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Marvelous 3 – Hey! Album
Marvelous 3 – Hey! Album (1998, Elektra Records)
1. “You’re So Yesterday” .. 3:56
2. “Freak of the Week” … 3:20
3. “Until You See” … 4:20
4. “Write It On Your Hand” … 3:23
5. “Let Me Go” … 3:21
6. Every Monday” … 3:06
7. “Indie Queen” … 4:52
8. “#27″ … 2:51
9. “Mrs. Jackson” … 3:33
10. “Over Your Head” … 3:40
11. “Vampires In Love” … 4:01
12. “Lemonade” … 6:42
Band:
Butch Walker – Vocals, Guitar
Jayce Fincher – Bass
Doug Mitchell (aka – Mitch “Slug” McLee) – Drums
Producer: Butch Walker & Jim Ebert
The second album (first major label release) from the short-lived but fantastic power pop/rock group Marvelous 3. It was the only album to produce a hit single (“Freak of the Week”). I knew nothing about this band or album or “Freak of the Week” until I picked up ReadySexGo two years later but when I backtracked and bought this album, I ended up loving it almost as much as I love ReadySexGo.
Released in October of ’98, the album was actually self-released in early ’98 but then Elektra signed the band and the album was remixed and a few songs were dropped/added. “Cold As Hell” was on the original version of the album and later found its way onto ReadySexGo.
I don’t really know what to tell you if you can’t get into this album. Marvelous 3 is one of the catchiest bands of all time. Every song is a sing-along, whether it’s bombastic anthems like “Freak of the Week” and “You’re So Yesterday” or melancholy moments like “Until You See” and “Let Me Go”. Butch is a great vocalist and great lyricist. I’ve always loved the sense of humor, wordplay, self-deprecation and teenage emotions that come through in his lyrics. Sample from “Vampires In Love”: And now you know that I suck at this/and you suck at it too/And now we’re nothing more than/vampires in love
How this band never went on to sell millions of albums I’ll never know. Butch went on to become a successful songwriter/producer but he’s gone on a totally different path as a solo act, which is a shame. Anyone that’s a fan of power pop should love this album.
Highlights: “You’re So Yesterday”, “Freak Of The Week”, “Until You See”, “Write It On Your Hand”, “Let Me Go”, “Every Monday”, “Indie Queen”
BUTCH WALKER – Left of Self-Centered
Butch Walker – Left of Self-Centered (2002, Arista Records)
Track List:
1. “Rock Vocal Power” … 1:56
2. “My Way” … 4:00
3. “Suburbia” … 4:07
4. “Trouble” … 3:58
5. “Alicia Amnesia” … 3:42
6. “Sober” … 3:20
7. “Into the Black” … 3:38
8. “Get Down” … 4:03
9. “Far Away from Close” … 3:52
10. “Diary of a San Fernando Sexx Star” … 3:39
11. “If (Jeannie’s Song)” … 4:53
12. “Take Tomorrow (One Day at a Time)” … 4:30
13. — … 14:58
14. “Get Stupid with You”… 4:58
Band:
Butch Walker – Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Piano, Keyboard
Additional Musicians:
Nikki Sixx – Bass
Greg Lee – Bass
Kenny Cresswell – Drums, Backing Vocals
Mitch “Slug” McLee – Drums
Jim Ebert – Moog Synthesizer, Keyboard
Matt Mahaffey – Keyboard, Scratching
Chrystina Lloree – Backing Vocals
Peter Searcy – Cello
Harold Sellers – Congas
Produced by: Butch Walker, Jim Ebert, Matt Mahaffey
With a career only spanning three albums (though I’m forever holding out hope a we’ll get a reunion and a fourth release someday), Marvelous 3 became one of my favorite bands and produced one of my favorite albums with ReadySexGo. Marvelous 3 called it quits in 2001 and front man/songwriter Butch Walker surfaced in 2002 with this, his very first solo release.
It’s very much a continuation of what Marvelous 3 had been doing with the great blend of glam, punk, pop and hard rock. Nothing but giant hooks and huge choruses. If M3 had stuck around and followed ReadySexGo with a new album, I can’t imagine it sounding much different than this. Unfortunately, Left of Self-Centered would be the last in-your-face hard rock/pop release by Butch Walker, I guess he’d rather write & produce those types of songs for other artists (Avril Lavigne, Lit, Fall Out Boy, Katy Perry, Pink) than himself because his albums since have been a bit more emo, mellow and acoustic than I would like.
Butch certainly does have a way with words and great sense of humor. I like how the lyrics flow together and the next line plays off the previous one. The lyrics are almost as enjoyable as the music itself.
“My Way” was the song during the opening credits of the awful Jason Lee/Tom Green movie ‘Stealing Harvard’, if I’m not mistaken.
“Get Stupid with You” is a “hidden” asTrack 14. Track 13 is nearly 15 minutes of silence.
Highlights: “My Way”, “Suburbia”, “Trouble”, “Alicia Amnesia”, “Sober”, “Into the Black”, “Get Down”, “If (Jeannie’s Song)”
MARVELOUS 3 – ReadySexGo
Marvelous 3 – ReadySexGo (2000, Elektra Records)
Track Listing:
1. “Little Head” … 3:19
2. “Grant Park” … 3:42
3. “Get Over” … 3:57
4. “Sugarbuzz” … 3:40
5. “Supernatural Blonde” … 3:11
6. “Radio Tokyo” … 5:14
7. “Cold as Hell” … 3:10
8. “Beautiful” … 4:04
9. “I’m Losing You” … 3:18
10. “This Time” … 3:13
11. “Better off Alone” … 2:46
12. “I Could Change” … 3:29
13. “Cigarette Lighter Love Song” … 5:06
14. [Credits] … 10:00
Band:
Butch Walker – Vocals, Guitar
Jayce Fincher – Bass
Doug Mitchell (aka – Mitch “Slug” McLee) – Drums
Produced by: Butch Walker
The third and final album from the awesome Marvelous 3 (all three members were former members of the hair band SouthGang). Despite having a hit in ’99, with “Freak of the Week”, I had never heard of the band until this album was about to come out and Metal Sludge was hyping it up and did an interview with Butch Walker. I picked it up and it instantly became one of my favorite albums and still is. Everything song is a great sing-along anthem and why this album didn’t go platinum 7x over and Marvelous 3 aren’t still together is a reflection on just how screwed up the music industry has been for the past decade (or more). Sadly, even with the solid buzz of their previous album, Hey! Album, ReadySexGo only managed to scrape the bottom of the Billboard 200 peaking at #196. >=(
The lyrics are absolutely great, very witty and funny. A great play on words throughout and Butch Walker wrote the whole album by himself, except for “Cigarette Lighter Love Song”, which he co-wrote with David Bowie. Every song is extremely catchy, perfect for radio, and a great blend of hard rock, hair/glam metal, pop, and punk pop.
Even though I believe (as does the band) that Elektra dropped the ball with this release, I think “Sugar Buzz” was a poor choice as a lead single. Even though it’s good, it’s actually the lesser of all the songs here. I do remember it receiving a bit of airplay on the local rock station though… for about a week. The band broke up less than a year after this album’s release.
At the end of “Radio Tokyo”, there’s a great phone message from Nikki Sixx to the band… “Fuck! Your fucking band is bad-ass. Call me! Fuck! I’m blown away, man. That second song knocked my dick in the dirt. Bye.” =D
Butch has gone on to be a successful producer/songwriter for other artists such as Avril Lavigne, Bowling for Soup, Pink, Lindsay Lohan, Simple Plan, Sevendust, The Donnas, Pete Yorn, The Academy Is…, American Hi-Fi, All-American Rejects, Fall Out Boy and SR-71. He also releases albums under his own name.
Highlights: “Grant Park”, “Get Over”, “Radio Tokyo”, “Cold As Hell”, “Beautiful”, “I’m Losing You”, “Better off Alone”, “Cigarette Lighter Love Song”
www.marvieworld.com (Inactive fan site, but the best I could find!)
www.butchwalker.com
www.myspace.com/butchwalker
