Jim Dandy's finest recorded hour - turn it up and let it rip
The Lyricologist | 09/27/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is a really hard one for me to review. There is certainly nothing else like it in BOA's recorded history. It's clearly much harder/metal rocking than the "classic" BOA sound that us early fans came to love. But that's not necessarily a bad thing!
As life worked out, the core line-up of this BOA is the one that I saw live the most times in my life, so, while it's music with a harder edge than the glory days of the likes of "Our Eyes Ere On You", it's still an era of BOA that's special to me.
Right up front, what you have here is Jim Dandy in truly fine form! AWLRIIGHT indeed!! Top to bottom, this is argueably his consistently finest recorded studio release!
Fans of the original BOA will be comforted to know that he's ably abetted here by life-long pal Rickie Lee Reynolds, but they're taken into a much harder rocking zone by (criminally overlooked) guitar ace Mike Martin. Martin was an entirely different animal than old favorites Stan Knight and Harvey Jett. Despite all the venom tossed at those guys by critics, I love their music! So don't panic when I say that, while Mike Martin could shred with the best, if you didn't get to see him do songs like "Uncle Lijah" on stage, well then just shut up and buy this cd!
Highlights on this cd include:
"Angel" - I have every cut BOA ever released and, IMHO, this is the BEST song JD/BOA ever did, period! (And no, this is not the same as the song by those posers from Beantown).
"I'm On Your Side" & "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" both are of a slower, muscular, blues style, something that Dandy maybe should have done more of over the years.
"Body Slam" & "I Need More Love" are both hard rockers very much in Dandy's interest zone, Mike Martin shines.
"The Wanderer", yes, it's a cover of Dion's song, but it was still a viable addition to their repetoire and will appeal to fans of the original BOA.
"Long Distance Runner" is just a great opener, sytlistically reminiscent of "Hey Y'all".
Of the remaining cuts, the title track and "YCKAGBD" are fast paced rockers, "I Don't Want Much Out of Life" has some humorous lines, but doesn't do much for me. And "IWAWWBT", well, it seems to be pushing the boundaries of rude and crude just for the sake of doing it. And you wonder why you never heard this song on the radio..?
Overall, this is a very solid release and accurately depicts BOA at that point in time. Let's face it, either you loved Jim Dandy's vocals or you hated BOA, it was that simple. If you were a fan of The Dandy, you'll love this release!
"
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1