Search - Heatmiser :: Dead Air

Another side of Elliott Smith

11/01/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Heatmiser was, without a doubt, one of the most terribly underappreciated bands of the early 90s. Led by Elliott Smith and Neil Gust, the band played incredibly tight, loud pop, composed with a punky edge and an understanding of rhythm and structure that reached far beyond most of their contemporaries.This is a side of Elliott Smith that those who never knew of him before his solo career may find jarring, but since so many are fond of psychoanalyzing Smith's every utterance, this ought to provide plenty of good fodder for interpretation.And for those who just want a great rock album, there's plenty here for them, too."

A Pre-Elliott Smith Perspective

04/29/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this album after seeing Heatmiser open for some other band in 1993; I liked them better than whoever was headlining, but some of the friends I went to the show with thought they were boring. A friend who used to be a DJ at our college station, and who first put me onto Fugazi and Sonic Youth, joined me in liking them, though. Yes, as somebody else complains, the songs on this album all sound kind of similar, but if you like the way they sound, that's not a problem, right? Those best-selling Elliott Smith albums all sound the same, too.I listened to this album maybe a hundred times throughout the 1990s and enjoyed it more and more, but for some reason it didn't occur to me until about 2000 that Heatmiser might have put out other albums, or that they might still be in print. (I don't listen to radio, watch MTV, or read music magazines.) When I finally did a search online, I found that Elliott Smith had become a megastar, and gradually I've brought my collection up to date.I do like the singer-songwriter-y sound of modern Smith and can hear it in some of the Heatmiser songs, but that sound is not what I liked about Heatmiser, which is more rock, punk, grunge, whatever you want to call it. So if you love XO and Smith's self-titled album, it's possible that you won't like this at all. You'll may, however, enjoy Mic City Sons, a Heatmiser album that's closer to XO and such but that still has the classic rock flavor of the other Heatmiser albums."

A Big Letdown

D. DeFrancesco | Raleigh, NC | 04/11/2002

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I found this CD in the bargain bin last week and bought in on the strength of Mic City Sons (a great CD) and my overall love of Elliot Smith. Unfortunately, this CD was a big let down. Nowhere are the haunting/catchy melodies or memorable lyrics so common in Smith's other work. The songs on the CD all sound alike, and like they come from the same one bad idea. If you haven't heard any Elliot Smith or Heatmiser, don't start here - my recommendation is to go pick-up "Figure 8" and work your way back through Smith's catalog."