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| Rocket From the CryptLive From Camp X-Ray2002 Vagrant 
 Review by: JiveSide See others by this writer ![[staff]](/images/icons/staffsticker.gif){kind=icon}
Rocket From The Crypt (link) Only registered users can post comments 
 
Published on October 22nd 2002
“Always hold tight to what you do as long as it screams ‘you’.” I’ve kept this motto close to my heart in my 22, nearly 23 years, helping me steer clear of any potential crap that life and music has tried to shove down my throat…especially when it comes to music. With that said, I was more than happy to pop in my advance copy of the latest Rocket From the Crypt record “Live From Camp X-Ray,” which, oddly enough, isn’t a live recording. A rather disappointing discovery, ‘cause this record would kick with a little more life if it was captured on stage and in the moment, rather than soaked in sloppy production and forced energy. Rocket strikes me as a band that truly shines when face to face with an audience, which is a wonderful quality in a band, but not the only quality one would want as recording musicians. In fact, the title is merely the final line of the first song “I’m Not Invisible,” and there’s nothing live on the record (I doubt any of the playing even is). So instead of a sweat-drenched live rock show, it’s a mediocre climate-controlled studio album. But not all of "Live From Camp X-Ray" is undeserving of attention, this fortunately is not the case at all for the Cleveland sextet. People who liked this also liked:           Please login or register to post comments. What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?
nevermind. its actually pretty awesome bring us bullets sounds just like boychucker and thats amazin. this album just lacks on all the other songs though. not enough back up vocals, half assed lyrics too many balls gonna kill us all good review, even though I disagree This album rocks. I'm Not Invisible and Too Many Balls are my favorites. come on buddy. just because you can't play music like rocket, does not mean that you have to give the album a weak review. let it go. take a deep breath and practice your guitar for awhile and then you too might learn to appreciate good music without letting your ego get in the way. Still checkin', so no worries, yr post deal fall on blind eyes. I appreciate the dialogue we began, and I invite y'all to post on all my future reviews. Next one is a week away. 'Til next time brothrs and sistrs, see y'then. Peace. I think that what (are we referring to him as "point blank"? I'm the guy whose side he was wondering about.) So, what point blank is forgetting is that JiveSide made a simple mistake in the review. Rocket From The Crypt, Rocket From The Tombs. San Diego, Cleveland. This isn't a case of not doing his homework, it's a case of not thinking straight. He corrected this without anyone telling him where the band is actually from, so he obviously knows that San Diego is where they're from, he just screwed it up. I agree that there should be a standard that these records should be reviewed on, but that can also be detrimental. Sometimes it's best to judge a record by itself instead of as a part in the band's sum. For instance, Wire's Pink Flag isn't very similar to 154. It's interesting to compare the two, but it doesn't help anyone if you say "154 sounds nothing like Pink Flag! This sucks!" (Weird choice, I know. I just couldn't think of any better examples.) I guess no one will even read this anyways since this is no longer linked on the main page. Oh well. It was fun to hear myself type. Hey, thanx for the response, my last rant wasn't directed towards you at all, I just got on a role. I think it's very important to approach music, in the critical context, as objectively as possible and that means sticking to the piece in front of you and ignoring any and all other works. Which, unfortunately, is a stance we'll have to disagree on, but so is life. Now, my "good music is good music..." thang is my personal and subjective approach to music that I listen to. I pretty much don't stick to genres 'cause I think that's a narrow road to take. Anyway, I'll be writing more reviews in the future and I'd be more than happy to find a post from you, 'cause you're one of the few fans that can put two rational thoughts together. And I'll definitely take you up on that beer. I'll get the second round. Peace. dude, you're weak... you make a lot of good points but you ignore all the ones i made...all i was saying was that sometimes albums should be reviewed in the context of the artist's work as a whole... i don't think there's anything inherently bad about that statement... and you're user quote about "good music is good music and bad music is bad music", is the exact opposite of your whole tirade/response about art... as for punk rock being a cesspool of hypocracy, you're goddamn right it is (finally we agree)... look at all the kids screaming against capitalism while wearing 80 dollar pairs of dogpile bondage pants... but you gotta take the good with the bad... hey, no hard feelings... if yer ever in jersey, i'll be happy to buy you a beer and laugh about all this (or i could get you something vegan if you're xxx... just kidding) First of all, "point blank", why do you assume anything about a reviewer, whether it considers taste, knowledge of a band, or his/her objective in writing? A review is just that, a review; did y'like it, why, did y'not like, why. End of story, you know nothing about me outside of the words I present to you, and if you don't have a problem with my opinion, for as you claim it's in the spirit of punk, then why do you sit at yr computr and tell me to justify my opinion to you when you already have it in 570 words. This record lacks passion, this record lacks energy, the songs are boring (with the exceptions I mentioned above), the production is muddy...what else can I say? I didn't like this record, and that opinion is one free of whether I'm personal friends with Petey X and saw them for the first time in '96 at the Warped Tour, or if I'd never heard of RFTC before, and now use the CD as a coaster on my coffee table. The punk rock scene is a cespool of hippocrates shouting UNITY in individuality, but the minute someone goes against yr flow, all I see are selfish brats taking their fists out of the air so as to hold tighter to music that's "theirs". Fuck you, music is anything but selfish, and sure "Live from Camp X-Ray" might not be my cup of tea, but that doesn't give anyone the right to feel that I've spit in their face and ruined their day. And the fact that you ask another fan "whose side are you on" just proves my point. We all love music, and we all love different music and who gives a fuck how you feel about mine or how I feel about yrs, the beauty of art is that it can be anything, and we'd be doing art a disservice if we all felt the same way about the same shit. just what side is "Anonymous on 2002-10-28 11:38:11" on??? I always think it's funny when these two things happen: rftc has never put their horn sextion at the forefront of their music... their style has always been to more or less keep them in the background... maybe other bands can't pull this off but i think considering their longevity in the scene that it's working for them just fine... maybe this reviewer thought rocket a ska band? in that case hope you have fun at the next less than jake show ya dip... if you don't even know that rocket (a band that's been around for fucking ever) hails from san diego you shouldn't even be reviewing this... what the hell kind of standard of comparision can you have if this is probably the first you've heard of 'em... speedo's army should kik yer ass... maybe you'd like them better if they sounded like box car racer or some shit I can't stand Dashboard, and no, I didn't even imply that a song needs a hook to be good, but when an album bores me, it bores me *Yawn*, and this is definitely one to sleep to. Also, one thing y'all hardcore RFTC fans should consider is that to be a true fan is to acknowledge when something yr favorite artist does isn't any good. And if you'd like to add a little more credibility to yr opinions, try posting under a name so we can engage in actual dialogue rather than throw "you suck" back and forth. That is all. RFTC rules, end of story. This album totally fucking rocks, you just have to stick with it. Does every single song have to have a hook in it to be good? Or does it have to be catchy? Some people (bands) actually have different ideas of what a song is or could be. Go listen to your Dashboard Confessional albums. What a shitty review. DO your HOMEWORK! This album isn't as good as GroupSounds or any of the other 20 albums that Rocket has put out but in my mind they will never do wrong. Hot snakes destroys! You clueless tool... Sorry, forgot to change the album score. As y'all were. Sorry, "Rocket from the Tombs," the inspiration for Speedo, was from Cleveland, "Rocket From the Crypt" is from San Diego. I apologize for any misunderstanding. Oh yeah, Rocket rips it up Clevo-style....Check your one sheet next time....THIS ALBUM DESTROYS!! That's one of my favorite jokes on this site, next to REELPUNX. "Hey Scott, Hot Snakes are awesome." I don't think I'll ever live it down no matter how unfunny it gets. You think I didn't know that? Go read my Hot Snakes review here, fool. Obligatory "Hey Scott, RFTC and Hot Snakes share members" post. Who's excited for the reissue of Yank Crime? THIS GUY! This new album is 28 minutes of pure energy. Who cares if it's not live?! It's just a CD title! I guarantee they'll make a live album at some point. Anyway, all songs are rockin and definitely worth your dollar. It's not. Why the hell is the entire review quoted? when i saw the title a while back i was stoked because this is a band that should put out a live album, contrary to the bands that do and really shouldnt be putting out live albums. This review kinda sucked...you say "'I Wanna Know What I Wanna Know' has a synthesized string arrangement." Yeah, they ain't synthesized dumbass. RFTC has yet again employeed a string section for a few songs. There are strings in 'Can You Hear It' as well. And how could you ignore the killer closing track, 'Too Many Balls?' It's message of fighting and being 'macho' leading to the demise of everyone ('Too many balls gonna kill us all!') is great...especially in times like these. I think this is a great album, not as good as Group Sounds (man, I think that was RFTC at their best...I feel so alone), but still better than most things I've heard this year. group sounds isnt a bad album, its just not as good as scream dracula scream...actually its nowhere near as good although sream is one of my favorite albums prolly cuz it was on vagrant. Why do you guys think Group Sounds wasn't up to par with the rest of the RFTC release? I'm just wondering because I thought it was RFTC at their best. Sorry, "Rocket from the Tombs," the inspiration for Speedo, was from Cleveland, "Rocket From the Crypt" is from San Diego. I apologize for any misunderstanding. Cleveland? Where the hell did you get that from? So much for credibility. I have Group Sounds and Scream, Dracula Scream and I really like both of them. This one however is a bit lacking imo. The songs on here just aren't as pumping and energenic as the stuff on those other two discs. Still a good cd though, and a must for fans of the band. yeah, group sounds was very lacking, but i think the ghost shark is one of their best songs this album rocks, especially after the unmemorable "group sounds". if you want classic rftc, just get the re-release of hot charity on swami records. Sorry, "Rocket from the Tombs," the inspiration for Speedo was from Cleveland, "Rocket From the Crypt" is from San Diego. I apologize for any misunderstanding. cleveland OHIO I assume this is punk. try and hold good charlotte next to this band. |
