Andrew W.K. Is Back. Now, The Question Is Is Does Anyone Care?
Written: Sep 09 '03
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: loud, anthemic, bombastic and F-U-N
Cons: some songs overly long, Make Sex is terrible
The Bottom Line: 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 for this fun follow up to I Get Wet.
|
|
|
| MattA75's Full Review: The Wolf by Andrew W.K. |
When Andrew W.K. released his debut album I Get Wet early last year, he garnered more than his fair share of attention, from his bloody mug that adorned the album cover to the licensing of the song to seemingly anyone who asked, to the hype that he was THE next big thing (at last count, about 200,000 copies sold, not quite). What was for sure was that while the public didn't buy into the hype created for the guy, this guy, unlike oh say, The Vines, actually deserved the hype.
OK, so the guy is about as provocative as Jessica Simpson is on her Newlyweds show. His lyrics are completely inane, and just about everything sounds the same. But in the end, he just is a big ball of fun and energy, and sometimes, fun is what you need (to quote W.K. himself, "we want fun!"). Long story short, I thought I Get Wet to be one of the best albums of 2002, mostly due to the fact that I could just play it over and over and over without ever getting tired of it (Party Hard being the only real exception at any point).
So with his sophomore effort, The Wolf, W.K. continues the anthemic mix of 80s bombast with Meat Loaf style theatrics while expanding a tad on what was found on I Get Wet. While not nearly as solid all around as said album, The Wolf is still a pretty damn good rock and roll album.
It begins slowly though, as Victory Strikes Again is really nothing more than an instrumental with just a few lines at the end. This leads straight into Long Live the Party, yet another W.K. song with Party in the title. It doesn't disappoint either, although stretching the solos at the end to the four minute mark might have been pushing it.
He really channels some major Meat Loaf action on the power ballad Never Let Down ("never wanna break your heart, never want to make you cry..."), which if it was sung by literally any other singer, might have a chance at major cross-over success. But thanks to W.K.'s gruff vocals, this song will come nowhere close to most people's radios.
The anthems are here in full force too, so the people who loved the last album have nothing to fear. The Song is positively pounding with a nice piano line layered over the bombast. And is there any song title more appropriate for W.K. than Totally Stupid? If there is, it doesn't sound like it here, with it's positively inane lyrics. That doesn't subtract with the pure shout along quality the song has, which can be said for much of this record.
If there is one really poor part to this album, it is the wretchedly awful Make Sex, which almost reads like a parody of 50 Cent's In Da Club ("I don't wanna make life, I don't wanna make death, and I don't wanna make love, I just wanna make sex!"). At 45 seconds, it feels overly long. What does THAT tell you?
In addition, the last three numbers, while decent, all seem very much overly long, with two of them approaching the five minute mark, which for W.K. almost qualifies as a Tool-like epic. Again, the songs are decent, they just go on for too long. With the simple structures and melodies/chords W.K. uses to "craft" his songs, it is just not wise to have anything run to five minutes. Hell, there are times where almost four minutes would seem too long.
While not as consistently satisfying as I Get Wet, The Wolf is still a good follow up. However, if you hated Andrew W.K. before, this won't convert you into a fan. In fact, you'll probably hate his guts even more for pushing a follow up album out this quickly in a notoriously slow music industry. But if you think you could use something big, dumb and fun in your musical diet, this might just be what Dr.Feelgood ordered.
More on Andrew W.K.:
I Get Wet
Great Music To Play While: pondering the meaning of life.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
MattA75
|
 - Top 50 |
|
Member: Matt Aucoin
Location: South Berwick, ME
Reviews written: 1162
Trusted by: 464 members
About Me:
Gonna be a daddy, April 2010!
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.