Great Burrito Extortion Case, The [PA] - Bowling For Soup > Reviews > The Great Album of Bowling For Soup

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Good
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Great Songs, Humorous, Exciting
Disadvantages:	Some bad songs

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

~~~Introduction~~~

I bought this album a few months ago and since then I have listened to it non stop. It is rock music but not heavy rock, more towards punk rock if anything.

~~~The Band~~~

They formed in 1994, there first album was called “bowling for soup” which did not sell very many in 1994. Later in 1996 they released an album called “cell mates.” There first big album was “rock on honourable ones” which came out in 1998, they also released another album in 1998 called “tell me when to whoa!!” When the band released the album “let’s do it for johnny” they became a major label. In 2002 they released an album called “Drunk enough to dance” which was an amazing album. This was followed in 2004 with “A hangover you don’t deserve.” Now the most recent album is “The Great Burito Extortion case” which I am writing this review on.

The Band has four members, Jaret Reddick the main singer and also guitarist. Erik Chandler and Chris Burnley on Guitars and backing vocals. Finally Gary Wiseman on drums who replaced Lance Morril in 1998.

~~~The songs~~~

1. Epiphany (4:10)

This is a great song to get you started into the “bowling for soup” experience; it is fast, exciting and has great lyrics. Like for instance ‘That's as empty as a broken glass, Or gas tank in my car’ this kind of lyrics repeat throughout the song and is a great opener to the album.

Lyrics: 7 / 10
Catchiness: 8 / 10
Overall: 8 / 10

2. High School Never Ends (3:29)

This is the most thought provoking song on the album. It starts off by talking about how bad high school is with the “stuck up chicks” and “stupid d*cks” and then says High school never ends so relates high school to modern day celebrity lives. For example “Bill Gates captain of the chess team” although the only downer is all the celebrities mentioned are all American as it is an American song. The beat / rhythm of the song is excellent and fits with the mood of the song perfectly.

Lyrics: 10 / 10
Catchiness: 10 / 10
Overall: 11 / 10

3. Val Kilmer (3:32)

Another amazing lyrical (is that a word?) song. This one is about being in a movie almost, but how they are so corny. He is having a rant about “stupid movies” about “guys with a broken heart” but In the end he admits to being one of those. This song is slightly more rockery than the first two but is still excellent.

Lyrics: 7 / 10
Catchiness: 5 / 10 (doesn’t stick in your mind)
Overall: 7 / 10

4. I'm Gay (3:27)

This song isn’t one of those that does what it says on the tin to put it metaphorically. This song is more about how rock has changed and how they are making people feel better, in a world that’s “super cool to be mad” and how they don’t mind being happy. This song has a very catchy beat and I will promise you will be singing this for days afterwards!

Lyrics: 9 / 10
Catchiness: 10 / 10
Overall: 10 / 10

5. Why Don't I Miss You? (3:49)

This in my opinion is the worst track on the album, it is much slower and less rockier, it is about how he doesn’t miss his girlfriend after splitting up, but it is far too repetitive and doesn’t have a catchy beat. I would say that this song is more of a filler than one that they honestly think is good.

Lyrics: 4 / 10
Catchiness: 3 / 10
Overall: 4 / 10

6. A Friendly Goodbye (3:28)

This song is pure genius! It is funny as well clever and entertaining. It shows how he is sick of his girlfriend but really he is stuck under her little finger as she doesn’t like him to do things but he still doesn’t do it. Like not swearing as he sings:

Ain’t that a “b” with an itch, ain’t that a mother trucker
You can go to h-e-double hockey sticks and f yourself
Cause I’m flippin’ gosh darn sick of all the “s” words you put me through
So f-u

The rhythm to this song is also excellent and is very catchy indeed.

Lyrics: 10 / 10
Catchiness: 10 / 10
Overall: 10 / 10

7. Luckiest Loser (3:48)

An average song in my opinion, it is about his ex girlfriend and his best friend become an item, but he feels left out but pretends he is glad. The lyrics to this are excellent but unfortunately the beat and music isn’t so it is just average.

Lyrics: 10 / 10
Catchiness: 5 / 10
Overall: 7.5 / 10

8. Love Sick Stomach Ache (Sugar Coated Accident) (4:07)

Another good song, this is again is about splitting up with a girlfriend and shows it from both the male and females point of view. They both are gutted about the separation “Looking down from the top of a 30-foot drop” this has a rock tune to it and again is very entertaining and fits the lyrics perfectly.

Lyrics: 8 / 10
Catchiness: 7 / 10
Overall: 8 / 10

9. Much More Beautiful Person (3:25)

First time I heard this I thought it was Alice Cooper, as the first verse is sang in his style of voice and in his style of rock music. As the song progresses it turns back into the good old bowling for soup style, it is about how a girl is a much more beautiful person than she will ever know.

Lyrics: 8 / 10
Catchiness: 7 / 10
Overall: 8 / 10

10. Friends Like You (2:31)

Short and Sweet. It has great lyrics about his best friend that has ruined all his stuff and his life and how he wants him gone. It has good music to it, but the only downer is that the backing singers shout “who needs friends” in the chorus but it is extremely hard to understand unless you know what it is suppose to be.

Lyrics: 10 / 10
Catchiness: 6 / 10
Overall: 7 / 10

11. When We Die (4:13)

Another filler in my opinion, very much slower than the others and less entertaining, I wish they would just take this off the album and have no bad songs on it! It sounds like a big moan with slow music behind it.

Lyrics: 4 / 10
Catchiness: 4 / 10
Overall: 4 / 10

12. 99 Biker Friends (3:15)

This is another great song and makes up for the previous song. It is about how a “big guy” beats a “little Chick” and how he and 99 Biker friends are “goanna kick his ass” this song also has a touch of humor as he talks about how he wishes Bruce Lee was here and other characters from television and film which are good at fighting. The music behind also again fits very well and makes this song a definite 10 / 10

Lyrics: 10 / 10
Catchiness: 10 / 10
Overall: 10 / 10

13. Don't Let It Be Love (3:26)

An average song in my opinion it isn’t as rocky as some of the others but isn’t as slow as “when we die” and “why don’t I miss you?” it is about how he re-meets an old friend but doesn’t want them to fall in love because he knows it will hurt. Also this is a bit repetitive as the chorus gets repeated more times than in other songs.

Lyrics: 7 / 10
Catchiness: 8 / 10
Overall: 7 / 10

14. If You Come Back To Me (20:13)

This is a great song, it has two parts to it, the first 3 / 4 minutes are a song like all of the others but the other 17 minutes are some kind of random song / talk between the band members which I have never had the patience to listen to. But the song has excellent lyrics and again has the humour aspect where they sing magicians names and ask “where’s the magic” they use David Blaine, Harry Potter, Lance Burton and oddly Shaqquille O’Neal.

Lyrics: 10 / 10
Catchiness: 9 / 10
Overall: 9 / 10

~~~Overall~~~

Overall this is an excellent album and I would seriously recommend it to any fans of Bowling for Soup or rock fans. Although it requires a sense of humour to enjoy is fully. ASDA sell it for £9 and so it isn’t a money burner if you don’t like it. It follows the themes of Splitting up from relationships and hating your best friends.

Overall 10 / 10