Rating:  -
I had never heard this band in America till last year, when over the summer I was glued to one of the very addictive music television channels in India. They played many Stereophonics videos. When I came back to the States, I programmed my Yahoo Launchcast radio station to play them, and I really enjoyed them. After looking at their CDs available in Borders, I bought "Just Enough Education to Perform". I enjoyed most of the tracks, except, for some reason, the first one about Las Vegas. The lead singer's voice is very nice, and the music is comforting.
Rating: -
I consider myself a pretty mature and well traveled conossieur of music. I am into everything from the Dead to Pearl Jam to Sinatra. I discovered this band about 6 months ago and absolutely fell in love. They are simply fantastic by having a familiar yet completely new sound. I am seeing them open for Bowie next week and am as psyched to see them as the Thin White Duke himself. Do yourself a favor and give these guys a listen. They represent all that is good with British music today and for my $ are the best band, outside of Guns N Roses, Nirvana, The Black Crowes and Radiohead to emerge in the last 15 years.
Rating:  -
Now, maybe this is a personal thing. Most of my favourite music is played by artists with real intentions and beliefs, who are determined to either push back the boundaries of music, or make sure their view of the world is put across and taken seriously. Both those things result in passion.
The Stereophonics, after a patchy but interesting debut with great singles, and a mediocre but intermittantly promising second album, appear to be in cruise control, knowing that the money's on the way in.
'Meat and Potatoes rock' is a reasonable criticism really - most of the stuff here is so unexciting, predictable and generic, that it fails to hit any real emotion. Have A Nice Day is a respectable enough pop jaunt, but otherwise the whole thing is basically soulless and unexciting. There are no unpredictable cahnges of direction, no challenging song structures, just the usual verse-chorus-verse...
Rating: -
After I heard "Have A Nice Day" for the first time, I bought this CD right away. To this day I will swear that it was one of the best spur of the moment music purchases I've ever made. This band has without a doubt become one of my absolute favourites, and at any one time, I'll have all of their CDs in my player. While the rest of the album isn't quite as upbeat as "Have A Nice Day", it is by no means any less fantastic. Embodying the soulful and distinct sound that defines Brit rock, every track on this album is phenomenal. In my opinion, the Stereophonics rank up there with the best music coming out of the UK today. Favourites on this album include "Step On My Old Size Nines," "Watch Them Fly Sundays," "Rooftop," and of course, "Have A Nice Day."
Every album by the group is great. Get them all! This just happens to be the first one that I bought. Oh, and if you get the chance, try to find the Stereophonics' rendition of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face." I was skeptical at first, but it's actually a really moving cover that gives the song a new sound without changing the feeling behind it. Kelly Jones has an incredibly unique and surprisingly versatile voice that makes any song by the group automatically recognisable.
Rating: -
There can't surely be many bands in the world who have gained so much success whilst being so utterly uninteresting. Anyone who has a passion for music will surely have no interset in this bland retro-blues/rock tedium. I suppose though that bands like the Stereophonics exist so that people for no love of music have something to put in their stereo.
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