Search - KING MISSILE :: Happy Hour

A GREAT ALBUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

R. Recchia | blodgett mills, ny | 05/10/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"KING MISSILE really topped themselves with HAPPY HOUR, which
is also one of my favorite albums of the 90's! JOHN S. HALL was
always a brilliant lyricist, or poet and he came up with some
of his best lyrics for this, and some of his funniest, especially
on I'M SORRY and DETACHABLE PE..... What also makes this album
a masterpiece is the music itself, which, for KING MISSILE, had
never been so strong. Musically, they combine 90s grunge rock
with 70's prog rock and hard rock. The musical star of this al-
bum is ROGER MURDOCK, whose adventurous and heavy jazz rock
drumming is all over this album. On IT'S SATURDAY, MURDOCK
improvises a wild and crazy drum solo, over which JOHN S HALL
recites some a very funny poem. There is such a variety in the
songs, from the very heavy AND, which has some pretty disgusting
sound effects, to the very laid back HEAVEN to the dirge-like,
almost church hymn like HAPPY HOUR, which is the most serious
song HALL and company have ever written and is also my favorite
KING MISSILE song of all time. I can't understand HALL'S lyrics,
but for some reason, they strike a minor chord in me and his
singing for this song is his most emotional ever. WHAT A SONG!!
I can't recommend thsi album enough, really!"

"it happens a lot, it's detachable..."

Tim Brough | Springfield, PA United States | 05/14/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"King Missile were at their best when they managed to match John S Hall's offbeat poetry Lyrics to a keen edged musical palate. "Happy Hour" was the album that did most consistently ("The Way To Salvation" comes real close), but also had the honor of containing the classic "Detachable Penis." "DP" got them on radio morning shows all over the country and made it look like mainstream success might be looming for King Missile.



But frankly, their beat-poet songs and Frank Zappa styled musical ranting probably doomed them to their beloved cult. Hall's drift into MTV-Poetry slams probably didn't help - as the band was then wedged into the arty school of rock category. But that was probably not a loss to us that loved the band from early on. And it makes "Happy Hour" insanity like Hall's over-the-top tribute to "Martin Scorsese" and the crazed "Take Me Home" or "Ed" all the more entertaining. You also will get a "DP" styled chuckle out of "The Evil Children" or the off-the-cuff poke at U2 at the end of "Metanioa." "Happy Hour" was also a musical potpourri of style: the jazzy drumming of Roger Murdock and the cool keyboards of Chris Xefos -- who I always considered King Missile's secret weapon -- made "Happy Hour" a feast for rock music buffs.



They may not be for everyone (and I saw them play to a Nashville audience so small that Hall stopped the show and gave the audience free sodas from the band's backstage stash, and then Chris Xefos joined some friends and me to bar-hop), but if you own only one King Missile album, then "Happy Hour" is the greatest collection of the band's strengths."