Search - Flies on Fire :: Flies on Fire

Spectacular - The album which should have been a hit!

05/12/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Cross the Rollling Stones, Otis Redding and throw in a pinch of Z.Z. Top and Otis Redding and presto you've got FLIES ON FIRE.
The Flies had it all. The band's chief songwriter Tim Paruskiewicz is a brilliant songwriter and an even better front man and the fierce rhythm section of drummer Rich D'Albis and bassist Terry Messal are second to none. Anyone who either saw the band live or listened to either of their two records would attest to the fact they are probably the best band that never made it. The only reason the Flies reside in the "underground classic" file rather than classic huge platinum band status is their record company was so tragically inept.The album opens with "Anything Goes" an upbeat anthem a la "Tumbling Dice" or "Brown Sugar" which could easily have fallen off "Sticky Fingers". This is followed by the (what superlatives haven't I used yet) tremendous "Baptize Me Over Elvis Presley's Grave," one of the finest pieces of songwriting ever. Then comes the Z.Z. Topesque "C'Mon" which the Flies record label chose as the debut single, a great song by anyone else's standards, but by the Flies it was merely a throwaway. There are five more standout tracks, the 6/8 time signature masterpieces, "Since You've Been Gone" and "Salvation Boulevard," the ebullient "Not For Long" the hillarious rocker "You Can't Go Back" and the tear down the roof rocker "Long Gone Dead" - the video to which won the then unsigned band the MTV's basement tapes contest back when the station was still watchable. There are no dead spots on this album. The playing is superb, the songwriting second to none and the production doesn't get in the way of eleven of the best songs ever put to disk."

The Stones Should Be This Good

sem | 04/26/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I echo everything espoused in the accompanying review. 'Tis a shame they didn't release more recordings. Their other release is nearly as good."