Wild Gift
General
| Mar 2019
Reviews
DeVoss
Reviewed 2019-03-19
Reviewed 2019-03-19
– General Description:
“Wild Gift” was released in 1981, just over a year after X’s debut album “Los Angeles”. Many thought this was a good follow-up with some even calling it a ‘classic effort’. Definitely tighter on the songwriting and delivery but the lyrics take a backseat in the mix with most of them becoming mush. It sounds like everyone was punching a time clock in the studio. Different energy than their debut release. Apparently the leads (John Doe and Exene Cervenka) were thrashing out their marriage in some of the songs (e.g. “White Girl”, which was sampled years later by the Red Hot Chili Peppers in their song “Good Time Boys”). This was X’s last independent release before signing to Elektra. Former Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek reprised his role as producer.
– Musicians:
D.J. Bonebrake - Drums
Exene Cervenka - Composer/Vocals
John Doe - Bass/Composer/Vocals
Billy Zooms - Guitar
– FCC Compliant: Yes and NO (see individual tracks 2, 5 11, 13)
– Recommended Tracks: 9, 13
– Track Reviews:
1. (2:31) The Once Over Twice - driving 1950’s-style song with poor me lyrics
2. (2:00) We’re Desperate - FCC ALERT “fucking”; bullet-delivery complaining
3. (3:19) Adult Books - more relaxed; they seem confused by S&M behavior and authors who write about it
4. (4:33) Universal Corner - moderately fast; call and response formula; tries to go somewhere musically
5. (1:15) I’m Coming Over - FCC ALERT possibly, can’t fully understand the lyrics
6. (2:15) It’s Who You Know - fast and driving; very hard to understand the lyrics
7. (3:34) In This House That I Call Home - moderately fast; a little more fun with the guitar licks
8. (2:17) Some Other Time - rockabilly anthem chorus
9. ***(3:28) White Girl - moderately fast; okay as a song
10. (2:49) Beyond And Back - fast rockabilly again; more poor me lyrics, yelling and pitch-bending
11. (1:33) Back 2 The Base - FCC ALERT “sucked on doggie dicks”and “sucked dicks”; Elvis doesn’t come out looking good either
12. (1:58) When Our Love Passed Out On The Couch - fast and driving
13. ***(1:19) Year 1 - moderately fast; clap and sing along; FCC ALERT possibly, can’t fully understand the lyrics
“Wild Gift” was released in 1981, just over a year after X’s debut album “Los Angeles”. Many thought this was a good follow-up with some even calling it a ‘classic effort’. Definitely tighter on the songwriting and delivery but the lyrics take a backseat in the mix with most of them becoming mush. It sounds like everyone was punching a time clock in the studio. Different energy than their debut release. Apparently the leads (John Doe and Exene Cervenka) were thrashing out their marriage in some of the songs (e.g. “White Girl”, which was sampled years later by the Red Hot Chili Peppers in their song “Good Time Boys”). This was X’s last independent release before signing to Elektra. Former Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek reprised his role as producer.
– Musicians:
D.J. Bonebrake - Drums
Exene Cervenka - Composer/Vocals
John Doe - Bass/Composer/Vocals
Billy Zooms - Guitar
– FCC Compliant: Yes and NO (see individual tracks 2, 5 11, 13)
– Recommended Tracks: 9, 13
– Track Reviews:
1. (2:31) The Once Over Twice - driving 1950’s-style song with poor me lyrics
2. (2:00) We’re Desperate - FCC ALERT “fucking”; bullet-delivery complaining
3. (3:19) Adult Books - more relaxed; they seem confused by S&M behavior and authors who write about it
4. (4:33) Universal Corner - moderately fast; call and response formula; tries to go somewhere musically
5. (1:15) I’m Coming Over - FCC ALERT possibly, can’t fully understand the lyrics
6. (2:15) It’s Who You Know - fast and driving; very hard to understand the lyrics
7. (3:34) In This House That I Call Home - moderately fast; a little more fun with the guitar licks
8. (2:17) Some Other Time - rockabilly anthem chorus
9. ***(3:28) White Girl - moderately fast; okay as a song
10. (2:49) Beyond And Back - fast rockabilly again; more poor me lyrics, yelling and pitch-bending
11. (1:33) Back 2 The Base - FCC ALERT “sucked on doggie dicks”and “sucked dicks”; Elvis doesn’t come out looking good either
12. (1:58) When Our Love Passed Out On The Couch - fast and driving
13. ***(1:19) Year 1 - moderately fast; clap and sing along; FCC ALERT possibly, can’t fully understand the lyrics
Recent airplay
White Girl
Music Casserole — Jul 13, 2019
I?M Coming Over
Brownian Motion — Jun 26, 2019
We?Re Desperate
Brownian Motion — Jun 19, 2019
Year 1
On The Warpath — Jun 08, 2019
We?Re Desperate
Brownian Motion — May 22, 2019
We?Re Desperate
Brownian Motion — May 15, 2019
Charting
2019-05-10 — 2019-07-12
| Week Ending | Airplays |
|---|---|
| Jun 30 | 1 |
| Jun 23 | 1 |
| Jun 9 | 1 |
| May 26 | 1 |
| May 19 | 1 |
Track listing
| 1. | The Once Over Twice | ||
| 2. | We?Re Desperate | ||
| 3. | Adult Books | ||
| 4. | Universal Corner | ||
| 5. | I?M Coming Over | ||
| 6. | It?S Who You Know | ||
| 7. | In This House That I Call Home | ||
| 8. | Some Other Time | ||
| 9. | White Girl | ||
| 10. | Beyond And Back | ||
| 11. | Back 2 The Base | ||
| 12. | When Our Love Passed Out On The Couch | ||
| 13. | Year 1 |