THEE MICHELLE GUN ELEPHANT
Collection (Alive)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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Everybody's been talking about Thee Michelle Gun Elephant for so long I was starting to feel like a social leper for not being able to join the conversations. First of all, I hadn't heard the Japanese rock and roll band, and second, I made matters worse when, during my only attempt at joining such a discussion, I called them Thee Machine Gun Elephant. Well, I stand before you like a blushing teenager and tell the world that my cherry has finally been popped. Rocked, actually. Collection is a 17 song overview of what is clearly one of the purest, greatest gut level rawk band in the world. Every song explodes, each note jumps to the next as TMGE surround you in their frantic sonic web. I feel like saying it's designed to set you to pogoing, but it feels too spontaneous to have been designed at all. You've heard and read a million words about the spirit of rock and roll and you've probably thought about where the fragments have landed. One large chunk landed in Tokyo intact. This is the music that reaches into your gut and makes you fall in love with rock and roll all over again. And all the while, the singer is singing in Japanese, except for the title lines. It just doesn't matter. I don't know what any of these songs mean, though I've got my own ideas for several, and I'll deck anyone who ruins it for me. My only bitch was with "Boogie," a song that would have been fair at 3 minutes but kept on and on for 8. Nothing's perfect. Again, Collection's a collection. Duh. Buy it, fall in love, and get on with the serious collecting.

Track List:

Pinhead Cramberry Dance * Young Jaguar * Hi! China! * Smokin' Billy * Lily * Out Blues * Why Do You Want to Shake? * Blue Nylon Shirts * Black Tambourine * Boogie * The Birdmen * Baby, Please Go Home * Vibe On! * Revolver Junkies * World's End * GT 400 * Cisco

© 2001 - DJ Johnson