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The Beta Band - Hot Shots II Audio CD

A fair review of the The Beta Band "Hot Shots II" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Beta Band reviews here, or go back to the The Beta Band tabs.

The Beta Band Band: The Beta Band
Title: Hot Shots II
Rating:
Release Date: 2001-06-26
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Squares 2: Al Sharp 3: Human Being 4: Gone 5: Dragon 6: Broke 7: Quiet 8: Alleged 9: Life 10: Eclipse 11: Won [*]

An oldie but a goodie


Great songs! Great album. I heard a few songs from this about 6 or 7 years ago, but finally bought it recently and it's such an underrated album. . great band.


Not groundbreaking but good nonetheless
This was the first CD I heard from the Beta Band and while it didn't immediately grab me, I kept comming back to it. If you mix some mellow Radio Head bits, a dash of Portis Head, a dollop of Pink Floyd and sprinkle liberally with spacy loops, vinyl noise and dub-atmosphere, voila, you have Hot Shots II. The musics subtlties and gentle electronica reward repeated listenings.


An imperfect but sorely unheralded masterpiece
Ignore that, because I think the first half of this record is the best, most fully realized concept album of the past decade. Ignore the cheeky title which both plays on the band's frustrated potential and pays homage to a so-so Zucker-Abrams comedy. . . and I don't even know if it's supposed to be a concept album. But it is complicated, addictive, beautifully melancholy and each song meshes perfectly with the one in front of and behind it (only two songs, the last two tracks, "Eclipse" and "Won" don't measure up to the standards of the rest of the material but everything else is primo).

Imagine a blend of Portishead, early Pink Floyd and, oddly enough, the Alan Parsons project and that's what this is. It also functions as a soundtrack to both heartbreak and the first rush of being in love; and those dual-roles are, of course, what the best pop music does.


The chill-out Beta Band album?
As the follow-up up to their much-maligned (even by the band itself) first album, Hot Shots II was generally regarded as a more polished and deliberate effort than its predecessor. I picked up Hot Shots II shortly after I got ahold of the Beta Band's new album Heroes to Zeros, even though I was already familiar with several of the tracks. While the record is certainly better than most of the trash out there today, I would say that it suffers from two weaknesses in the end. The first is its uneven quality; Squares is perhaps my favorite Beta Band song, but Eclipse is either a satire I don't get or simply a silly song with bad lyrics. The final track, a cover of One is the Loneliest Number, also sounds pretty out of place and probably should have been left off the album entirely. Another potential weakness is the fact that the album seems to find its sonic range early on and sticks with it to the end. Upon first listen, many of the songs sound fairly similar to each other. After a couple more listens you begin to appreciate the depth and subtlety of the music, but the fact remains that most of the tracks are assembled from the same combination of relaxed vocals, looped melodies, and spacy electronic effects. Those looking for more spontaneity and variety may want to check out the Three EPs or Heroes to Zeros first. If you're in the mood for some laid-back music with a touch of electronic psychedelia, though, Hot Shots II is a sure bet.


Superb
Overall, the cd is nonetheless, great. I stumbled across the video for "Squares," and after I heard the song, I took a chance and bought the cd. It's the type of cd you want to relax to, very slow and melodic with a twist of electronic. What can I say, I love it. I also saw Beta band live in Detroit when they were promoting the cd and they put on a fantastic show which made the cd that much more better.


You can see a complete list of all The Beta Band discography, or go back to the The Beta Band tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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