California Crossing

Fu Manchu

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 5, 2002)
• Original Release Date: October 23, 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Fontana Mammoth
• ASIN: B00005QG9X
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #12,586 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In the hazy, heavy world of stoner rock, two bands have risen out of pioneering act Kyuss to develop their own legions of followers--Queens of the Stone Age and Fu Manchu. Queens gained the respect of the mainstream alt-rock crowd, while Fu Manchu developed their own cult of worshipers through small indie labels. Now on their seventh album, Fu Manchu should be on their way to grabbing more of the commercial rock spotlight; their clean, straightforward sound is spit-shined and ready for airplay. While not quite up there with Fu's 2000 epic King of the Road, California Crossing is a big-barreled hybrid of sludgy guitars, mid- to up-tempo rhythms (with a couple insane drum solos), and frontman Scott Hill's SoCal-driven vocals. The album is the standard tribute to Black Sabbath and Blue Cheer. But like ex-bandmates Nebula, Fu Manchu add Led Zeppelin-like classic rock influences to their music as well. With songs like "Squash That Fly" and "Mongoose," California Crossing is a well-fueled album that should please fans of that gray area between heavy metal and hard rock. Jennifer Maerz

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pleasant Stoner Rock Sell-Out, April 20, 2003

By	James F. Colobus (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews

About a year ago, I wrote a review of Fu Manchu's The Action is Go in which I argued that the Chu could easily become fixtures on rock radio if they were to just tighten up their songwriting and clean up Scott Hill's vocals a little, changes I figured (and hoped) they would never consider. With their latest album, however, the Chu proved me wrong on both counts. On California Crossing, they seriously polished up and sanitized their sound, yet continued to be ignored by rock radio just like before. If you are new to the Chu, these changes aren't going to bother you - you didn't know them before and California Crossing is still a fine album. Unfortunately, long-time fans of the Chu are likely to view this album as something of a sell-out. Who knows why they did it? Perhaps hearing their stoner rock compatriots Queens of the Stone Age on the radio elicited some envy from the boys in the Chu. Whatever the reason, the days of complex arrangements and blistering axe work seem to have come to a close. If you were raised on the seering guitar solos of In Search Of and The Action Is Go, California Crossing may leave you with a bitter aftertaste - try swallowing a mefloquine after devouring a tasty taco at that Chinese taco dump on West 72nd Street and you'll know what I mean.

I'm not saying California Crossing isn't a good album - believe me, there are a lot of catchy songs here including "Bultaco", "Squash That Fly", "Thinkin' Out Loud", and "Ampn". Heck, "Mongoose" is smoking enough that it kind of makes me wish I studied mongooses instead of monkeys - nah, not really, but it is a darn good song. Still, the new sanitized Fu Manchu seems to be lacking in the charisma department. The old Fu Manchu didn't always settle for the verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, chorus template. Blazing guitar solos used to erupt out of nowhere, now they seem to arrive just when you most expect them. Again, if you are new to Fu Manchu, California Crossing will probably go down smooth, like a cold Hank's root beer on a hot summer day. But for long-time fans, who know what they are missing out on, there will be that same twinge of disappointment when they hear California Crossing that you feel when you realize you've got a Hank's in your hand instead of an IBC. Let me put it to you this way, if In Search Of is as strong a 4-star album as you'll find and The Action is Go is a solidly 4-star album, then California Crossing just barely earns that 4th star through generous rounding up. Whether that's strong enough praise to make you want to buy California Crossing is entirely your decision. I can't make all of your decisions for you.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fu Manchu - 'California Crossing' (Mammoth), November 19, 2004

By	Mike Reed (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Worthy follow-up to 2000's 'King Of The Road' disc.Fu Manchu has apparently road-tested their heavy guitar riffing.Sort of reminds me of early AC/DC,which is a good thing.'California...' appears to be maybe more melodic,that might be because the CD was produced by Matt Hyde(Porno For Pyros,Monster Magnet).Tunes that I liked best are "Mongoose","Whiz Kid","Squash That Fly" and the skateboard friendly "Downtown To Dogtown".'California Crossing' and the band's efforts here after just COULD land them to a wider audience.Let's hope so.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars rock, August 18, 2003

By	"badcraziness150" (dc) - See all my reviews

Fu manchu is categorized as stoner rock which is fine but i dont think a lot of people realize fu manchu is just good old fun osunding rock sort of like ac/dc. get this or action is go