The Mighty Mighty Bosstones Album: “Pay Attention [Clean]”

I have to take a stance somewhere between the critics and diehard fans. ;) This latest Bosstones album is incredibly fun, with wonderful works like 'The Skeleton Song' and the much-overlooked 'Where You Come From'. However, many of the later tracks on the album simply seem to blend together in a lousy punk/ska blur. The album certainly would have done much better with a few more tempo changes! It's hard to pick a rating, since this album's so full of contradictions. It has some *wonderful*, classic Bosstone lyrics in 'Where You Come From' and 'All Things Considered', but I have to agree that some of the lyrics make you wonder what they were on at the time. ("Right now I'm feeling like an ant/Let em ramble let me rant" --Let Me Be) Despite its problems, there's still plenty of fun and even good ole' Bosstone insight in the CD. If you've never listened to TMMBT before you might do better buying _Let's Face It_ or _Question the Answers_. However, fans of the 'Tones deffinately shouldn't miss this one. Hope this helps!

Pay Attention is a cd with a mix of sounds. The first few are very old-school bosstones. After song 5, the bosstones decided to mix it up a bit. Number 6 and 7 add a hardcore break to the cd. From then on its Poppy-ska. I bought this cd the day it came out and don't regret it for a minute. It's very good, especially the first and last several. Don't expect it to sound a lot like Let's Face It, because it won't. It's not a definitive ska cd, but its darn good, and you have to admire them for not following not changing their style for the public, but instead going in a complete different direction

Following up a breakout album is always a tough job, and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones have not quite matched the smash "Let's Face It" with their new release, but they have produced a strong album that should satisfy any fan. Ska is slipping to the background as straight ahead punk/pop begins to dominate the band's sound. This is all right because the best songs here are the more convential pop/rockers "So Sad to Say" and "I Know More". Although a few songs are overdone towards the thrash end of the genre, for the most part this is a highly energetic, upbeat romp along the fence between ska and rock and roll.

I just picked up this CD and I must say that it really is a return to the past for the Bosstones, which is a totally good thing if you ask me or most of the fans. Check out the clips and you'll see what I'm talking about. The CD was just released today, so I don't know what songs are going to be great singles but tracks 1,4, and 8 are kickin.

I wish I could rate this higher, I really do, because there really is some good stuff on here. It's still worth buying, even though it's far from their best album. Tunes like "riot on broadstreet", "skeleton song", "Let me Be", and the big radio-hit "So Sad To Say" are up there with some of the best songs the bosstones have ever laid down, but the abundance of filler material really weigh it down. Had they ditched maybe six of the sixteen tracks, we would've had a killer album on our hands here, but listening to the whole thing straight through becomes somewhat of a chore. I still reccommend it and maybe others out there will actually get something out of the whole thing. I hope their next one is tighter, but for right now, "Pay Attention" will do just fine. The skip button sure does come in handy, though.