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Knack - Get the Knack Audio CD

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

Knack Band: Knack
Title: Get the Knack
Rating:
Release Date: 2002-05-07
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Let Me Out 2: Your Number Or Your Name 3: Oh Tara 4: (She's So) Selfish 5: Maybe Tonight 6: Good Girls Don't 7: My Sharona 8: Heartbeat 9: Siamese Twins (The Monkey And Me) 10: Lucinda 11: That's What The Little Girls Do 12: Frustrated 13: Don't Look Back 14: That's What The Little Girls Do (Previously Unreleased Songwriting Demo/Band Demo) 15: Maybe Tonight (Previously Unreleased Rehearsal Recording) 16: I Knew The Bride (When She Used To Rock And Roll)(Previously Unreleased Recording) 17: My Sharona (Previously Unreleased Songwriting Demo)

Great songs


I love the live in the studio sound of this record and it has held up very well over the years. Ah, the good old days when people actually wrote good songs and could somewhat play their instruments.


Music hasn't held up well AND mastering error
"My Sharona" is of course a classic but not as compelling or melodic as "That's What the Little Girls Do". The best song on the album (IMHO) is "That's What the Little Girls Do", a great pop rock gem. So it is most unfortunate that, on this newly remastered version, there is a distracting drop-out 40 seconds into "That's What the Little Girls Do". I returned my copy and purchased another. . . same blip. I looked over the reviews here on Amazon and see that another carefull listener discovered the same blip a few reviews back.
All in all, the album is not as great as I thought it was in '79. Why not? The Knack certainly had the right idea and brought great pop back to the radio but were soon "out-pop'd" by much better pop acts. What's better post '70's pop rock than "Get The Knack"? Joe Jackson's first two albums, Marshall Crenshaw's first album, the first two Paul Collin's Beat albums, Locksley's album from last year and purdy much all 6 or 7 of the Teenage Fanclub Albums.
The bonus tracks on this collection are no great shakes so get the previous CD issue, it doesn't have the blip 40 seconds into "That's What the Little Girls Do". .


ONE HOOK FILLED FRENZY!
Luckily I was too young to realize this and ordered the cassette from Columbia House because of the hypnotic beat of the number 1 smash "My Sharona" which, in between the disco thump of Chic and Donna Summer, was unavoidable on the airwaves that year. If you were around in 1979 you knew it wasn't cool to like The Knack.

Even at the tender age of 9 when I listened to this I knew I had stumbled onto something that could keep me VERY entertained between listening to KISS albums. Now that I am long past 9 years old I must say, I STILL listen to this and appreciate it more than ever. If this were released today it would be, yes, a smash hit! The Knack pummel you left and right with some of the catchiest pop rock gems ever laid to vinyl. Opening with the punkish "Let Me Out", the poppish "Your Number Or Your Name" and Oh Tara" you know you're in for quite a guilty pleasure ride.

The dirty "She's So Selfish" follows and then the records one ballad (and possibly the weakest part of the record), "Maybe Tonight", ensues. After this one slight misstep you are treated to the number 11 "Good Girls Don't" and the number 1 "My Sharona" with the most amazing guitar solo you will hear on a pop rock record. Following this comes Buddy Holly's "Heartbeat" and more pop orgasmic exstacy in "Siamese Twins", "Lucinda", "That's What the Little Girls Do" and the strong closer "Frustrated".

The bonus tracks tacked onto the remastered version include a Springsteen song "Don't Look Back" that isn't really suited for the bands pop leanings and a few demos and rehearsal recordings that reveal very little.

If you passed this album up in 1979 give it another chance. The remastered sound is incredible, the music has aged magnificently, it sounds as fresh today as the day it was released and it proves that there was so much more to "Get the Knack" than the hit "My Sharona. " That song is just the peak of what is a mountain of underrated genius. If The Knack were able to continue in this direction they would have given The Cars a real run for the money. .


I Got the Knack
It started of course with "My Sharona," which I feel is structurally one of the best songs of the rock era (dig the riffs). and I still get the knack. The music just had a bouncy energy about it--never boring, never too heavy but never soft either. The transition to "Good Girls" was smooth (okay, my intro. to the band was radio). It is unfair that so much of the great album never got airplay; that's radio for you! This is a great disc that holds up well nearly thirty years later. .


entire album is classic, so much more than just My Sharona
While they were known for the smash hit "My Sharona" the band had a wealth of great material. Get The Knack is a fantastic album from start to finish. I love their lyrics like "I always get it up from the touch of the younger kind" and also in songs like "Good Girls Don't" (she's sitting on my face, and it hurts!). Kind of dirty in a grade-school goofy way. They had a great sounds as a bad - clean tones, driving beats, and pop stylings. I don't think there's a bad song on Get The Knack (I have the original 12 track version), but the standouts include Let Me Out, (She's So) Selfish, My Sharona, Good Girls Don't, Siamese Twins (The Monkey And Me), and Frustrated.


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

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