Banned from the End of the World - Sleater-Kinney, Kinney, C.
Don't Talk Like
Get Up - Sleater-Kinney, Sleater-Kinney
One Song for You
The Size of Our Love
Living in Exile
Memorize Your Lines
A Quarter to Three
As on their previous records, the Pacific Northwest trio brings a trembling, breathtaking fury to songs about love's life-and-death struggles and the search for genuine emotion in a jungle of media-made hype. A Kill Rock ... more »Stars Records release.« less
As on their previous records, the Pacific Northwest trio brings a trembling, breathtaking fury to songs about love's life-and-death struggles and the search for genuine emotion in a jungle of media-made hype. A Kill Rock Stars Records release.
"I'm glad that a lot of people who have written reviews of "The Hot Rock" are disappointed by it or don't "get it". Sleater-Kinney isn't for everyone but to me there are few bands that are better than them. I don't see S-K filling stadiums or being played at frat parties. They're a small band with a small loyal following and that's fine by me. I have never been a big fan of the so-called "Riot Grrl" movement that S-K emerged from. Bikini Kill, Huggy Bear, et. al. left a bad taste in my mouth. Too narrow-minded and one-dimensional in their approach to music. If you heard one song, you heard them all. This isn't the case with Sleater-Kinney. Somehow they have created music that is both powerful and beautiful. Why people call S-K "punk" is beyond me. I associate punk with primitive, noisy, abrasive sounding music. Sleater-Kinney on the other hand is melodic with each song sounding unique and entrancing. Sure, Corin and Carrie tend to yell a lot of their lyrics instead of "sing" but it works with the music that goes along with it. Their forth album, "The Hot Rock", is an almost perfect album. I listen to it constantly. It's on par with "Dig Me Out", Sleater-Kinney's third and most critically praised album. The only setback for them is the title song, "Hot Rock". But that song is better than the best output of a thousand other bands. That's how good Sleater-Kinney is. For anyone curious as to what S-K is about, I suggest buying "Dig Me Out". After that turns you on to the band, then come back here and marvel at the brillance that is "The Hot Rock"."
Excellent
Steve Firstenburg | 02/27/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The first time I heard Sleater-Kinney I was immediately hooked on Corin Tucker's voice, the unbridled yell, so honest and pure indicated that here was a group with something different. When I first played The Hot Rock, I relaxed in the soothing familiar territory I had been exposed to, but this was something different. Dig Me Out was the gates of the minds of these three women, The Hot Rock is the center of that. At first listen, I thought they had proceeded past their prime, but these women are only beginning to realize themselves. Carrie Brownstein's guitar electrifies with precision, Janet's drums keep the songs together, without her the songs would not work. Not only do we get to hear the energy of Corin's voice, but Carrie Brownstein comes in to many songs, often inter-weaving voices, which is so natural that it becomes one whole part, one person alone. Carrie's solo effort on the album, The Size of Our Love, is so brutally honest I only hope she contributes more in later albums. Not only have Sleater-Kinney have grown, and become one whole group, they are now just hitting their stride. This is what music is about, conveying thoughts and actions into sound. Sleater-Kinney do it so brilliantly I am grateful to be able to experience their music, and only hope people will realize that these three women comprise one of the greatest bands of the decade."
Intimate and intricate
Lucy Snowe | 06/27/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I've been a fan from the beginning, and this is my favorite Sleater-Kinney album (though THE WOODS is now vying for the title!). The others always get talked up more than this, arguably their most intimate and painful record. I don't know if it's the production, the lyrics, or the music itself, but this record always feels to me like a secret whispered by your best friend in a dark bedroom late at night and long ago, or a kiss from someone you know you can't hold onto. The technique of Corin and Carrie singing two different lyrics at the same time is in itself a feminist statement -- you cannot pin us down, we are both at once. Although I loved their records before this, THE HOT ROCK is The One that made me fall IN love with them."
Possibly the Best Album of All Time
Lucy Snowe | 09/22/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The title may seem drastic, but you know they deserve it. First off to other reviewers who hear this album once then claim they hate should not be allaowed to review. To review an album to need to listen to it over and over, anylising every aspect, and that is epsecially true for this stunningly complex album.
Track by Track
1 Start Together - A great opener. With some wicked intertwining riffs. Wait till the 0.27 mark, where the guitars crash, and its one of the best moments on the album
2 The Hot Rock - My least favorite song, but that doesnt mean i don't love it. More upbeat them most from this album, yet still as mellow as ever.
3 The End Of You - Very clever lyrics, one of my faves, i think Corins vocals have been a a little bit stronger here though, because i think she couldv'e managed it.
4 Burn, Dont Freeze - this is a trademark s-k song to me. Completly original, with overlapping voices and guitar riffs. Corin makes up for end of you here.
4 God is a Number - the standout feature of this song is Corin screaming GOD IS A NUMBER till she just about explodes.
5 Banned From the End of The world - awesom interweaving guitars here, a staggered guitar line in some parts, its great.
6 Don't Talk Like - different to the rest of the songs, and the chorus has a really unsettling bass line which i absolutly love. Also the line "part of me is dead" is extremely fitting. A great Vocal perfomance.
7 Get Up - may just be the best song in the world. The guitars by themselves are quite simple, but coem togthere they create an extremely rich and complex listen. also fine drumming perormance by janet. I can never quite tell which is Corins guitar and Which is Janets bass drum.
8 One Song for you - has an amazing bridge where Corin just goes off, and even i am inclined to think Where The Hell Did That Come From whenever i hear it.
9 Size of Out Love - haunting and brilliant. a carrie song, which is a nice change of tone for the listener.
10 Living in Exile - strange lyrics, but great song, another classic hot rock song. Chorus is the best bit
11. Memorize These Lines - has four parts to it, whic means it never gets boring. The best bit it Corins Bridge "can u tell me what we;re fighting for". Her voice is quite chilling here.
12 - Quarter to Three - sad ad mellow and fantastically different to everything else. Corin again is amazinglty subtle here, plus i hear a harmonica, which i love.
For the album as a whole, i think the way the guitars interveweave adn play off of each other is breathtaking. I cant beleive these songs were writtain by two different people. It sounds like Carrie's writtain this speactactual riff, then put it a computor which kinda simplifies it, lowers the pitch, jumbles it up a bit, and out comes Corins guitars, its amazing the way the guitars come together.
This is the first album where Corin has shown off the mellowness, and subtleity to her insanley wonderfull voice. I think this is the first time she really tapped into it aside from maybe One More Hour. Not to say shes without her trademark shrieks, like in One Song for You say, but now she mixes it up with beautiful performances all around.
Also Carrie increases her vocalist role, her sweet, low, sugary voice is the perfect counterpart to Corin, and shows it off in Size of Our Love.
I don't think Janet had reached her full potential yet (well None of them had but hey), but her drumming is still fantastic, complex and originial, yet consistant and precise enough to make up for the lack of bassist, which goes completly untoticed in this record, which i think is the first time thyve managed that as a whole album.
Another worthy mention is to the spooky and clever, ironic, lyrics. Very multilayerd, yet still reache out politically, albeit less then other albums. A whole album of poetry
This album is an artistic masterpeice, my new fave s-k album. Dfeintatly greater tha the some of its parts, which go to say, are brilliant in themselves
Brooke"
Sleater-Kinney's Diamond
Anita-Exira | Iowa | 08/29/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Sleater-Kinney has been my favorite band for some time now, and through my exploration of their works I've never been let down by a single album, or a single song. To me, every Sleater-Kinney album is incredible. These women know how to make amazing music, but with The Hot Rock it had something more boiling under its skin. Something about this album resonates with me on every level. Each song just creates this powerful emotional current, a current that will sweep you away to musical bliss. It's hard to determine which Sleater-Kinney albums are better than the others - in my mind they are all untouchable pieces of music, standing all on their own, seprarate from everything else. I have determined though, that The Hot Rock is my favorite of these works, each song as great as the last, filling you with what you've been missing but never knew you lost. This is Sleater-Kinney at their absolute best. This album has changed and saved my life countless times. Listen to this and breathe deeply: This is music as music should be."