon, she asked me to burn her a copy because "that song ROCKS."

The fun continues with fast, melodic rockers like "Lets Go Parking Baby" and "I'm Gonna Kick You Out." The exuberant melodies and garage-style enthusiasm continues with the angry rant, "You're My Favorite." Yes, all these songs are of the boy-meets-girl variety, but here the boy isn't afraid to tell the girl that she's "always my second choice" and that she's "older than my mother." Try not to smile while listening to the chorus of "She's a planet." Good fun.

Caesar's Palace, The Caesars, The Twelve Caesars - they're all the same group. They go by different names depending on location - Twelve Caesars in most of Scandinavia, The Caesars in North America, and Caesar's Palace in Sweden, most of europe, and the rest of the world.

They currently have five albums:
39 Minutes of Bliss (as The Caesars)
Paper Tigers (as The Caesars)
Youth Is Wasted On The Young (as The Twelve Caesars)
Cherry Kicks (as Caesar's Palace)
Love For The Streets (as Caesar's Palace)

I hope this helps clarify some things.

I give EVERY SINGLE ALBUM five out of five stars - great vocals, great leads, great base, great melodies, great everything. If you like rock, don't pass this up.

It's a shame that this band goes unnoticed. With all the nonsense on the airwaves thank God for Minty Fresh and their A&R people.

Anybody possessing the snotty confidence to begin a record with the line "I wanna smoke crack/'cause you're never coming back" obviously understands the dearth of brazen commentary in 1990s rock. Sweden's Twelve Caesars don't gripe, moan or confess -- they just play garage songs with swagger and intelligence, careening between "Backbeat"-era Beatles melodies and high octane, organ-accented guitar riffs reminiscent of the Lyres, Thee Headcoats or the Original Sins. Despite all of the Twelve Caesars' on-point songwriting and perma-cool attitude, "Youth Is Wasted On The Young" hasn't received much attention in the music press, which seems convinced that this type of stuff is growing irrelevant. Yeah, and Kid Rock is a genius.

With all the attention that bands like The Hives, White Stripes, Strokes, Vines, etc. have received over the last couple of years, if Youth Is Wasted On The Young was released within that time, The Twelve Caesars would have received more than their share of the hype. While it was a welcome change to hear a more eclectic mix of music on the radio (and it still is), several of the bands I've mentioned here didn't quite deliver the goods consistently enough on their respective full length debuts. In contrast, Youth Is Wasted On The Young takes right off from the start, with the jaw droppingly catchy (and powerful) Sort It Out, and continues in high gear to the end.

All of the songs here crackle with garagey abandon. The mixes are raw, leaving the power intact. Unlike much of The Hives's work, Twelve Caesars liberally dose their rave ups with massive pop hooks. I challenge any listener to resist the irresistable Sort It Out, You're My Favourite, Anything You Want, She's A Planet, and the slightly reserved, Optic Nerve.

While the Twelve Caesars rock the laundromat on a recent Bacardi commercial with a track from this CD, I can find no evidence that the band is still around: no follow up album, no recent U.S. tour, no mention in the press, nothing. (Very weird thing just happened. I just this minute got an e-mail from a friend who I'm meeting up with tonight to go see The Soundtrack of Our Lives. One of the opening bands is simply called the Caesars. My friend says that these Caesars also hail from Sweden, and are currently featured in a commercial. Could this be a coincidence, or am I in for an unexpected treat this evening?)

Whether or not the Twelve Caesars are still around, or whether or not this CD was released in 2002, 2001, or twenty years ago, Youth Is Wasted On The Young is a great, timeless collection of revved up, pop rockers, with a 60's garage, and 70's punk edge. Just the first 30 seconds or so of Sort It Out should be enough get hooked. Enjoy.

One of the greatest mysteries of all time! WHY AREN'T these guys HUGE? This album hit me like a ton of bricks during December of 98 and was on my top 10 list for 98, 99 and 2000. I don't care when it came out - I can't stop listening to it. It is simply one of the greatest records ever! Like OASIS meets OZ garage legends THE LIME SPIDERS with farfisa! Each song is a killer! The production is flawless! Known as Caesars Palace in Sweden (the name was changed for obvious reasons in US). Try to hunt down their follow-up "Cherry Kicks" on Virgin Sweden (no US release)its equally brilliant. And I hear there is another album in the works.
But BUY THIS NOW-Your life will never be the same! I'm not kidding.

The 12 Caesars have created a marvelous, throbbing, Nordic-rock album that gets better the more I play it. I want to bang my head against the wall every time I hear it. "Sort It Out" is one of the greatest songs I've ever screamed to, "Second Choice" is sweet torture, the rest of the album is above par. Check them out, and you too will be forced to say "How Swede It Is". Believe me, I'm from the Artic too and I know ice cold rock.

I took a chance on buying this one because I liked the name of the band and they are Swedish. From the very first note, I loved them! THey totally rock. "Let the Sun Shine In" Should be a hit single. All these songs should be. Awesome drumming and amazing keyboards plus great lyrics AND much much more....these boys rock.

Finally someone wised up and did a proper push for this band in 2003. Called Caesars Palace in Sweden - NOW known as just - CAESARS. Astralwerks is releasing an unbeleiveable collection of CAESARS best songs from their all brilliant 3 albums in Sweden - called "39 Minutes of Bliss (in an otherwise meaningless world)" on April 22nd , 2003. Toured with Soundtrack of OUr Lives MAr/Apr 2003. buy this version of their first CD as it is know out of print!!! Really amazing stuff here.

what a fun album. it's great for those long boring road trips. my personal favorite on the whole album is (i'm gonna) kick you out. i'd buy that album just for that song alone! gotta love the catchy organ stuff, eh?! in short, i suggest this album for those who like to rock, scandanavian-style!