The Best of Dramarama: 18 Big Ones

Amazon.com
"Rock and roll's a loser's game," goes a Mott the Hoople line borrowed for an epigram for this best-of. It invokes the story of this New Jersey band on two levels. First, these guys were smart enough to draw on slightly left-field influences while remaining sufficiently modern to gripe about the FM stranglehold of "Classic Rot." Second, like Mott's Ian Hunter, they bet big and lost big. This collection of semi-hits and obscurities might well have been titled "Work for Food." Singer John Easdale wrote that song for Hi-Fi Sci-Fi, the outfit's 1993 swan song. Imagining himself a few years past his minor stardom, Easdale sang of pushing a shopping cart full of Dramarama memorabilia, aluminum cans, and his baby blanket. The song roared with power chords, bitterness, and resignation, flipping the rock cliché "keep on rollin'" onto its side. Girls who don't count sleeping with the radio on as being alone, non sequitur rhetorical questions, promises of everything, all tied up with bashes and riffs and madly catchy hooks--these are the stuff of Dramarama songs. Typically, 18 Big Ones comes a day late and a dollar short--maybe the same buck Easdale passes to a street-corner denizen in "Last Cigarette." But it also stands as testament to the fact that, whatever else, Dramarama lived up to its end of the bargain. --Rickey Wright

The Best of Dramarama: 18 Big Ones,Dramarama,Rhino / Wea,Alternative Pop/Rock,American Trad Rock,College Rock,Hard Rock,Jangle Pop,Pop,Popular Music,Power Pop,Psychedelic Pop,Rock,Rock & Roll,Rock/Pop

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The Best of Dramarama: 18 Big Ones

Average customer rating: Weird and Wonderful Experience... 5 Stars is Underrated, They Deserve 7 I have to confess that... Who Would've Thought...... Big hits, near misses.

The Best of Dramarama: 18 Big Ones Dramarama Manufacturer: Rhino / Wea ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Jangle Pop | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Power Pop | Rock | Styles | Music General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music CDs $7 - $10 | Alternative General | Alternative Rock | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Alternative General | Alternative Rock | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music CDs $7 - $10 | Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Oldies | Pop | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music Rhino Records | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music 4-for-3 Alternative Rock | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 Classic Rock | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 Hard Rock & Metal | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 Pop | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 Rock | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Everybody Dies Paradise in Me Under the Milky Way: The Best of the Church Warm, In Your Coat International Pop Overthrow ASIN: B00000347E Release Date: 1996-10-29

Tracks:

1. Anything, Anything (I'll Give You)
2. Scenario
3. Emerald City
4. Steve & Edie
5. It's Still Warm
6. Wonderamaland
7. No Regrets
8. Last Cigarette
9. Haven't Got A Clue
10. What Are We Gonna Do?
11. Train Going Backwards
12. Classic Rot
13. Work For Food
14. Incredible
15. Senseless Fun
16. 7 Minutes (More Or Less)
17. Sincerely
18. Goin' Blind

Amazon.com

"Rock and roll's a loser's game," goes a Mott the Hoople line borrowed for an epigram for this best-of. It invokes the story of this New Jersey band on two levels. First, these guys were smart enough to draw on slightly left-field influences while remaining sufficiently modern to gripe about the FM stranglehold of "Classic Rot." Second, like Mott's Ian Hunter, they bet big and lost big. This collection of semi-hits and obscurities might well have been titled "Work for Food." Singer John Easdale wrote that song for Hi-Fi Sci-Fi, the outfit's 1993 swan song. Imagining himself a few years past his minor stardom, Easdale sang of pushing a shopping cart full of Dramarama memorabilia, aluminum cans, and his baby blanket. The song roared with power chords, bitterness, and resignation, flipping the rock cliché "keep on rollin'" onto its side. Girls who don't count sleeping with the radio on as being alone, non sequitur rhetorical questions, promises of everything, all tied up with bashes and riffs and madly catchy hooks--these are the stuff of Dramarama songs. Typically, 18 Big Ones comes a day late and a dollar short--maybe the same buck Easdale passes to a street-corner denizen in "Last Cigarette." But it also stands as testament to the fact that, whatever else, Dramarama lived up to its end of the bargain. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews:

Weird and Wonderful Experience..........2007-05-19

I don't own this greatest hits album, yet I feel that I can assign it the 5 starts it surely deserves... As others have mentioned here, I first heard Dramarama on the Rodney on the ROQ radio show on KROQ, in LA, in the late eighties. (That was the best show, and I miss Rodney!) Anyway, I grew from childhood into adulthood with this band. I saw them play live 7 times - amazing. I met them once at the Edge in Palo Alto when I was college, and they game me and my friends free tickets to see them the following night at Slim's in San Francisco - how cool. So the other night, I was searching online to see if the new episode of The Office was available for download yet, and my search term was simply "office". Among the results was "Box Office Bomb" - Dramarama's second album. I clicked on it, knowing that I already owned it, and then checked my CD shelf - I lost this album years ago, and actually had forgotten about all the good songs on it. I bought another copy and realized I still remember all the lyrics. If you don't have this one, get it. I just needed to share this, as I've been listening to it all week, and it's really made me realize that this was one of the best bands ever. Oh yeah - here's what I originally meant to tell everyone. If you like Dramarama, be sure to pick up the Bent Backed Tuplis album "Lookingthrough" - the "Bent Backed Tulips" are in fact Dramarama's answer to a record label who would not let them release certain material as "Dramarama". It's them, and it's really good. I just saw a few used copies here on Amazon, so hop to it!

5 Stars is Underrated, They Deserve 7.......2006-10-22

I bought this album soleley for "Anything, Anything." I heard it on the radio and thought, 'wow, a new band. They must be awesome.' And to my surprise, it was at least a decade old. I'd never heard any of these songs before and at first I wasn't really feeling it because they weren't as upbeat as "Anything, Anything." But as I kept listening, I began getting all kinds of fantastic riffs and hooks stuck in my head for days. And then you start listening to all the lyrics, and you think, 'wow, they're really clever. And soon you become addicted to this album. I mean, you could eat, sleep, breathe this album, it's that good. 7 Minutes (More or Less) is hands down my favorite, because it's always some obscure song at the end of the album that becomes near and dear. Even if you've never heard of this band, don't recognize any of their songs, maybe only like 1 or 2 of them even, just buy it. It's one of those fantastic CDs that only has room to grow on you until eventually you're ranting and raving over how incredible their music is and how you can't get enough and you're trying to persuade perfect strangers that this is one of the greatest bands ever, upset because no one's heard of them and they should have.

I have to confess that..........2006-04-11

I am ready to give my wife away to anyone who can bring this band in my city for a gig.
My favorite band of all time.

Who Would've Thought.............2006-03-15

Who would've ever thought that these guys would have a best of compilation. Well deserved for this band that put out great albums in the late '80's and early '90's. I think they should've included "70's TV" and their great version of Mott's "I Wish I Was Your Mother", but let's not nitpick. "Anything, Anything" is one of the greatest rock songs of all time and I never tire of hearing it. I hope some of Dramarama's music sticks around and doesn't eventually fade into the abyss of obscurity. I'm still smoking that "Last Cigarette"

Big hits, near misses........2005-08-29

"Dramarama? Who are they?"

"Um, 'Anything, Anything'? 'Last Cigarette'? Maybe you heard 'Haven't Got a Clue' on MTV?"

"Oh, _them_..."

Yeah, them. At their best, Dramarama combines great guitar work, infectious rhythm, and clever lyrics with a wit and sense of irony you almost never see in the post-grunge pop/rock top-40 world.

At their worst... Well, the irony and cynicism sink into whininess, exaggerated pathos, and/or absurdity, and instead of an effective hook you get an overly simplistic musical line that gets hammered into the ground.

"Hey! You gave the album four stars! What's with the-"

Well, I want to be honest here. There's maybe one or two songs that grated on me after a couple of playings. Everything else is perfectly listenable, and half a dozen or so of the eighteen are flat outstanding, including the aforementioned "Cigarette", "Anything", and "Clue". I've paid more than $10 for albums that contained less music I liked. If you want some good, solid rock with strong guitar and higher than usual intelligence, this is a good addition to your collection.

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