Ugly Kid Joe Album: “As Ugly as They Wanna Be”

Listening to this EP from Ugly Kid Joe recently reminded me of my teenage years, summer holidays and just what fun music this band made.

Across 6 tracks you get a good taste of what this band sounds like and their style is great rock, but very much tongue in cheek. The album opener, `Madman' starts off with theme park sound effects, before the main riff kicks in and the EP is started off with a jolt. `Whiplash Liquor' is a particular favourite of mine and I love the vocals on this track. They are so `of their time`, but suit the song perfectly. The chorus can't help but make you sing along with gusto. The most well known track has to be `Everything about You' which was all over MTV and VH1 when it was released. It has a gentle start and is the most accessible for non-rock fans, it also happens to be a top tune. The album closes with a short 26 second track called `Heavy Metal' which is essentially a quick thrash and scream and then it's over. The perfect way to end this selection of songs and I used to love playing this on repeat as I sat in the garden. All in all this is a great little EP of rock tracks from this band and whilst it does sound dated at times, it is such a great sound that you can't help but still enjoy it.

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I think that this is one of UKJ's best Cds. Although there are only a few tracks, and the cd is rather short, I feel that this CD still rocks hard. If you are into good hard rock, then this cd is for you. Songs like 'madman' and 'whiplash liquor' show the listener that rock is one of the greatest types of music we have.

An EP that would of been totally forgotten had Everything About You not been a worldwide hard rock hit. So what do we get? Well the hit, obviously, plus Madman which was remixed for the debut full length release and then fou other tracks of varying quality.

Whiplash is a track where Whitfield Crane uses most of his vocal tricks and the song rides a funk rock groove which is totally appropriate for this type of rock. Too Bad is a fairly lacklustre toon and the EP's rounded off w/Sweet Leaf and an upbeat semi jam sort of track, like the band only just had enough material to fill this EP. Oh and the mystery track at the end - mmm 15 seconds of joke tune.

All this is topped off with a low rent band pic and a few suitably juvenile drawings involving the bands cartoon mascot. Not an essential release in anybodys universe. But it has a couple of fun tracks and fans of the band do need this in their collection.

HAha just kidding! I was there when this came out, and it was great! In the video on Mtv they flew a blow-up sex doll filled with helium on the beach like a kite. These guys are not serious AT ALL so mellow out and rock out, dude! Invite everyone and my skate rat brother!

What a difference a year can make. If this had been released in 1990 instead of 1991, the band would have had full poodle perms, spandex and would have worshipped at the altar of Crüe. Instead, in a post-Nirvana world, the glitter was replaced by Grunge, a deliberate dirtying down of their image. Plaid and greasy hair were the order of the day. It didn't affect the music one little bit though. This is dumb suburban Rock, through and through. It's got all the overused clichés of the time, with funky bits, slapped bass, and a white boy trying to rap and ending up sounding like a wannabe.

This is essentially an expanded single, built around the slacker anthem "Everything About You", and unfortunately, the three songs before it are so mediocre they are annoying. It is difficult not to want the songs to be finished so you can get to the prize. "Madman" deliberately courted controversy by referring to a gunman loose in Disneyland. Disney's reputation for running down anyone misappropriating their name and/or reputation was well known at the time (just ask D.A.D. or Bomb Everything), and playing on the theory that any publicity is good publicity...it didn't work, because Disney didn't notice! "Whiplash Liquor" is about the dangers of drinking. And actually, an alcoholic haze might make the song sound better.

"Everything About You" is a dumb song aimed at dumb teens (and older listeners who don't know any better), in a self-centred world where hating things and people is cool. The tune is quite memorable though, and Whitfield Crane's dumb lyrics are fun and easy to sing along with. It made a welcome change to the Grunge misery which was starting to gain momentum at the time, even if it sounded like a song Warrant had rejected for being too cheesy.

The cover of Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf" is surprisingly respectful, not utterly slaughtered as you might expect. Whitfield Crane seems to sing within himself, except for when he's copying Ozzy. Then, he lets rip, showing off a powerful and tuneful voice. And then, just to mess everything up, another piece of funky diarrhoea called "Funky Fresh Country Club" got tacked on the end, as if Ugly Kid Joe were hoping to hitch a ride off Black Sabbath's coat tails. The hidden track is rubbish too.

Unfortunately, Ugly Kid Joe went on to record some albums after this, and stretched whatever tiny piece of luck they'd had with "Everything About You". This band might have been fondly remembered if they'd called it a day after this. They didn't, and they aren't.