Search - Five Iron Frenzy :: Cheeses...

ONE FOR THE TRUE FANS!!

Michael L. Wrigglesworth | West Seneca, NY | 05/14/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Let me begin by saying that you must be a die-hard five iron frenzy fan before you purchase this album. ... If you take to liking that then you'll love this album. kamikaze: a b-side from the 'electric boogaloo' sessions from 2001. This is a great song and it's a great opener for the album but don't expect everything else to be this pleasing. Good horns on this one.rhubarb pie: arguably one of the best songs on this album. This is the original version of 'ugly day' off of the 'all the hype' ablum before the lyrics were changed. Dennis also sings on this version which is really, really AWESOME!!marty: my personal fav. This song was taken from the 'our newest album ever' sessions in 1997. It talks about a punk rocker kid who tries to be different and realizes just how normal he is. Good high energy ska song.fistful of sand(live): This is a really [bad] live version of 'fistful of sand' off of 'our newest album ever'. If you read the liner notes Reese talks about how they would play new songs live before they finished them. That's the last time they would ever do that.four kids in memphis: a b-side from 'all the hype'. Exact same music as 'I still like larry' but with different lyrics.mind for treason: a really hardcore/punk song with a horn section. You thought 'the day we killed' was hardcore? It's got nothing on this one. Andy sings on this song. It's soooo cool.cool enough for you(demo): original demo version of 'cool enough for you'. It's not too bad but there are some really sour notes in the horn section.3rd world think tank(demo): WOW!! this was recorded [bad]! that's ok. This is the whole reason FIF put out this album. So you can really hear how bad they sound.old west(demo): If you've heard the version of this song from 'upbeats and beatdowns' be prepared to hear it at a slower pace. Not bad but it suffers from poor recording quality.burn: this song is off of their original 1995 demo. It isn't a bad song but it really sounded as if FIF was still trying to figure out which sound was theirs. I'm glad they did.left: sweet song with a really good trombone solo. Also from their 1995 demo. Like old school FIF!? You'll like this one.never ask us to play this: a b-side from 'all the hype'. Read 'four kids in memphis'.dog food: a b-side from 'electric boogaloo'. This is a really funny song about dog food(obviously). It's got some rockin good music to it too.OK!! To sum it up everything after this is just nuts!! It's five iron doing what they do best. ACTING FLAT OUT STUPID!!! Some songs you'll hear and just scratch your head and say to yourself "was that supposed to be funny" but other times you'll just bust a gut because you're laughing so hard. Be on the lookout for 'the end is near' which is the 8th and final album from FIF at live shows starting June 18th. GO FIF!!"

My review of 'THE END IS NEAR'

Michael L. Wrigglesworth | West Seneca, NY | 07/16/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well, since i have some spare time on my hands I will write a review of 'the end is near'. For anyone who doesn't know, this is FIF's 8th and final cd. I'm sure people that do not have it yet want a good honest opinion and review of it...so here it is.....Being a hardcore fan of the old FIF sound I was hoping FIF would go back to their roots of ska/punk or find the happy medium between their old and new sound. I popped the cd in my player and was only able to say one thing. WOW!!! Being their last album FIF truly tried to shoot for their best sounding one. It is just that my friends. This is the best FIF album in my opinion. It combines the old sounds and new sounds of five iron perfectly. Songs like 'at least i'm not like all those other old guys', 'so far, so bad', 'wizard needs food, badly' are very old school sounding as of something off of 'our newest album ever'. Songs like 'cannonball', and 'farewell to arms' showcase the fun and serious side of FIF at the same time with fun horn sections and guitar riffs along with serious lyrics. On this album five iron does 2 heavier sounding songs. One is pulled off perfectly and the other is only decent. 'American kryptonite' is an awesome skacore song. It's way better than 'the day we killed' from FIF2:EB. The guitars are really good, the horn section is super awesome and funky, and the bridge is by far the best part. You'll hear what I mean when you get it. 'Anchors away' is the mediocre song and really the only one I didn't love on the album. There's no hardcore screaming and there are horns. You can even skank to the beat but it just doesn't sound like FIF. It's too dark sounding. On songs like 'new years eve', 'it was beautiful', and 'something like laughter' five iron pulls of the ska/rock style of electric boogaloo except it's much better and has lots of horns. More ska-like. The horns just rule on this album. 'See the flames begin to crawl' is one of my favorite tracks. It has a rasta/ska sound going for it. It's very, very awesome. I hope they play it when I see them live mainly because there is an extra awesome horn part towards the end. The last 2 songs are five irons way of ending things. As to not ruin them for you, I will only give you their names. 'That's how the story ends' and 'on distant shores'. As far as describing the genre of music played on 'the end is near' you really can't. To just call it 'rock with horns' is too blase I guess you can say. It's too dynamic to call it that. On the other side of things it's too general to just call it 'ska'. Those 2 styles are combined perfectly to create only what I can call 'ska-core'. Note that is only my opinion. Please don't bash me because you don't agree. I think hardcore old school fif fans will love this album I think as well as the fans of electric boogaloo. This album has the musical maturity of electric boogloo but it's much more light-hearted and goofy like FIF's older cds. All I can suggest is to go order 'the end is near' online at themobilemessage.org or go to a live show and buy it. I wouldn't download it to respect the bands wishes. And you're really missing out because the artwork is absolutely awesome."

Only for the die hards

Ian Norfolk | Buffalo, NY USA | 04/24/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is great, but only if you're a die hard five iron fan. We're talking about 34 tracks of rough, unedited love. The first track, "Kamikaze," is the best as far as serious songs are concerned. At least a dozen of the tracks are only like 10 seconds long, like things that would be similar to "Kitty Doggy". Other tracks included old demos of songs from previous albums. These are rough tracks but that's why I'm telling you should be a die hard fan before you have a listen. One of the awesomest tracks is "Ugly Day" except Dennis does it with alternative lyrics! Total, there's about six songs you've probably never heard, but don't expect much....that's why they're b-sides, people. Don't get me wrong, you'll love this if you've been listening to these guys all through the years. Otherwise, pick up some of their older stuff first. I'd suggest "Quantity is Job 1" or for a good sampling of five iron at their finest go for the live album, "Proof that the Youth are Revolting.""