I'm going to try a bit of a different approach with this review. See, Fat took it upon themselves to make this entire compilation contain brand new, previously unreleased songs. I think that is a cool idea, no matter what bands are on it. So in the spirit of doing new things, I will listen to this compilation once, and only once, for review. I will write a short sentence summary of each song [and band] as soon as the track is finished. You gotta figure that each band tried to put their best material on here to garner interest, so we'll see how it pans out. Here goes nothing...
Zero Down - This band is one of Fat's newest acquisitions, and they fit in just fine. They have a little bit of an Epitaph vibe, too, they remind me a bit of older Offspring stuff mixed with some Ten Foot Pole.
No Use For A Name - I love NUFAN, but their last album was less than great. This song is a definite improvement on "More Betterness!" but it's still not as good as their "Leche" stuff. If this was the first song I had ever heard of them, I would look into more of their stuff.
Anti-Flag - I just realized how much A-F's singer and the Saves The Day's singer sound alike. Good gang vocals in the chorus and a wacky talking part which reminds me of At The Drive-In's "Invalid Little Dept.". I like this song.
Good Riddance - Pretty unmemorable.
Fabulous Disaster - Better than their CD, but it's still really boring. Moving on.
Sick Of It All - I thought SOIA was supposed to be more hardcore than this. I can see where H2O got their sound from, though. It's pretty good.
Mad Caddies - What the fuck? There's no horns! It's a catchy song, but it gets kind of lost among the Fat Wreck shuffle without the horns.
Consumed - I really really like this band, and I thought their last album was great. This song would've fit perfectly on it, and it's a definite standout on this comp so far.
Strung Out - I thought Strung Out was metal. This is certainly not, but it *is* a rockin' good time of a song, with a killer guitar part. Standout #2.
Bracket - I hate Bracket.
Frenzal Rhomb - They win the award for best song title - "Prognosis: Fuck You." They don't even say that line until the very end of the song, but they tease you a couple times. Teasing bastards.
NOFX - Ha! They rip on Billy Corgan in the very first line. Major points there. They namecheck a Dead Kennedys song. More points. They rip on Hollywood almost the whole time. Tons of points. These guys will just not stop.
Rise Against - Oh, what a cheezy metal guitar solo. Lame.
Lagwagon - Oh, what a cheezy metal guitar solo. Awesome! This is very "Hoss" era with a neat breakdown in it, and I dig it a lot.
Wizo - Why does Fat Mike love this band so? The whole German thing is just kind of weird.
Propagandhi - It's one of the catchiest Propagandhi songs I've ever heard. This makes me want to get the new CD.
Tilt - I love Cinder Block's vocals. Good, gritty punk.
Snuff - This just sounds sloppy. There's an organ in the background, I think, and their bass player is jumping all over the place. I dunno.
Me First & The Gimme Gimmes - The best part about this is that the band takes themselves seriously. I love it.
Swingin' Utters - Sounds like a bad Mike Ness impression vocals-wise, and the music is actually pretty toned down for the Utters. Not the best way to end the CD.
Fat Mike and co. do a good job on making this comp worthwhile. All unreleased songs? It's a skater's dream. My biggest complaint? The comp was only 52 minutes long, and doesn't represent everyone on the label. Where's Less Than Jake, Avail, The Dickies, Hi-Standard? I'm not saying I like all of those bands, but a full 74 minutes would have increased the value of the CD even more. Regardless, you really can't get a better deal for under five dollars anywhere else. Plus, I do live fat [see my webcam for proof] and I probably will die young, so now I have a soundtrack.
[taken from a different kind of greatness webzine]