Boom Dot Bust

Firesign Theatre

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 19, 1999)
• Original Release Date: October 19, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B00001WRKQ
• Also Available in: DVD Audio  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #149,198 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
For a bunch of old guys, the Firesign Theatre are sure on a roll. They've followed up 1998's Grammy-nominated Give Me Immortality or Give Me Death with Boom Dot Bust a mind-blowing comedy masterpiece set in the heartland town of Billville. The residents are all named Bill, and there's a long history of natural disasters and lynching politicians ("I am the mayor. Re-elect me or hang me! That's the will of Bill!"). The all-new cast of characters also includes the Elmers of Elmertown, lifestyle expert Martha Glueit, and global action-movie star Charlie Fatt. It's a CD-length story, told Citizen Kane-style through a hilarious labyrinth of infomercials, talk shows, flashbacks, specialty cable channels, and a sermon from Rev. Barnstormer of the First Reformed Church of Science Fiction. In other words, it is the Firesign Theatre doing what they do best. Those crazy guys have reached a new creative peak that will have people grinning with joy and laughing out loud. --John Sulak

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It'll make Reality less painful!, December 8, 1999

By	T.Rob (Charlotte, NC USA) - See all my reviews

There are a lot of expectations of a Firesign Theatre recording. If an album is accessible and funny on it's face, some fans will object that it's not deep enough and accuse the guys of selling out. If most of the humor is contained deeply layered references and double or triple meanings people complain that they just don't get it. Hopefully, these things never come into consideration during the creation of a new Firesign CD - ideally, the guys make the CD for themselves and not for us because that is when they are at their absolute best!

Coming from a guy who liked "Fighting Clowns", let me say that Boom Dot Bust is great. There is more than enough on the surface to laugh at and plenty of layers to peel away over subsequent listenings. An incredibly long list of satirical targets get blasted - Hollywood, the Internet, politics, pop culture, class and ethnicity, political correctness...just to name a few.

If you were looking for the guys to do some kind of sequel of an old album or to offer up a nice linear, easily digested piece of ear candy - well, this isn't it. On the other hand, if you expect a Firesign Theatre album to be surreal, if you expect to be challenged, if you expect the guys to make you work a little, if you expect them to break new ground, and if you expect just enough ear candy carry you through the first couple of listenings and into the meat of the material, then get this CD!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you, July 25, 2000

By	Joe Flack (Stillwater, OK United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Boom Dot Bust" is wonderful--and totally unexpected. After waiting 20 years for a new creation ("The Three Faces of Al" was good, but Nick Danger was not new) I felt let down by "Give Me Imortality..." which was funny but pretty shallow. I was thinking "you can't catch lightning in a bottle twice" when "BDB" arrived. It was like finding a Firesign record from 1975 that I hadn't heard before. It has everything I love about Firesign: layer-upon-layer of delightful word-play, satire, and verbal slapstick. Just like "Bozos" you can listen over and over, with repeated pleasures-of-discovery. The 4 or 5 have recaptured their old magic. I hope they sell enough copies to encourage more new releases. My wife and kids don't understand any of it, though I've tried and tried to explain my "Uh Clem" license plate. If you enjoyed any classic Firesign, you'll enjoy "Boom Dot Bust."

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've Been Here Since Before The Beginning, February 17, 2000

By	David Basskin (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Jumpin' Jujubees, Porgie, how're we going to get out of here? With the help of The Firesign Theater, that's how. I've been a lifelong fan and I'd long given up hope that we'd hear from the 4 or 5 again; the reunion tour album was a joy, but it didn't tell me anything new. Then ... "Immortality" and now "Boom Dot Bust" right on its heels. Wow.

"Immortality" was wonderful, very linear and upfront, and more topical than TFT at their very best. But who didn't have the broadest of smiles at the latest appearance of Ralph Spoilsport (like BeBop says, 'that Ralph, he's always with us!'), and the Where It's Happy news team brought back happy memories of "Everything You Know is Wrong", Bill Bland and other great creations. And I'd love to have a whole disc of Doctor Winquedinque!

But BDB is magnificent - dense, layered, with a cream-filled centre and a lovely finish. It's imported - from southern Indiana! The 'Kane' parody is brilliant, and I've shamelessly appropriated the line, 'because Evil never dies ... but copyrights EXPIRE!'

On the all-time scale, I'd rate "Pliers", "Bozos" and "Not Insane" as TFT's greatest achievement, but BDB comes very, very close.

Long live the 4 or 5! Live long, prosper, and make many, many more albums! Get on the road and perform here in Toronto. And don't take off your shoes! Jobs is on the way!