Search - George Carlin :: Back in Town

William E. (unholyblackdeath) from GRAPEVINE, TX
Reviewed on 7/27/2007...

This guy is so funny! This entire disc made me laugh all the way through!

...when it's a chicken, it's an omelette...

VINCENT J MULVIHILL | Chicago, Illinois United States | 04/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"From his heyday in the 1970s through the 1980s, Carlin seemed to have been searching for his comedic voice - or re-searching. "Jammin' in New York", the album that precedes this one, found Carlin developing his smart social and political commentary that was hinted at in "Parental Advisory" and which comes into full bloom on "Back in Town." Here, Carlin expertly exposes thoughts about pro-lifers in deceptively simple observations: "You don't see many white women offering to have black fetuses transplanted into their uterus, do you? No, that might be something Christ would do!" Irrefutable brilliance.From the opening rant on abortion into a brilliant shredding of the concept of sanctity of life, Carlin doesn't miss a single step, slowing only long enough to throw in the occasional one-liner, to make sure he doesn't lose anybody in the process of getting his points across. The third bit, about balancing the budget by televising capital punishment, doesn't move nearly as quickly as the first two pieces of material, but it is concise and poetic in its own way.The second half of the routine is much lighter fare, focusing on farts, common phrases and annoying people, themes that Carlin skewers expertly. And - aside from his tendency to repeat a punchline over applause - he doesn't miss a step here either. Whereas some Amazon reviewers have decried this return to safer turf for the second half of the disc, I couldn't imagine an entire album of the philosophical humor that dominates the first half. His subsequent albums, "You Are All Diseased" and "Grievances", suffer a bit from using a similar type of humor throughout (the majority of "Grievances", in fact, is an absurdly elongated version of `Free-Floating Hostility')."Back in Town", with its variety of material and - not to overstate it - poetic delivery, is by far the best Carlin disc of the last 20 years. Highly recommended."

Another great from carlin

myownme777 | avon park, florida | 12/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"let's face it folks,you don't have to agree with everything carlin says in order for it to be funny.the great vocal stylings are intended for you to think about how screwed up things are in this country as well as the world.this album in particular made me laugh out loud,as do most of his albums.but this particular one stands out along side "complaints and grievances" as two in the top 5 of his albums.great stuff here,even if some of it is immature,such as his bit about "farts",but i would expect nothing less from carlin as that is what makes his material work so well,his ability to mix the immature with the down right genius of his material.no other comedian,ever,can vocalize so well as carlin does.if you want some great laughs than i definitely suggest this album."