Fig Blenerafun

Overall Album Score: 6.2 out of 10

Big Generation!

Do you think that was big enough? Lemme try this:

BIG GENERATION!!!!!!!!!

Still not big enough, eh? Well, try this on for size:

BIIIIIGGGGGGGG GENEEEEEEEEEEEEERATTTTTIONNNNNNNNN!!!!!

I could try something bigger, but I'm afraid that I would seriously injure my keyboard.

So I bet you're asking me: why do I do it? Why do I single out an obscure band called Mudfrog who hails from Santa Cruz, California, who cut only one album in 2000 during their unknown career and give them a mere 6.2 for their effort? Is it to humiliate them? Because nobody and I mean NOBODY ever heard of 'em, and nobody will ever hear of 'em ever, unless they do something radical in their future and do something completely and off-kilter like ... become popular.

Well, I have an answer for all you inquiring minds; there is a method to my madness! My method: There is no method to my madness. I have no freaking idea why I'm writing this review, why I listened to this album, and why I'm even living.

I do have a lot of nice things to say, though. This is a pretty solid effort from a band without expensive producers running the show or anyone with any phenomenal talent. (I mean ... seriously ... a lot of people can play the guitar or play the piano, but not everyone is Eric Clapton or Elton John.) Mudfrog is a good, solid group of people who can play their instruments very well. They know how to write an original song with a solid melody. And they know what to do with these songs in the studio. Heck! That's more than I can do! I spent about 7 years trying to figure how to play the piano, and I can't play worth a darn. These are talented, talented people ... much more talented than freak shows like Britney Spears. ... They're just mediocre.

But, they have spirit! The very spirit that this blessed rock-and-roll movement was based on! I'm merely making suppositions, but these talented guys all came together into the studio with two purposes in mind: one-to make an album, two-to have a blast. You can tell they were having a blast, too. They are enthusiastic and seemingly even proud about these original songs, even though many of them might not be that good. Enthusiasm is an important if you're going to be in rock-and-roll! I wouldn't know, of course, but I wish I did ... dang it, crappy, talentless Don Ignacio...

Some of these songs are pretty good, anyway. "Possible Ocean" is very nice ... but that only scored an 8.5. ... Really, don't get this album. I don't know why I'm writing a review for it. I just picked it randomly. ... Although, the band has a really nice name! Mudfrog ...

And another thing, I have no idea why this band bills itself as an "art-folk-rock" band. The first three songs on here sound like Talking Heads reincarnations, and the rest of the album is either inoffensive (to my ears) country-western-pop music, goofy poetry, and just ordinary retro pop music of the Wings variety.

Overall Album Score: 6.2 out of 10 (Can't I just leave this obscure band alone? ... Apparently not! They know what they're doing as far as their studio musicianship skills go. They're just mediocre.)

Average Song Score: 6.7 (There are a few formidable songs on here. Unfortunately, most of this is just mediocre but was obviously performed by people who had talent.)

Album Tilt: 6.0 (The album is trying to sit through, unfortunately.)

Artist Rating: 6.0 (The songs were well performed. A lot of them are solid enough and performed enthusiastically, but they lack soul.)

Track Reviews

West of Eden 7/10

The beginning of this song sounds ................ very 80s. Not that that's a bad thing, of course, it's just I KNOW WHAT DECADE THESE GUYS GREW UP IN!!!!! (I think they're Talking Heads fans.) I kind of like this song, but ...... I don't know. It doesn't really have much of a melody. It tries to have some sonic appeal (i.e. Talking Heads), but it doesn't totally succeed on this one.

Lester 8/10

I really enjoy this groove! Again, ... this is kinda Talking Heads, you know. But I like the Talking Heads! YAY!!! Although, I can't say these guys are particularly great mixing these in the studio. Then again, Mudfrog probably didn't have Brian Eno on board as producer.

Possible Ocean 8.5/10

This song isn't possible ocean, but it is possible crap! ... Oh wait. Mudfrog isn't famous. So why trash them? ... They don't really deserve to be trashed, anyway. I sure as heck like the way this song was performed. It might have the sheer impressiveness of the actual Talking Heads, but they're still very able performers. I like that hollow little xylophone in the background and, this time, the melody is very decent. Moreover, I dig the enthusiasm of this! Yay!!!

Birmingham 7.5/10

And now the album shifts. The Talking Heads variety of songs takes a peculiar shift to country/western music married with general pop rock. I guess this is decent as far as this type of music ever goes, but ... yikes, this is so ordinary, miiiiilddddddddddd, and too long! It's still very well performed.

Gold 5/10

It sounds a bit like Mudfrog actually cares enough about their poetry to want to hear it talked amidst a rock groove. The rock groove is pretty good (but it's not good enough to support talked-poetry)! Fortunately, the poetry stops, and we get some singing. And ... uhhh ... this is pretty rancid. The melody is pretty much zilch, and this whole thing gets tiresome pretty quickly.

Vaporized 7/10

Decidedly, we're back to the Talking Heads inspired stuff. Although, this song is far from being "inspired!" It has a nice general melody and it's performed well enough ... it just doesn't have much soul. Ya gonna need soul if ya gonna be a rocker! (Not that I would know much about being a rocker, but ... huhuuuuuuuuuuhuuu ... just exercising my right to fair comment.)

Landing 6.5/10

This song starts out slowly and then it WHAM starts to rock out. I enjoy the quirky feel of it, certainly! ... Although, if you give this material to somebody else, they might have made it rock out more, which is really what it needed. It's not such a great song, anyway. It lacks hoooksssssiesssssssss.

Coyote King 7.5/10

I always thought that coyotes were ugly, sinister creatures. This is an ugly and sinister song! ... This is probably the best song on the album in terms of its feeling. Instead of light, but fun dancable Talking Heads retreads, this is a real dirty and gritty thing! The only things that are missing here are good hooks in the melody. The constant repeating of "I am the coyote king" gets on my nerves big time.

Song of the Santa Fe 109 7/10

Another NORMAL country/western song gone pop. It's not horrible, it's just been done before 293 billion times before and the 293,000,000,001st time isn't particularly special. It's performed very well, fortunately, but it's just not memorable whatsoever.

God Made Me Do It 4/10

Phew! ... I know I shouldn't pick on people who aren't famous, but ........ oh, I just won't do it. This song is not only bland, but it features more of that spoken poetry. Booooorinnnnngggggggggggggggggg!

Station Wagon Song 5/10

I'm bored! Chairman of the bored! (OoooooOOoooOOoo, I'm going to go listen to some Iggy Pop after this.) Although, the band wisely does put their lesser songs at the end of the album. This is just another old boring song with a very blah, generic melody.

Big Generation 7.5/10

And Mudfrog VERY WISELY decides to close the album with a very fun, danceable song! ... I feel sorta worn out from trudging through some of these other songs, but the fun that was present in the album's first half is sort of coming back! (...And... oh ... there's a definite connection to the Who's "My Generation," but ... oh well ...)

Nobody is going to send their comment about this album here!

info@mudfrog.com (frog) received May 22, 2005

Wow, it's very interesting and surprising to see a song-by-song review of our 2nd album here. Mudfrog has been playing for nearly 12 years, and are still at it. Our newer albums would most likely rate similarly on your scale.

eugene.shockley@brooksglobal.net (gene) received July 5, 2005

mudfrog rocks!! always has, always will, from the beginnings in garages in orange county to the most recent of shows in northern california- this band is the definition of a fun, driving, jam rock band!