So, there was one rap record in the late 80's that managed to pack the political punch of Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" and the scandalous sex raps of the 2 Live Crew into one highly entertaining, engaging, and controversial package - The Iceberg. Yes, cut by the very same Ice-T who has recently grandfathered his way into slimy car warranty commercials. But back then, he was among the best at conveying realism behind the crime lifestyle to virgin audiences. This was not just "Fuck the Police" attention seeking behavior. Not every track here was an expose - the rambling braggadocio showcases "What Ya Wanna Do" and "My Word Is Bond" can attest to that - but more often than not, Ice was on target regarding a number of subjects, from self- education ("Lethal Weapon"), to gang life ("Peel Their Caps Back"), sexual fantasy ("The Girl Tried to Kill Me"), and the realities of the 1st Amendment (the title track). Not just vital to rap but to music history as a whole.

After the relative jam-fest that was the previous disc, enter Melvin Gibbs on bass, and a moderate change in musical direction for the Rollins Band. Weight runs approximately 20 minutes shorter than the previous disc, and even hit sort of a commercial peak thanks to “Liar”, which over the years has become a signature song for Henry, like it or not. I’m still not a head-over-heels convert because for a sizeable majority of this CD, Henry’s antics still annoy greatly, and there are other problems which crop up here and there that I cannot ignore. Let’s get the boogeyman out of the way first. “Liar” is a decent track and I think it works despite Rollins’ antics. Henry’s performance overall has its’ pros and cons – he’s good at conning you, but the monotone screaming and growling when he reveals himself is something that really gets on my nerves. Meanwhile, the band’s performance is quite credible although the guitar solo is a little too messy for my taste. Overall, it goes way better when accompanied with the video. The material is generally hard-to-take in a different way for me. For every nugget of wisdom – and there are some to be found here – it’s marred by Rollins and his overbearing nature. The production is definitely not as clean as it was for End of Silence, and the structure and riffs of the songs are gruffer and to the point – which I like – but upon subsequent listens, tracks start to merge together into a mass of faux-motivational miasma. The worst example has to be “Civilized” and “Step Back”, which feel like the exact same, cadences, and everything, just different lyrics. For every “Disconnect”, you get a “Tired”. Or a “Shine”, where it’s “HERO TIME”. I just cannot shake the notion that Henry was cribbing this stuff from some motivational handbook and passing it off as honest words. Overall, another weighted dud from the Rollins Band.

Post-Black Flag, Henry Rollins certainly cultivated an image of drill sergeant-meets-motivational speaking guru, and no matter how tortured he tried to come across in any of his musical projects, I can’t shake that overall view of the guy. The other prevailing view of him is, he has an acerbic, funny side to him, but you know what? Other than some deadpan or in-character performances on the big and small screen, not much actual humor comes across in his act – from a sheer music/performance perspective, at least, and it’s especially hard to come across on The End of Silence. That’s just one of my issues with this disc, which, despite some of the talents pooled and players involved falls short in a lot of ways. Another, more pertinent issue, is the overall length of the experience – ten songs that run over 72 and a half minutes, and I would say and a good half to two thirds of the music turns out to be well technically-played filler, dragged out to oblivion because Rollins seems to be on a quest to lay bare the deepest recesses of his so-called tortured soul, one way or another.

There's no real reason to check out this Chilliwack album which cut in not long before they elevated to bigger commercial status, other than - it's well done! It's reasonably similar to an early 80's Cheap Trick record, but the songs are a bit more adventurous, and there was no reason - other than the standard excuse of lack of promotion - that tracks such as "148 Heavy", "Communication Breakdown" (nothing to do with the Led Zeppelin version), and "Road to Paradise" shouldn't have stormed a chart or two somewhere in this world. Solid album.

Grand Prix feels like a fresh, uncluttered start. For the first time, they made an album which was natural and not forced. Some people will deride the album as “simple music”, or maybe because it’s not thick and heavy like grunge or metal, or even as in-your-face as their now-colleagues Oasis and Blur, but they are missing the point. Call it “power pop” or “jangle pop” or whatever, but the clear aim here is – make sure the song connects with the listener in the surest way a rock song should. This is easily the best start-to-finish TFC listening experience money can buy.