[.ca] Holy Roller

From Amazon.co.uk:
If you're looking for the ultimate in bad-ass rock & roll stripped to its barest essentials then look no further than this definitive collection of career highlights from everyone's favourite psychobilly scoundrel the Reverend Horton Heat. From his 1992 Smoke 'Em If You've Got 'Em debut shot, Horton (AKA hard-living Texas guitar-slinger Jim Heath) has been tirelessly preaching the rock gospel with a feral combination of rockabilly licks, punk attitude, alcoholic incaution and industrial strength pomade. Coming on like Brian Setzer's roughneck second cousin, this bon viveur graduate of the Eastern Texas Juvenile Correction Facility never fails to satisfy with his shaking, quaking tales of redneck charlie farming ("Bales Of Cocaine"), liver-shrivelling lost weekends ("Baby I'm Drunk") and whammy bar abuse ("Wiggle Stick"). Ably assisted by Jimbo on bass and Taz on drums, the Reverend Horton Heat's singular muse is required listening for all serious students of Hell-bound juvenile delinquency. --Ian Fortnam

Top Five Album!:
If you're looking to build a music collection and have a limited budget that forces you to look at compilation CDs, "Holy Roller" is an absolute must. Nothing beats thrashing, wall-banging rockabilly for your entertainment buck, and "Holy Roller," with its 24 tracks, is a great capsule summary of one of the genre's defining bands. Spanning from "Smoke 'Em if You Got 'Em" to "Space Heater," "Holly Roller" covers the glory year of the Rev. Not content with raging guitars and a frantic beat, the Rev. also throws out some of the most irreverent, hilarious lyrics around. "Big Red Rocket of Love," "Bad Reputation," "Big Little Baby," "Now, Right Now," and others are high-octane rockabilly. The Rev. gets a little more humorous with "Bales of Cocaine," "Cowboy Love," and "Eat Steak" -- sure to drive any vegetarian to distraction. "Where in the Hell Did You Go With My Toothbrush" is musical and comic genius. Clocking in at well over an hour, the 24 tracks are a true compilation . . . none of those wimpy ten-track greatest hits albums for the Rev! Again, if you can't get the entire CD catalog of the Rev, this is the way to go.

This is the album that got me into psychobilly:
Oh man, there's no greater rush than hearing the intro stylings of Big Sky/Baddest Of The Bad. Marijuana and Now, Right Now are also more great speed songs. Even just the upbeat songs like Big Red Rocket Of Love, Bales Of Cocaine, It's Martini Time, and Baby I'm Drunk make for a fantastic album. The Rev is also writing some great guitar riffs for mellower songs such as Bath-Water Blues and Where In The World Did You Go With My Toothbrush?. I hear at the live shows, the Rev and Jimbo fret each others instruments while strumming their own, and then the Rev stands on Jimbo's bass while he plays it lying down. One of my friends was asked if he wanted to go see these guys before we'd heard of them...now he looks back on it and just says "Stupid, stupid me...". Seriously, buy this, it's great.

See you in church!:
If you believe in the evangelical power of rock then this is for you: a howling celebration of self-knowing musical stupidity for those heavy, heavy drinking sessions. HOLY ROLLER is a fantastic 24-track retrospective that neatly encapsulates the Rev's career-from 1991's SMOKE 'EM IF YOU GOT 'EM to 1998's SPACE HEATER. As is usually the case with this sort of compilation, themes emerge. The Reverend seems to be preoccupied with the positive effects of inebriation. Such tunes as "Bales Of Cocaine," "Marijuana," "It's Martini Time," "Baby I'm Drunk," and "Eat Steak" glorify excess with tongue planted firmly in snuff-filled cheek. It's difficult to think that a man who'll write a song called "Where In The Hell Did You Go With My Toothbrush?" isn't kidding. The songs are in the classic rockabilly format of guitar, slap bass, and drums, but the trio's fiery, noisy playing blows apart any notion of polite revivalism.

Rocking with the Rev:
Man, this CD contains enough energy to light a small town! I don't know how the 44.1kHz CD sample rate keeps up with this tempo! Think of a Stray Cats LP played at 45rpm and you get the idea. My CD player was smoking after this one. It's a good thing CD's are read by non-contact laser as I would have worn a vinyl LP out by now, listening to it over and over. The songs are almost all great except track 24 which gets nowhere. The sound is good and clear, and despite the frantic pace the guitar pickin' is clean and the tone is pure rockabilly. The only reason I rate it 4 stars not 5 is the paltry 'booklet thing' included with the CD. Considering it is a "Best Of" It would have been nice to have a few band photos and maybe the song lyrics too in a proper booklet - however just buy it for the music and let 'er rip!

Can you feel the Heat?:
"I used to be a sinner, then I saw the Reverend Horton Heat" - RHH. Like The Mighty Mighty Bosstones' "Live from the middle east", and Uncle Tupelo's "Anthology", this is an awesome lengthy collection of almost all his best stuff. 24 tracks! Everything from "Wiggle stick" to "Big sky" is on here. It's a good sampling of all the albums pre-"Lucky 7". Get this for sure. If you get the chance to see him live, do it. It's one of the most fun, high energy shows I've ever seen. Pure sex, drugs, and rock-a-billy!

• Big Sky
• Baddest of the Bad
• Wiggle Stick
• Big Red Rocket of Love
• Bales of Cocaine
• Bath-Water Blues
• Lie Detector
• 400 Bucks
• Marijuana
• It's Martini Time
• Baby I'm Drunk
• Where in the World Did You Go With My Toothbrush/
• Bad Reputation
• One Time for Me
• Now, Right Now
• Slow
• Love Whip
• Jimbo Song
• Big Little Baby
• Cowboy Love
• In Your Wildest Dreams
• Eat Steak
• Folsom Prison Blues
• Entertainer