BON FUHRER "Rank Hath Its Privileges"
BON FUHRER "Rank Hath Its Privileges"
For those of you who have seen Bon Fuhrer in concert, you already know that
they're an excetional live band. I recently had my first experience with
this unique band and I was literally knocked for a loop. I had heard plenty
of good things about them, but, if I hadn't seen it for myself, I never
would have believed it. I mean, come on, what would you think if someone
told you that there's this band you need to check out that features two
members...a drummer who sports an early version of Alice Cooper's make up
design and a guitar player who dresses like Hitler and makes "speeches"
during their set. To top it all off, they use a Shop-Vac as a bass player.
I know what you'd be thinking...you'd be thinking anyone who would praise
something like that probably has a few screws loose upstairs and probably
has a bad taste in music.
Well, let me be the first to tell you something...I feel my musical tastes
are very good and when it comes to Bon Fuhrer, they are, without a doubt,
one of the most entertaining bands that I have ever seen in my life (and
I've seen a lot...believe me). They put on an excellent show and all who
are lucky enough to witness it will walk away from that experience with a
smile on their face.
But, for me, the moment of truth came when I placed a copy of their current
release, "Rank Hath Its Privileges" in my CD player. The live show was one
thing...I wanted to know if they could deliver that same feeling on record,
which is something a lot of bands can't seem to do these days.
Bon Fuhrer started their CD off with a little country tune that would
probably be career suicide for any other band, but, we're not talking about
any other band here, now, are we? Just goes to show how "far out" Bon
Fuhrer will actually go to entertain their audience. After their country
tune, you're treated to the Fuhrer's radio address, which is one of the
many "speeches" that you'll hear at one of their live shows. Then we get
into the music, which could be described as a combination of punk and rock.
I say a combination because you can't honestly call them a punk band and
you can't honestly call them a rock band. They take just enough from each
style of music to make it difficult to put a label on them...and that's a
good thing.
As you go through the eleven songs on this release, each one is something
that's gonna stay with you even if you only hear it one time. If you were
to ask me to pick a song or two from this release that I feel are stand out
tracks, I couldn't do it. It's not too often that I come across a CD where
everything stands out, but, with this album, that's what I would have to
say. If you ask me what songs are my personal favorites, I would say
"Knock, Knock," because I saw them do it live and even before I realized it
was on this CD, it was one of my favorite tunes. "Disputin' Rasputin" is
cool because it starts off with a riff that will instantly bring AC/DC to
mind. I like "You're Not Right" for all the one liners in the song and "Way
Too Many Cocktails" is just a kick ass, upbeat little number that's enough
to pull you out of your seat and get you up on the dance floor.
There's an old saying that goes something like "less is more," you know
what I'm talking about, right? Yeah, well, Bon Fuhrer is the perfect
example of that saying. There's only two guys in the band and they sound
like a full and complete band, both on record and on the stage. That's
quite an accomplishment because that's not something that's easy to do.
Believe me, I have a few CD's in my collection that were put together by
one or two people and, for the most part, they're rather poor efforts. Bon
Fuhrer, on the other hand, has an excellent sound...you can't go wrong with
this band.
So, if you haven't had your Bon Fuhrer experience yet, I suggest you get on
the ball and go see what the hype is all about. If you can't get into this
band, there's something seriously wrong with you. This is what
entertainment and good music is all about.
http://members.aol.com/spumco7/home.htm