BOC: CotHM review/overview/discussion

[Paul Mather]

On Fri, 8 Jun 2001, Ted Jackson wrote:

=> '...Ah feel yer pain...' But you guys on the other side of the pond got
=> the new Monster Magnet a month or so before we did, and our
=> version doesn't include the best song they did, 'Down in the Jungle...'

I picked up _God Says No_ last week in the used bins.  Mine says on the
back it includes a bonus track, "Silver Future."  Does this mean the USA
version has that but the European one doesn't?

I noticed one bizarre thing when buying it.  There were three copies in
the bin, and one of them was the "clean version."  "Monster Magnet clean
version" seems the ultimate oxymoron to me.  I never knew they pandered
to that loathesome practice.  The only apparent thing to differentiate
the two versions outwardly was the presence of the "Parental Advisory,
Explicit Content" label in the bottom right of the "unclean" version.
Luckily, the Record Exchange had thoughtfully put a hand-written "This
is the clean version" warning sticker on the front of the "clean" copy.
I would probably have missed this had it not been pointed out.

I have to admit, I was a might intrigued at what a "cleaned up" Monster
Magnet album might sound like.  Do they just bleep out the naughty bits,
or do they actually record different lyrics (kind of like how they
heavy-handedly dub "clean" words over "unclean" ones in films, and hope
the audience doesn't notice the mouth is saying something entirely
different to what is emitting:)?  However, even $3 seemed a bit steep at
the time... :-)

For those that don't know, I believe this "clean version" bandwagon got
started by huge retailers like Wal-Mart, who wanted to maintain the
facade of a good, wholesome "family friendly" image (whilst sticking it
to those same families by destroying their local small businesses >:).

As for the album itself, I enjoyed it well enough, but it seemed very
slick and mellower compared to previous outings.  I got the impression
Dave was trying to expand musically into the mainstream.  But, I'm a
_Spine of God_ and _25.....Tab_ fanatic, so feel free to ignore all
that.  However, I much prefer the direction Ed Mundell is taking in his
solo project (even if it might be less original) to the current Monster
Magnet.

Cheers,

Paul.

e-mail: paul at gromit.dlib.vt.edu

"Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production
 deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid."
        --- Frank Vincent Zappa