Fretplay.com Widespread Panic CD reviews Widespread Panic guitar tabs Widespread Panic CD reviews Widespread Panic tabs Don't Tell the Band


Widespread Panic - Don't Tell the Band Audio CD

A fair review of the Widespread Panic "Don't Tell the Band" 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 Widespread Panic reviews here, or go back to the Widespread Panic tabs.

Widespread Panic Band: Widespread Panic
Title: Don't Tell the Band
Rating:
Release Date: 2001-06-19
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Little Lilly 2: Give 3: Imitation Leather Shoes 4: This Part of Town 5: Sometimes 6: Thought Sausage 7: Down 8: Big Wooly Mammoth/Tears of a Woman 9: Casa del Grillo 10: Old Joe 11: Action Man 12: Don't Tell the Band 13: Action Man [Live][*] 14: Chilly Water, Pt. 1 [Live][*] 15: Pleas [Live][*] 16: Chilly Water, Pt. 2 [Live][*] 17: C. Brown [Live][*]

From a different perspective
At the time it really rang my Bell (pun intended). I had never heard (or heard of) Widespread Panic when I bought this CD, so I was free of the expectatitons and prejudices of a "fan". My life was going through some widespread panic at the time, so I picked this up for the synchronicity of the title to my situation. I played it constantly for at least a year and it was like balm on a psychic wound.

John Bell's vocals sound like a cry from a deep well of, well, panic. He reminds me of Dino Valenti (Quicksilver) the way he can have a scream in his voice without screaming. It was like he understood my pain and sympathized.

The often ominous lyrics, the blues based feel good/bad instrumental drive, they just sounded so ultimately right to me it was downright revelatory to someone who doesn't care all that much for rock.

With the passing of the years, I still trasure this, to my ears, highly successful STUDIO recording. You know kids, I love to hear a good jam too; that's why I liked the Dead and have mostly moved on to jazz with my advancing years and ears. But I really don't want to hear a particular jam over and over again. It works with jazz due to the complexity of the improvising, but for basic boogie, repeat playings become monotonous. Thats why the Dead's better studio albums hold up so well, but deadheads have to keep paying for a constant supply of Dick's Picks in order to get FRESH jam.

I have purchased more WSP CDs and DVDs since, but haven't been equally moved. Nice bonus getting to hear live versions of the studio sides. .


Widespread Rules!!
P. I recently crushed my foot(broken in several places) and have been recooperating with the help of W. Although I have been heavily medicated most of the time this is still some of the greatest music I have ever heard. I've been a Widespread fan for a while, but until recently I have only owned 3 of their CD's. In the last month I've purchased every CD they have. They just get better and better. I can't wait til I break something else!.


Get some live stuff first!
Hear WSP live! I have all their albums and hardly listen to them (even their best studio albums are lame compared to their shows). Okay, I know that I'm just gonna be re-hashing what other people have already written, but I am going to say it again to pound it into your brain. I think even more so than the Grateful Dead and Phish, both bands that recorded great studio songs, Panic is only truly great live. I suggest (if possible) to get into the tape trading scene and avoid this album because every live show these guys do is tremendous. Truly some of the best group playing I have ever heard.
Little Lilly and This Part of Town are my 2 fav songs, but every song is pretty good. Entertaining but forgettable.


Don't tell the band.. to stop
Another exercise in integrating traditional Southern rock into the current century. Another couple years, another Panic album. And true to form this one rocks, whispers, kicks and navigates through a variety of song styles that's even more. . err, widespread than before. There's some growling southern-fried funk, some quiet country, a touch of Spanish guitar, and more that flat-out contemporary-blues rock we all know and love. JB's voice sounds as heavy on the whiskey & cigarettes as ever. Only one warning: those who want more of the six-minute Panic jams that fleshed out their first few albums may feel like several songs are cut off too soon. On the other hand, the "let-em-save-it-for-the-live-album" crowd will find a lot to like; the tracks here have the usual scattered solos but don't stretch much past five minutes. Once again we're reminded that improvising is WP's cherry, but it's the songwriting that makes up the whole sundae.

Ah, but the double-disc package has something to please the fans in both camps. As a seeming concession to the jam-happy part of the fan base, the extra live disc is a 26-minute reminder that their dynamic stage energy hasn't gone anywhere. The instrumental "Action Man" roars where the studio version simply burns. I'm still sitting on the fence as to whether this or Till the Medicine Takes is the better album for neophytes, but I'm leaning toward Don't Tell the Band because of the second CD. Want a nice energetic ray of sunshine? This'll do nicely.


not as good as earlier albums
In an interview, lead singer John Bell said that this album was going to be an exit from what they are used to doing, as well as what their fans are used to hearing. When I first bought "Don't Tell the Band," I knew to expect something different. "Big Wooly Mammoth," is a solid jam, but most of the other songs just don't stand up to their past work, which is five stars. If you're a Spread-Head, you already have had this album for months. If you don't have it, I would only buy after getting their earlier work.


You can see a complete list of all Widespread Panic discography, or go back to the Widespread Panic 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 ]