Fretplay.com The Knack CD reviews The Knack guitar tabs The Knack CD reviews The Knack tabs Round Trip


The Knack - Round Trip Audio CD

A fair review of the The Knack "Round Trip" 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 Knack reviews here, or go back to the The Knack tabs.

The Knack Band: The Knack
Title: Round Trip
Rating:
Release Date: 2002-05-07
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Radiating Love 2: Soul Kissin' 3: Africa 4: She Likes The Beat 5: Just Wait And See 6: We Are Waiting 7: Boys Go Crazy 8: Lil' Cals Big Mistake 9: Sweet Dreams 10: Another Lousy Day In Paradise 11: Pay The Devil (Ooo Baby Ooo) 12: Art War 13: Go Away, Stay Away (bonus track) 14: Lil' Cals Big Mistake (live) (bonus track) 15: Art War (alternate mix) 16: On The Beach (rehearsal) 17: Pay The Devil (Ooo Baby Ooo) (demo) (bonus track)

three great songs, the rest of album is pretentions garbage
Great. Just Wait And See; Boys Go Crazy; Another Lousy Day In Paradise are classic My Sharona style Knack. . . unfortunatly, the rest of is is memorable only for how God awful BAD it is. The first four songs are truly bad attempts to imitate other styles by other more successful artist. She likes the beat is just plain boring, repeating the same 4 words over and over and calling it a song. Up until 1996, copies of this record could be found in used stores around L. A. for 50 cents. I saw 8 copies in one Pasadina store alone. Really bad, embarrasingly awful. Couldn't they have broken up before this? Proof that drugs and rock dont mix well.
.


The Knack come full circle
Little band from Los Angeles explodes from nowhere and have huge hit. Everyone knows the story. Hipsters immediately loathe them. Band engages in self-destructive behaviour and then releases second-rate follow-up album. Just as quickly as it novaed, it imploded. The Knack had become pariahs.

"Round Trip" was released a bit less than two years after "But the Little Girls Understand," and saw the band both licking its wounds and trying like mad to break away from the diminished expectations laid forth by the meteoric rise and just as dramatic fall. Mike Chapman was tossed aside in favor of producer Jack Douglas ("Double Fantasy" and "The Up Escalator"), and the album was more produced than the legendary $18,000 rapid-fire "Get the Knack. " There was still plenty of readily identifiable sounds; both "Radiating Love" and "Just Wait and See" are Beatlesque, and "Boys Go Crazy" is cut from the same cloth as "Frustrated" and "Baby Talks Dirty. "

The big revelations are the jazzy pop confection of "Africa" and "Lil Cal's Big Mistake. " The later features a horn section and quick pass to Was (Not Was) (Fieger was a guest vocalist on ""Born to Laugh At Tornadoes") in the verse "Fagenson looked out of his window. . . Don swore he was singing. . . " Flo and Eddie sang, members Toto of jammed, there is even a verse in Hebrew on "We Are Waiting For You. " "Art Wars" and "Sweet Dreams" experiment with sounds (backwards guitars and a rack-rap). There were touches of Steely Dan and country to make sure everyone knew that The Knack were no longer just a skinny-tie pop band. The first single, "Pay The Devil (Ooh Baby Ooh)" was in waltz time. "Round Trip" was a sophisticated effort and a big bid for respectability, and I really dug it back on its original release.

But the backlash was just too deep, and "Round Trip" quickly and quietly flopped. Doug Fieger and the late Bruce Gary were feuding so heavily that - along with the lack of success awarded "Round Trip" - the band broke up a few months later. This album didn't even make it to CD until this 2002 issue some 20 years later. I may be in a minority but I was thrilled to get this on CD. I like it more that the "Serious Fun" reunion, and "Round Trip" still rates spins in my library.


Schlock Rock
The Knack had one memorable song "My Sharona" the rest of their material represents some of the most mediocre rock/pop I've heard. How can you give 4 stars to music as mediocre as this !
No wonder nearly all the good rock bands of this era were english. Save you're money and download it off the net if you want to torture yourself.


The knack try new musical territory and mostly succeed!
To be honest, when I first heard this album I had a bad reaction. I think this Album threw most original Knack fans for a loop and also didn't quite register with many listeners during its' original release. I guess I was looking for "more of the same" from the Knack. . .

It wasn't until I listened again years later that I "got it". I can now say that this is really a great album that was actually ahead of its time (or rather OUT OF its time). This material was a bit out of place among the synth pop and new wave sounds defining the charts of that time.

Not everything here is good or great and you really can't expect complete success when a group takes on a new approach. "Africa" is a great Knack song and so is "Pay the Devil"!

The real GEM here though (in my opinion) is the bonus track "go away, stay away". An amazing song that will absolutely KILL you if you have ever had a bad "break-up" or are going through one when you listen. This song can also be looked at as the final resolution and other end of the spectrum of "my sharona". Listen for the soft, almost hidden, heart breaking words spoken at the fade-out.

Another real treat is "on the beach" (not to be confused with a later Knack song called "man on the beach").

You can say what you want about the Knack, but Doug Fieger has come up with some of the most CLASSIC pop lyrics and melodies ever written. It's true that he's come up with some of the worst as well (baby talks dirty). . . but hey, the guy didn't ever do anything "half way" :)

A great album all around!

-JM.


The Knack: Round Trip

The remastered version sound great and the bonus numbers are nice. One of those albums I'd bring along to a desert island.


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

Search guitar tabs

#ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
[ Search tabs | Guitar tabs | Bass tabs |
Easy guitar tabs | Guitar solo tabs |
Acoustic guitar tabs | Guitar chords |
How to read guitar tabs ]
Forum topics
Music forums
- Bands and artists - Songwriting and lyrics - Tablature talk - Promote your band
Instrument forums
- Guitar basics - Gear & accessories - Bass guitar
Community
- The pit - Site Feedback - Reviews
[ User survey | About us | Privacy statement ]