Rating:  -
As a massive fan of Cwmaman and Wales's greatest export this album is brill! It is a little more mellow and chilled than the last two albums, but this only strenghtens it as this new material is amazing. The songs are unlike anything from other artists as this is all Kelly's work and each one tells a tale of intrige. If you have liked anything that you've heard of the Phonics before then this is a must. It'll never be anything but genius!
Rating:  -
Having never been a fan of all those English bands consciously patterned after late 60's Stones or early 70's Faces, I'm forced to confront my instant enjoyment of Stereophonic's Just Enough Education to Perform. Kelly Jones's power trio comes on like the band Oasis never were and never will be. Song after gloriously basic song reminds us of the verities of rock and roll: a quick set up, a catchy chorus, the illusion of effortlessness. It helps that Jones uses his gritty voice to emote, not clobber. They tackle no new ground, but inhabit old grooves with enthusiasm. One of the nicest things I can say in this age of CD is that most of these cuts ("Lying in the Sun" and "Have a Nice Day", particularly) just aren't long enough.
Rating: -
JEEP is, without doubt, the best effort yet from the Stereophonics. It's a gentler album than their previous one, "Performance And Cocktails", with the emphasis here more on melody than on the fairly boring hard rock that characterised PAC, (with the exception of "Just Looking" and the outstanding "Pick A Part That's New").
It doesn't open brightly, though. "Vegas Two Times" would've fitted quite nicely on "Performance And Cocktails", launching into a boring tune after a ridiculous 50 seconds of warming up sounds. Worst song on the album. "Have A Nice Day" should have been the opening track.
However, things start to look up quickly. "Lying In The Sun" is soft and beautiful, with exceptional lyrics from Kelly ("But you burn me up you paint my skin/In bad designs that ain't even in", etc.)
The first single, "Mr. Writer", has a pretty good chorus with cool backing vocals. The rest of it is just okay.
The third single, "Step On My Old Size Nines", is the second best song on the album. Great melody, lovely harmonica playing, a beautiful ending.
The highlight of JEEP is "Have A Nice Day", the second single. It's one of the best songs ever, no question. I don't care if people think it's sappy and that the cab driver in the song has nothing interesting to say, it's excellent!
"Nice To Be Out" is okay, "Watch Them Fly Sundays" is another of the album's strongest tracks, and the remaining ones are pretty good, except maybe for "Everyday I Think Of Money".
Overall, this is a solid recording from a great Welsh band, who have proved with this release that their music is maturing a great deal. Keep up the good work!
Rating: -
I tend to really enjoy stuff that comes off of V2, and I did enjoy this, but at times it felt just a little too trendy for me. I say this only because I wonder if the band generates this type of music because they feel like this is where their creative journey is taking them, or if their goal is commercial success.
The band has an upbeat pop/rock feel going with some subtle classic rock inflections. If you like Pete Yorn, Jukebox Junkies, or old Matchbox 20 you'll probably get into this. Their songs are up beat, and "happy" sounding for lack of better definition. Lyrically they are good, but I wouldn't say extremely profound or inspiring. It's worth checking out, give them a listen. Maybe they will make it big.
Rating: -
The Stereophonics' third album is a departure from the "stomp rock" album that was "Performance & Coctails", and may take a while to get used to for those looking for a repeat of that album, but in the end is a very satisfying album.
The album starts off where "Performance & Coctails" left off: the opening track "Vegas Two Times" is a great guitar-riff based romper. However, things change very quickly: track 2 "Lying in the Sun" is a very gentle, accoustic guitar-based song, quite pleasant, and very representative for the overall "feel" of the album. "Mr. Writer", a big hit single in the UK, sounds great musically, but leaves to be desired lyrically (lead singer Kelly Jones whaling against and dissing music journalists... yeah, Kelly it's hard to be famous!). Tracks 4 and 5, "Step on My Old Size Nine" and "Have a Nice Day", (both of which also were hits in the UK) are much gentler again, and much more intimate. (I had the good luck of seeing the band in their " US accoustic tour" earlier this year and those songs were fab live.) "Everyday I Think of Money" is one of the other great tracks, with smart lyrics from Kelly.
Electric guitars and hooks are not nearly as prominent as they were on the band's previous albums, but no matter, the album provides a more mature sound of the band. "JEEP" is a great album... BUY IT!
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