Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah is out now.
10-19-04, 04:23 PM
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Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah is out now.
Recorded live at a bar mitzvah this time last year.
- Jonny's Blessing
- Stairway To Heaven
- Heart Of Glass
- Delta Dawn
- Come Sail Away
- O Sole Mio
- Strawberry Fields Forever
- Auld Lang Syne
- The Longest Time (mp3)
- On My Mind
- Take It On The Run
- Superstar
- Hava Nagila
- Hava Nagila (Christmas Arrangement)
There are also two hidden tracks, drunken takes of "Seasons in the Sun" and "Sloop John B". It's also an enhanced CD, with seven minutes of live video. I guess they didn't want to pay synch rights, so the footage covers "O Sole Mio", "Auld Lang Syne", and the two versions of "Hava Nagila".
I was mildly disappointed with it, personally. The selection of songs is decent, but there's a little too much filler. Is "Auld Lang Syne" a traditional bar mitzvah song? I'm not sure if the band was just trying to cut down on licensing costs and popping a couple public domain songs in there or what. A couple songs seem like they were cut too short, and the performances are pretty sloppy at times, even for a drunk punk band. I really like half of their covers -- "Stairway to Heaven", "Heart of Glass", an aborted take on "Delta Dawn", "The Longest Time", "Take It On the Run") -- but the other songs are less interesting in general, and the arrangements seem comparatively bland and uninspired. The second version of "Hava Nagila" is pretty funny, but I think it would've been better appreciated on an album with more tracks. It's still worth a listen, but I'd be surprised if it winds up in the same heavy rotation their other albums have (I've listened to "Take a Break" at least once a week, usually more, since it came out.)
The Gimmes' albums seemed to be getting exponentially better with each release, but "Live at Jonny's Bar Mitzvah" is probably their most uneven album to date. I still like it, but I'm not as enthusiastic about it as I thought I'd be. Maybe I'll have a more positive opinion after a couple more listens...
10-19-04, 06:50 PM
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Today.
10-19-04, 10:00 PM
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I have three (all?) of their discs and like them. I always wish they'd put a few more songs on them. I think I listed to the three in one hour's time.
10-20-04, 12:03 AM
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Originally posted by Buford T Pusser
I have three (all?) of their discs and like them.
I have three (all?) of their discs and like them.
10-20-04, 01:48 AM
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Just got the new one today. Some pretty good stuff. I've always been a big fan of The Gimmes and this album is a pretty good representation of their live performance. The liner notes are pretty funny too.
10-21-04, 05:29 PM
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I'll give it a shot since I really like their past stuff, but the song list isn't my favorite. Especially considering it contains IMO the worst song in history (Auld Lang Syne).
