REVIEWS:
Post your comments about Janis Joplin
released by Big Brother And The Holding Company
(reviewed by Joseph Spaulding)
In the history of rock music has there ever been a dumber lyric than "I'm A Caterpillar/Crawling for your love". But that's beside the point, Janis and Big Brother make their debut here and for the most part its very unimpressive - like the above mentioned Caterpillar and just about any song sung by Sam Andrews. In all fairness Blind Man is a pretty cool song, but I still hate him for the pieces of trash called Easy Rider and Light Is Faster Than Sound. However when Janis does get to sing she turns what could be some awful hippie songs into something not so bad, but this album is still an awful listening experience.
At least that was how I felt about it until giving it another chance, and then I found its simple charm. Once the songs get under your skin they are hard to get rid of. I even like Caterpillar and end up singing along with it, but Easy Rider and Light Is Faster Than Sound still suck. Janis work is fairly decent job with the material she is given, I really like her singing on Down On Me and Call On Me, but her best work is found on the two bonus tracks The Last Time, which sound and lyrics would tell of the good things to come, and Coo Coo which for my money is the best song here. However listening to this album one cannot help but feel disappointed.
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You think that album is bad? You think the songs are awful? I would like to hear to try to sing a song like Janis could? That's right...let me hear you sing the blues like she could! Pour out your frickin' emotions into your music and sing like Janis! You know nothing, absolutely nothing!
Peace & Love
~Chels~
(reviewed by Joseph Spaulding)
Okay, the last album was pretty unimpressive, and Big Brother sounded pretty bad, but here they really kick ass. Janis voice has improved a hundred percent and the band is in top form. Hell even when Sam Andrews takes lead vocals it is far from repulsive; in fact at times it is quite enjoyable. Most of the album is live and that is to their advantage. Big Brother worked much better live than in the studio because live they allowed themselves to play much more distorted and that matches with Janis voice perfectly, I can say rather safely that she would never find a better backing band than Big Brother.
The only disappointment here is Turtle Blues, a studio recording, which is just a generic blues number that has nothing new or exciting to offer. Aside from that nasty little number everything in site is fantastic. The three major pieces are Piece Of My Heart, Ball And Chain and Summertime. These three are fantastic and really make the album. But the rest is no slouch either, even Combination Of The Two and Sweet Mary are standout, even though Janis is almost reduced to singing back up. The recent release of the album offers some exciting bonus tracks my favorite being Catch Me Daddy. This album is a definite classic and would secure her a place as a hard rock legend, unfortunately this is the last time Janis would use hard rock and over the next few albums she would go off into soul and then mainstream pop (not that that's a bad thing).
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(reviewed by Kevin Baker)
On the offchance that there are people who actually look forward to my reviews, I'd like to apologize for not writing much lately. I've had a lot on my mind, and I've also been suffering from a lot of very intense headaches. So that's why I've been scarce. But now I'm back. In black. OK, maybe in a white shirt and a pair of grey shorts with a humongous hole in them that I don't wear in public. But that's close enough. I'll admit to being a bit of a Janis Joplin fan; the woman had an astounding voice. Notice I do not not say good or anything. Astounding is certainly undeniable; good is a totally subjective thing. However, by the time Pearl came around, she'd begun to mellow out some. If you're expecting another Cheap Thrills, you're out of luck. She's got a whole new band whole play a whole new style. There's a lot less acid-rock here, and more boogie and country roots. This is not Janis the hippie. This is Janis the Texas girl.
This is also Janis the heroin addict. This is Janis, the singer found dead with the needle still in her arm. That's why Buried Alive In The Blues is instrumental. She died before she could record the vocal, and so it was left on as a memento mori to her. Fortunately, before Janis got a booking for the great gig in the sky (or elsewhere, but that's God's business), she did leave us with some of her best work. Everybody's heard Me and Bobby McGee, a country ballad with Janis' most sentimental delivery. Lord, she sounds so honest, so sincere. Too bad she never saw it hit #1 on the charts. Elsewhere, we have her cover of Garnett Mim's soul classic, Cry Baby. Janis once again outdoes herself here. I, like many others, pefer the opener, Move Over. It's more of a rocker, and we all know how well Janis could sing a rawker. Well, I suppose everything here is good. Janis certainly was a good emotional singer, and my ears really don't detect a MAJOR stinker here. However, there's no way that this one is as magic as Big Brother And The Holding Company. No way at all. Janis is here and good, but the magic is gone.
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Anything Janis sung became more than a song it became part of her forever and that's more than I can say for singers today. Janis will always be the best blues singer to have ever lived. Your the one with no soul to say this isn't great music.
~Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose~ Janis Joplin
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