In It For The Money - Supergrass

Advantages: Multilayered, ambitiously clever, some great songs
Disadvantages: Ultimately too multilayered and ambitiously clever

IN IT FOR THE MONEY was released in 1997 from an indie band from England called Supergrass, but what actually is indie? It isn't rock and it isn't pop. The only certainty about indie music, and it's an ambiguous one, is that it never wants to be referred to as pop, which regularly wants to be referred to as indie. The reason for this is less ambiguous. Pop is external, the fashion, the dancing, the entertainment, whilst with indie, which has at least ...
...a bonus. Supergrass, however, were in a peculiar position at the time they were writing this album because whilst they were capable of writing and producing their own music, contrary to popstars, this often involved what they were most capable of, writing the perfect pop song. Their place in indie music was therefore neither here nor there, and the same went for pop as they were also capable of harder rock. So what the hell was a neither-here-nor-there ... Read review

Advantages: This Is Much More Than Just Alright.
Disadvantages: Finding The Time To Work Them Out.

...annals of pop history came in the form of a single called 'Just Got Back Today'. It expelled warm acoustic nuances and boasted a soaraway chorus that belied the fact that Gaz was only 14 years old when he wrote it. It's strange when you compare the output from those formative years with Supergrass' pot bellied honey monster hits like 'Mansize Rooster' and 'Alright'. Here was a teenage band playing it straight and getting all the laughs. With the ...
...a bullseye (well No. 2 in the charts is close enough I guess)? Gaz's brother Rob is credited with co-writing a fair share of the songs on the album. He also lends a generous hand at augmenting the Supergrass sound. His keyboard pieces are prevalent and several tunes like 'Going Out' would sound quite skeletal without them. As it is though, the dual vocals shimmer on the cartoon slabs of Korg mania. Big, beautiful and utterly evoking psychedelic presumptions ... Read review

Advantages: Lots of great tracks
Disadvantages: A couple of duff tracks

...instead we have tracks like In It For The Money and Richard III, seems like the ‘grass are growing up a bit. Some of the tracks still sound a bit like the first album, the acoustic track, Late In the Day for example. However, harking back to the old days or playing the rockier material doesn’t seem to make much difference to the quality of Supergrass’s material. Another great album from the Oxford boys. Probably their best. ... Read review

Advantages: It rocks
Disadvantages: none

...will never be forgotten. In It For The Money is the follow up from Supergrass' debut I Should Coco and boy is it good. Anthems like the hard and brash sounds of Richard III and and the meloncholic Sun Hits The Sky are two great tracks in themselves. In It For The Money reminds me of a delicious sandwich, jam-packed with my favourite fillings and surrounded by crispy bread which makes your mouth water just thinking about it. If you liked I Should ...
...a fan and I have bought the most recent album Supergrass too.(see my other review on that). They may be in it for the money, but I don't blame them, if I could produce an album of this sort of quality, I'd be in it for the money too! ... Read review

Advantages: Great
Disadvantages: none

...he doesn't want to be in the band properly he plays live with them. There is not a poor song on the album and would recommend it to anyone. It has a more funky and sometimes sleazy sound than Coco, especially on songs like Cheapskate. Others rock really hard, like Richard III. Buy it today! ... Read review

Advantages: Return to Good
Disadvantages: None

...After 'in it for the money' supergrass' self titled album seemed a bit of an anti-climax after all those years waiting for it, i thought they were over the hill, brit pops floundering remnants. However 'life on other planets' is the album 'supergrass' should have been, taking gaz's brother under their wing to add samples and effects to their tracks they bring their music back to being both colourful and insightful in a way not done in 'supergrass'. The opening song 'Za' really sets the pace for the rest of the album to follow, which is does so in pride of step. I would say their first single 'grace' is actually the worst song on the album, and thats a damn good song. This is possibly the album of the year for me, bringing supergrass back into godly status after an unfortunate demise to the realm of relative pap.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Catchy tunes and some more mellow ones
Disadvantages: Most of the songs sound laboured and forced

...An eponymous title can either signal one of two things, either a classic album like "Blur" or "The Charlatans", or an album that is tired and uninspiring. Sadly, after the wonderful highs of "In It For The Money", Supergrass fall into category B. It begins well enough with the acoustic strains of the single "Moving", which mutates into funky pop music for the choruses. But straight afterwards things don't really live up to the standard set by the lead track. "Your Love" and "What Went Wrong (In Your Head)" are laboured and devoid of the humour synonymous with Supergrass. This may be a deliberate change of direction, or possibly unwelcome maturity, but most of the songs fail to ignite your interest. "Beautiful People" sounds like a pale pastiche of previous works and "Mary" (which was a single) isn't fit for b-side status... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Grace
Disadvantages: too many distorted vocals, long solos and sound effects,

...chance. Do I like it anymore now I have listened to it again?? Supergrass have been around since the mid 1990s and hail from Oxford. They hit it big with their catchy testament to youth Alright. The band consist of Gaz Coombes on guitar and lead vocals, Mick Quinn on bass, Danny Goffey on drums and Rob Coomnbes on keyboards. Life on Other Planets was released in September 2002 and is their forth studio album following in the footsteps of I Should Coco, In it for the Money and Supergrass. Track List 1 Za 2 Rush Hour Soul 3 Seen The Light 4 Brecon Beacons 5 Can't Get Up 6 Evening Of The Day 7 Never Done Nothing Like That Before 8 Funniest Thing 9 Grace 10 La Song 11 Prophet 15 12 Run Listening to the album again I can not help but feel my first impressions were right. I want to like his album but I can not. There are too... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful