Search - Nixons :: Latest Thing

Breakthrough Artist? They ' ve Been Here For Years!

Damien Nathan | Anywhere But Here | 04/30/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"How I Came To Purchase This Record:With $20 dollars to burn, I wandered down the cd isles of the local Best Buy wondering what to blow my money on. Since this money was a gift, I wound up doing something spontaneous. I picked up a copy of The Nixon's Latest Thing, lulled only by the cover art, the singer screaming on the back, and the title "Breakthrough Artist" above the few copies of the album left.Best freaking spontaneous purchase I ever made. What an album! For those who have never heard the Nixons, the sound on this album resembles early Lit meets Matchbox 20. That comparison may sound freaky, but this is really a compliment in the highest order. Latest Thing rocks. From "The One", which serves as a wake up call, to the radio friendly "Don't Cry", there is something for everyone on Latest Thing. Packed with hooks, it's gonna linger with you and grow on you.Then, after visiting Amazon.com, I get my biggest surprise: These guys have been rocking since (at least) 1995! I am totally into unknown bands! How the hell did I miss them! No matter. I'm catching up quickly. But maybe Best Buy was right. This could be the breakthrough The Nixons seem to be looking for. I'm betting that "Don't Cry" smacks the airwaves in the near future, and this seems like an album that could spread from word of mouth. (Vertical Horizon, anyone?) I look forward to seeing this album going gold at the least. Shoppers, you've found the latest thing. And it's been here for a long while."

A dissapointment, but still good.

Ryan Wicklund | michigan | 04/12/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Ok I want to start out by saying, I love the Nixons. They are my favorite band. I've been looking forward to this cd for 2 years, and when I finally got it...............I was dissapointed. It's soft. real soft. The hardest song on here, "the one" is scarcely as hard as the average song on the last cd. The moodiness that I've come to associate with the nixons is gone. They're just not nearly as hard as they once were, and some songs seem poppy. The cd does have some very strong points though. On the lighter side, "calling yesterday" is a very nice song, with good a string arrangement, and "Gabriel" is a very good, not too hard, not too soft song, with good lyrics. At times I see my old Nixons, the ones that I grew up with, and loved, but these moments are sadly fleeting. Actually I've heard that Jesse Davis, and John Humphrey have left the band to persue harder, more agressive music, with the old bassist, Ricky brooks, leaving Zac as the only remaining original member. It's always sad to see such great bands fragment like that. True, it doesn't have the energy of Halo or Foma, or the bounce of their self titled cd, but it's still a good listen, especially if you're not in the mood for heavy overpowering guitars. Take this chance to buy the last cd by The Nixons as we know them. Who knows what lies ahead for the band now."

They only get better.

Justin R. Macumber | Fort Worth, Texas United States | 12/22/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've listened to The Nixons for, oh, going on almost eight years now or so. "Halo" was the first CD I bought, and it was great. A real raw sound and feel. "Foma" came out after that, and it was really just a more slickly produced version of "Halo," but with a few different songs. Yet, still, it was a good CD, especially the song Passion. Then came their self titled CD. I *loved* that album. It had a real range on it, going back and forth from hard to soft, with several stellar songs on it, chiefly The Fall, which brought tears to my eyes the first time I heard it. After that I didn't hear much from them. Radio airplay was practically nonexistant. Several years passed by with nothing. And then came "Latest Thing." To tell the truth, I was hesitant to buy it. Usually bands go downhill fast after they've been out of rotation for awhile, and I thought it would be hard to top the last one. But, knowing I had to give it a shot, I bought "Latest Thing." And sadly, at first, I didn't like it. Yeah, the songs were good, but nothing jumped out at me. I would listen to a song or two and then pop it out for some other CD. But then one afternoon I was stuck in Dallas traffic at 4:30 pm (which, for those who know, means at a stand still with plenty of time to kill). I'd taken the other CDs from my car, and all I had was "Latest Thing." So, I slipped it in and listened the whole way through without stopping. And you know what? A light went off in my head. This was great stuff! Taken in pieces, it is *good*, but taken as a whole, it is *great*! The CD has a very... organic feel to it, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Listening to the entire CD gave me a greater feel for the scope of this album, and it is a beautiful view. It starts off hard and rocking, but with each song it transitions into another area, another feel, and by the end you are left drifting happily on a far away cloud, unknowing and uncaring of where you are. And so now I save this CD for times when I know I can listen to it all the way through. Get this CD, give it a try, and you'll see what I mean. This *is* the latest thing, and it is very very good. The best yet."