siLLy puPPy
Not sure what happened here. After their phenomenal debut EP they seemed to hit a wall. It sounds like they were forced by the record company to go in a certain direction as all the passion and spontaneity that was on fire on the previous release is absent here. This album could have easily been trimmed down to an EP and even then it would be inferior to the previous one. All the biting social critique, the parody, the zaniness is gone here. Even the musical expression feels somewhat recycled and somewhat stale.
This album as weak as it is is not without its merits. There are a few tracks that keep this from being a complete waste of time. I am fond of the first three tracks “When Problems Arise,” “A Selection” and “Cholly” as well as “Turn The Other Way.” The finale “Post Cold War Politics” is a hint of their up-to-snuff humor but it is too little, too late on this awkward album that has moments of presenting a glimpse of Fishbone wanting to unleash what they do best, but becomes obvious that the forces that kept them on a leash were too strong. A good album with some interesting ideas presented but too obviously prevented from totally evolving into truly interesting completion.