Freaked Out and Small

by

The Presidents of the United States of America

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I own three PUSA albums already (I, II, and Pure Frosting). After purchasing this fourth, I have to admit that the Presidents get better with each album. I loved their more well-known hits from their early CD's, but "Freaked out and Small" has got some of their best songs yet.

Lots of goofy content here, some that I'm probably wise not trying to figure out. But some rocking songs like "Tiny Explosions," "Nuthin but love," "Last Girl on Earth," and "Jupiter." Also some neat slower songs in the mix. The demos are interesting - many are the same tune but with some major differences - instrumentation, tempo, etc.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for any Presidents fan (and anybody who loves fun, toe-tapping music).

I felt compelled to write a quick review after reading 3 5-star reviews. This album does not deserve 5 stars, it's by far the worst effort from PotUSA, and this coming from someone who owns every album, has seen them live 3 times, and pretty much grew up on them as my favorite band for at least 8 years. This album might be worth owning if you want to claim you have every Presidents album, as it's relatively unknown, but there was only 1 track that actually stood out for me: the last one, which I've seen used on MTV during a skating show. A few others might make you smile, but mostly this album shows how uninspired the Presidents were during this time period. Thank god they came out with Love Everybody, which isn't exactly an incredible album (the entire middle of the album is instantly forgettable, but with songs like Monkey River and Jennifer's Jacket it saves itself). 5 stars? Bah. I'm being generous when I give it 2.