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Ugly Kid Joe - The Very Best of Ugly Kid Joe: As Ugly as It Gets Audio CD

A fair review of the Ugly Kid Joe "The Very Best of Ugly Kid Joe: As Ugly as It Gets" 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 Ugly Kid Joe reviews here, or go back to the Ugly Kid Joe tabs.

Ugly Kid Joe Band: Ugly Kid Joe
Title: The Very Best of Ugly Kid Joe: As Ugly as It Gets
Rating:
Release Date: 1998-08-04
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Madman 2: Neighbor 3: Cat's in the Cradle 4: Everything About You 5: Tomorrow's World 6: God 7: Busy Bee 8: C.U.S.T. 9: Milkman's Son 10: N.I.B. 11: Goddamn Devil 12: Slower Than Nowhere [#] 13: Funky Fresh Country Club

Great Album
They only ever released one album after the 3 or 3 albums this one is made up from, and quite frankly, those songs are far from classics. I have heard some of the fans of UKJ that this isnt actualy the very best of UKJ.

This album is great. I own all of the UKJ CD's and there not much I can say should've been changed on this selection. Maybe they should repleace NIB with the Candle Song or something, but I think this album is the one to get over anything else.

The album contains some very catchy tunes, some great rock 'n roll and overall deserves a well respected 5 stars!

This album may also have the same effect as it had on me to eventualy want to find the rest of the UKJ albums and really get into this highly underrated rock group.


Maybe not a full overview but...
Their method of selection is debatable: there's some tracks they could've done without ("Tomorrow's World") and some classic UKJ material they can't even begin to justify excluding. A good solid release. . . but most of the faults to be found can be put down to a matter of personal taste. This collection includes the hits and most of their best work, and is therefore a great introduction to the group, and a fairly good insight to their career.

UKJ were labelled as popmetal and there's no denying that their sound is by influenced GnR et al. However, their haircuts aren't too horribly 80s, Whitfield Crane's voice is a helluva lot better than other singers in that genre, they managed to pull off slow songs without sounding cheesy ("Busy Bee" "Cat's in the Cradle" "Milkman's Son". . . ) and UKJ's music possessed a gritty edge that other "popmetal" groups lacked.
Despite being aimed solely at adolescent boys, UKJ had a lot of talent and good musicianship.

"Everything About You" and the Harry Chapin cover were the band's biggest hits, but are far from their best songs. "God" is full of grinding guitars, growling vocals and suppressed anger, while "Slower Than Nowhere" is a great anthem for teen boredom (despite bearing a striking resemblance to Green Day's "Brain Stew. ") "Goddamn Devil", "Neighbour" and "Madman" are outrageously silly in their lyrics, again a reminder that the audience for this band largely consists of male teens, but the songs remain listenable due to the catchiness of the hooks. Even the Black Sabbath cover "N. I. B. " is pulled off with ease and style, while "C. U. S. T" and "Funky Fresh Country Club" explore new territory, full of juddering slapbass and funky guitars in roughly the same vein as the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

While this album features some slower numbers, they unfortunately fail to feature "Cloudy Skies" and "Candle Song" both of which are lovely and totally different from the other tracks, showing another side to the band. Maybe if they'd included them, UKJ wouldn't seem quite so one-dimensional to potential fans.

Granted, this doesn't include material from their final album, when greatest hits albums should span the entire career. . . but many UKJ fans believe Motel California to be their weakest record; much of the music from it isn't among their best. Songs like "Sandwich" and "12 Cents" from Motel California (among the strongest of the bunch) would have seemed below-par and out of place on a Greatest Hits album. The record company couldn't have justified choosing them over more material from other albums, cos there's really no comparison in the quality.

This is by no means all there is to UKJ, but it stands as a good introduction and overview to an unfairly overlooked band. Highly recommended.


Recordcompany-release, just to make some money!!
No tracks from the last one "Motel California" who is selfreleased. This Best Of only features songs from the first mini-album and from the two first albums. The recordcompany can therefore not include tracks from that album on this release without UKJ:s permission. They didn't get it. A Best Of-release cannot show how a band have matured and changed if it doesn't contain tracks from the start to the end. This release does not show the respect the band need. There are songs who should be there and some who should be removed. This compilation is not well compiled. Buy their albums instead. This release actually isn't worth one star.


UKJ needs to regroup! NOW
They have way too much music to put out. When I saw this release in the store, I was disgusted, as they are not ready to have a "Greatest Hits" CD yet. Ugly Kid Joe, was and still remains, one of the best tongue in cheek bands of the 90s. Clearly, the boys have not made it on their own since the split. They need to do the right thing and regroup. How about it?.


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