Primal Scream

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Primal Scream

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This self titled album, following 2 years after "Sonic Flower Groove" , is the complete opposite of that album and the coming album "Screamadelica" . This is a very strict forumla: rock/ballads/rock/ballads throughout the album. And it works perfectly.

Ivy Ivy Ivy kicks things off with power. It's like the Ramones but with it's own style going on. Bobby really starts to show off his voice on this album, as opposed to the monotonus voice he used on the previous album.

You're Just Dead Skin to Me is an amazing piano ballad, filled with violns and a harmonica solo. How cool is it to hear Bobby singing "I don't care now...You're just dead skin to me" over a piano? Tom Waits would have done something like this back in the mid 70's (of course, his vocals are way different than Bobby's ) Mr. Duffy doing the honors on this track, and he'd become a permanant member from this album on (and completly change the sound of Scream in some contexts)

Back to the rock and roll now with She Power. More in the Stooges sound (complete with handclaps in the background! ) Catchy chorus, which will definitly have you singing along to it. Blazing solos from Innes and Throb here.

You're Just Too Dark To Care is a soft, guitar only track. Beautiful guitar work too, with Bobby singing deep from his soul. "Nobody can help you when you're this far down...nobody but you" . This ranks up there with "Jesus" as one of the Scream's most minimal and deep tracks.

Then, there's the song that pretty much changed Primal Scream's whole career. I'm Loosing More Than I Ever Have is the ballad + rock forumla mixed together. EVERYTHING about this song is classic. Bobby's singing, the solos, the amazing catchy horns at the end, and Duffy's New Orleans style piano playing. Certainly one of the Scream's best tracks ever, the ending is simply orgasmic.

HEAD ON! It's almost as if the Primals recorded their version of Kick out the Jams but couldn't get the rights for it, so Bobby changed the lyrics to it. It's pretty much a cover song with different (and clever) lyrics. Also try to get the Loaded single, which has an official MC5 cover, and a rocking one at that, Ramblin Rose.

By this point, the band is on high cylinders. They keep on rocking, and now they're on Lone Star Girl. Bobby must have had alot of girlfriends at this time, this song it's Wendy he's talking about, in She Power it was Marianne, and perhaps Ivy is a name of another girl (or he's refering to her as "poison" Ivy so to speak) . Seriously though, it's a in your face punk assault.

Kill the King settles things down a bit, using "You're Just too Dark... " in reverse, mixed with some piano during the chorus. Honestly some of Bobby's best lyrics on ANY album, they can apply to the current state of the world *cough Bush/Iraq*. As a matter of fact, put in context, the whole song sounds as if it's an anti-establimishent or along those lines.

Another kick @s$ rocker comes with Sweet Pretty Thing. Full fueled and non stop, plus super fun- the way rock and roll is truely meant to be.

Jesus Can't Save Me (love the song name! ) is a short but sweet track based around piano that builds up with some acoustics guitar. More soulful singing by Bobby and it ends the album on a perfect note.

This album sometimes gets slagged by fans and critics alike. Personally, I didn't like much of this album at first, but after a while it sunk it: this is what rock and roll is all about. It's fun. It's punchy. It's soulful. It's honest. It's Primal Scream, and that's all that needs to be said.