Search - George Carlin :: Life Is Worth Losing

A powerful continuation of Carlin's new, darker tone

Jonathan S. | California, United States | 01/10/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Haven't gotten my CD yet, so I can't comment on the conversion from live video to disc, but I've seen the material on HBO as well as live. Life Is Worth Losing further develops the cynical perspective first fully introduced in You Are All Diseased. The comic poem (A Modern Man) at the start of the album is classic Carlin wordplay, but everything that follows it is extreme in subject matter. Few comics dare to touch topics such as torture, suicide and necrophilia. That Carlin can make such topics amusing is impressive, but still more impressive is the emotional energy he continues to project in spite of his age. And rather than just make wisecracks about controversial topics, he ties it in to his personal philosophy, as an "entropy fan"- the surprisingly logical, natural and practical perspective that drives him to root for natural disasters, the collapse of nation states and the extinction of species. Interestingly, this album focuses less on the machinations of corporations, politicians and preachers than most past Carlin. It instead mostly examines the dysfunctions of individual humanity.



Carlin purists longing for a return to the subtle satire and middleground observations of 70s and 80s Carlin material will be disgusted by this. But if you liked the assaultive tone of "Complaints and Greivances", you need this album."

Making his twilight years count

Scott Sweet | Colorado Springs, CO | 03/15/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The tone of the CD shows right on the package: black and white photo, simple tracklisting on the back. The wackiness and "color" of his earlier decades has bled away, and now Carlin gets down to business the same way he did on "Jammin' in New York" and "Back in Town".



Much of the material addresses murder, suicide and neglect. Different roads lead to the same place. 1) There absolutely IS humor in how we face what we all share - mortality. 2) Why does Carlin lean so heavily on the subject this time around? THERE ARE MANY MORE DAYS BEHIND HIM THAN AHEAD OF HIM. Go with a smile, or go in denial. Carlin chooses the former.



"A Modern Man" is a cute loose-rhyme opening in exactly the same style as his previous "Advertising Lullaby". I started laughing really hard at the midway point, with "Dumb Americans". The first half relies upon what Carlin has offered since the '80s. So, "Dumb Americans" is the first peak, and he peaks again with the closing "Coast-To-Coast Emergency". The last piece paints an apocalyptic picture of how this sick, twisted universe can die and return as a better one.



My only disappointment is the FBI Anti-Piracy Warning on the back of the CD case. Invoking a government emblem to discourage unlawful behavior totally undermines an anti-establishment schtick. It's no different for Carlin than it is for A Perfect Circle.



This album doesn't introduce a lot of new material, but that's only because when Carlin holds a mirror to America, the view hasn't changed in at least 25 years."

Not so much funny as it is interesting

R.H. | CA | 04/16/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This CD will go down as one of the least funny Carlin CD's. Very few belly laughs in this one, some might not even laugh once throughout the entire thing. So why 4 stars? Because I have never heard a better examination of American life by anybody. George shows us a man who has lived through America in its best and worst times and his examination into our need for consumption is thought provoking. While death is the overall motif of the CD, almost everything ties back into how over privelleged we all are and how truly animalistic human behavior is."