Rock has a name: fastball
This cd has a serious rock edge that only briefly surfaces in their later "All the Pain Money can Buy." And yet, with guitars blazing and drums booming, Miles and Tony combine to give us perfect harmonies and thougthful lyrics. A clue to the more refined pop that gives this band their power: "Are you ready for the fallout" both bitter and compassionate at the same time. I thought of Elvis Costello when I first heard it. This record is the power of fastball in its purest form. Please, no stage diving, these are musicians at work.
Energetic
Different from their second album, which offers catchy guitar-driven pop and a greater variety of sounds. This album is more one-dimensional, raw, and straight-forward (with the exception of "Fallout" which is the only song that sounds as though it belongs on All the Pain Money Can Buy). At the same time, this album is still catchy and memorable in its own right. The songs here offer driving beats that end only two soon and the two lead singers switching off for many of the songs does lend some additional sense of depth and creativity. A few of the knock-out tunes on here are "Human Torch", "Make Your Mama Proud", and, quite possibly the best (and the shortest) piece on the album, "Nothing". All in all a worthwhile purchase for hardcore Fastball fans or for punk-oriented fans.
Their Sound Never Changed!
I got this CD for Christmas and honestly I wasn't that excited about it at first. I LOVE their other two CD's. People have said in other reviews that if you like the "radio songs" that Fastball has you won't like this. I very much disagree. This is the same Fastball. Usually you can chart a change of sound as a band slowly attains fame. With Fastball, you just have the same fantastic sound. I LOVE this. My advice: If you like the other two Fastball CD's, get this. It's just as good. Songs like Are You Ready for the Fallout, She Comes 'Round and Seattle make me want to hug this band and thank them for being so fantastic. Nice thing is, all the tracks on this disc are good. Some take longer to get used to, but I was hooked on this CD all the way after the second listening. Hooray, Fastball!
This is awsome
This c.d. is a hell of alot better than their second two. the second two are okay, but this is so... Green Day-Blink 182-ish. alot better... if you don't have it GET IT. These guitar riffs are amazing and will get stuck in your head. listen to me ..... GET THIS C.D.!!...
What's not to like?
How can anyone not like this? I've read the reviews that basically say, "Ewww, too punky" and wondered, "What are you people thinking?" Granted, I first heard "Make Your Mama Proud" and "Nothing" on a snowboard video in 1995 (I think?), so maybe I came to expect all their songs to sound like that, but still...Yes, some of the faster tracks like "Eater" and "Knock It Down" are more one-dimensional and much harder-edged than later Fastball stuff, musically speaking; but even so, the lyrics are spot-on. I mean, haven't we all met someone like the narrator of "Eater" ("I will make you hate you")? Who hasn't known someone (or been someone) who's scared of growing up and lets that fear get in the way of his relationships ("Make Your Mama Proud")? Those songs, plus "Emily", "Seattle," "Are You Ready for the Fallout" and others, are by turns angry, goofy, frazzled AND struggling toward maturity--in other words, remarkably similar to what it's like for many twenty-somethings in America these days.
Bottom line: If you like the Fastball you've heard on the radio, stick to their latter two releases. But if you like a bit more edge and, uh, assertiveness, while still maintaining that trademark Fastball knack for catchy melodies--or if you thought the "radio Fastball" was nice and all, but a little too laid-back--this CD is the one to get.
