The Raw & the Cooked

Fine Young Cannibals

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: February 20, 1989
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Mca
• ASIN: B000002O5R
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #23,811 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
With The Raw & the Cooked, the Fine Young Cannibals broke into the mainstream with their particular soul-injected sound. They were seemingly infatuated with late-'50s and early-'60s Motown, and the musical influences on this album range from boogie ("Good Thing," on which Squeeze keyboardist Jools Holland goes to town with a foot-stompin' piano solo) to poodle-skirted slow dance ("As Hard As It Is," "Tell Me What"), then stretch as far as Prince-like funk ("Don't Let It Get You Down"). Possessing one of the most unusual voices in all of pop music, lead singer Roland Gift gives this album its distinction and the Fine Young Cannibals their identity. About half the songs (including the hit "She Drives Me Crazy") are graced with Gift's steady, crystal-clear falsetto, but it's his swollen-throated lower register, where he sounds like he is singing through a trumpeter's plunger mute, that really makes his voice unmistakable. --Beth Bessmer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eat It Up!, February 27, 2002

By	M. Allen Greenbaum (California) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

One of the most talented groups of the eighties, FYC made only a few albums. This 1988 effort is a must, with highly original compositions similar in feeling to the great Arthur Lee and Love. Almost every song is great (although the first half is better), both for listening or dancing, particularly "She Drives Me Crazy," "Good Thing," "I'm Not the Man I Used to Be," and "Tell Me What." The emotional vocals, tight playing, and R&B/reggae beat make these completely infectious. Roland Gift has the restrained vocal passion of a Sam Cooke. Andy Cox's plucking guitar notes, superbly comped by David Steele on keyboards and some great percussive sounds, adds a unique sound to Gift's emotional vocal on "I'm Not the Man I Used To Be." On the best songs, the production is richly textured yet sparse (e.g. Al Green). For example, Steele adds some keyboard accents on "I'm Not Satisfied" then pulls off a cooking organ solo. The song, like much of the album, is imbued with R & B, reggae, funky church sounds, and James Brown passion.

"Tell Me Why" is a more mellow ska, with some nice 50's style harmonies. Track 6, "Don't Look Back," somewhat misses... it lacks the soulful hooks of the other songs but has an early 60's vocal sound and breaks into a good power guitar solo for about 10 seconds at the 2-minute mark). Overall, it's strangely likeable, as if Arthur Lee did country/Western.

"It's OK (It's Alright)" breaks into a great chorus despite it's somewhat cloying disco groove. Still, the tight work and rhythm section are impeccable and elevate the song...and again, this is great dance music! "Don't Let It Get You Down" has some annoying sound-effects over a great Prince-like falsetto by Gift. There's also a fine trumpet sound that gets into a good groove. Track 9 has a deep churchy sound (due largely to the organ), a great guitar twangling hook. Like many of their songs, it has the deep feeling of a prayer, and the yearning emotion of the best Rhythm and blues. Excellent vocals, but, towards the end of the song the overly dramatic horns and the singing veer towards self-parody (but I can imagine Elvis doing something fun with this). The last song has more strumming guitar and a big drum sound on the beat: It's a little like Talking Heads in its approach and sound, and has a taste of funk guitar.

The album fades just a bit after it's initial blast, but this is not enough to dampen my enthusiasm. Not many groups can match FYC for musical and emotional power, originality, and synthesis of R &B and reggae. It's probably one of the top 25 albums of the 1980's. Very highly recommended!

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fine Young Cannibals, a.k.a. the two-hit wonders of 1988, July 17, 2003

By	Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

The minor complaints would be that "The Raw & the cooked" has only ten songs and about 35 minutes worth of music. The bigger complain would be that the Fine Young Cannibals never put out another album as good as this 1988 effort which had its first two tracks, "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing," hit #1 on the Billboard Pop chart. FYC consisted of sing Roland Gift with a pair of former Beat members, guitarist Andy Cox and David Steele on keyboards/bass. Pegging the songs on this album into even a couple of niches is difficult because you will hear bits of everything from Motown and R&B from the past to punk and disco from the "present" in these ten songs, all fused together in a distinctive and enjoyable sound. Credit must be given to producer David Z, who had worked with Prince, Billy Idol, and others out of Minneapolis. Most of the songs were released as singles in the U.K.

Besides the first two cuts, the torch song "I'm Not the Man I Used to Be" keeps the party going on this album. But the most memorable track remains "She Drives Me Crazy," which has one of the most instantly identifiable openings of the decade and which was used to great effect in an episode of "thirtysomething" when Elliott fantasizes about what Nancy is doing after their divorce. I understand that the snare drum bit from that song is one of the most frequently sampled sounds in music history. Makes sense to me.

"The Raw & the Cooked" sold over 2 million copies and made it to the top of the album charts as well. When people talk about one hit wonders they are talking about artists where you want to have their big song but not their album. That is most certainly not the case with the Fine Young Cannibals. The only reason not to pick up this album would be because you also like some of FYC's earlier work (they only put out two albums) and you end up going with their hits collection "Finest," which has the six singles from this album.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It Just Satisfies My Soul, July 11, 2001

By	G. J Wiener (Westchester, NY USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

On the surface, this record is not very typical of my style of music. Great instrumental jams it does not have. Variety is not quite the spice of this recording either. And it does have alot of special effects and synthesizers which in most cases doom a record for me.

However, there is no denying Rolland Gift's vocals. They are on the mark and very soulful and expressive. The songs all have good hooks and many of them have a ... good beat. And the synthesizer touches as great as they are, add to the music rather than dominate it. Also the horn arrangements are quite slick too. This record is definitely a Good Thing so don't Let Your Lady or Man Drive You Crazy. Pick it up. You will be satisfied.