| Pennywise | 1991 |
| A Word From The Wise/Wildcard | 1992 |
| Unknown Road | 1993 |
| About Time | 1995 |
| Full Circle | 1997 |
| Straight Ahead | 1999 |
| Live At The Key Club | 2000 |
| Land Of The Free | 2001 |
No, I am not some big punk rocker, but Pennywise serves as an exception to most of the other punk I've heard. Yeah, I know it may all sound the same to a lot of people. I too can often see some characteristic punk flaws in the music. Although they often hide them rather well, Pennywise also have some of disadvantages that come with punk rock music. First of all, the lyrics almost never do anything for me. They are always an anarchistic youth attitude toward the problems. Maybe their lyrics are a little bit better penned than other punk bands, but it is the actual subjects that they cover that I have a problem with. In their favor, however, I will say that they generally avoid punk rock romances, a big plus.
Like most punk rockers I am familiar with Pennywise’s music is very catchy. However, they also go beyond plain old bland catchiness and pen some good melodies here and there, and on a very few occasions their songs have some emotional depth to them, something I have yet to see from any other punk band. They tend to be able to hide the generic nature of their (and all) punk music for a few of their better albums, something also to be praised. Then again, I try to ignore most of the punk flaws and therefore can enjoy their work.
--Robert Grazer
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(reviewed by Robert Grazer)
Despite the fact that some hardcore fans consider this debut to be the band's finest work, this is hardly Pennywise at their best. Too many uncertain moments, not enough of the band's classics for me anyway. And the Pennywise title track, to both the band and album, is rather disappointing. You would have thought it one come out as one of their best, but no. Lots of energy but nothing more, just a standard punk tune. Oh well. Apart from that there's "Unite" where the album hits rock bottom with a completely ridiculous chorus. "Come together, and fight together, UNITE together as one." Pathetic. This isn't to say the album doesn't have its highlights. "The Secret" is certainly one of the greatest songs the band ever did, and the biggest hint at what would come next.
Likewise "Who’s To Blame" is an excellent entry to help restore faith in the album after that disappointing title track. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" is a strong opener, something that the band would almost always be quite good at. You see, there are a few big highlights. Oh, and finally, while certainly not as good as the version done later, "Bro Hymn" is a strong closing track. The rest are mostly mediocre. Not good, not bad, but not necessarily forgettable. I see little in songs like "Homeless" or "Kodiak" other than fairly decent songs to go along with a fairly decent album. Good thing they followed it the way they did or they would have been about as exciting as you average dull boring stupid generic punk band.
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(reviewed by Robert Grazer)
Er, this isn't the follow-up I was talking about. This release, made up of two different demos that the band put out in the late eighties, is probably the earliest Pennywise music available. But it isn't very good. The biggest problem here is not really song quality as much as it is the actual production and sound of the album. Since they're demo tapes, they feel like demo tapes. I heard better sound from music recorded in a garage. It makes it rather difficult to appreciate a couple pretty good songs. However, even then this album only has a couple good tracks. "Gone" and "Wildcard" were really the only two I felt were up to the standards the band would set in a few years. In fact, if they were redone professionally on any other album, I believe they would have fit in very nicely. The rest were for the most part forgettable. "Final Chapters" and "Covers" came off a little dull. And then "Depression" and "Maybes" have these awful rap sections in them. Ugh. I have no clue where that came from. Yuck. Overall though, This one has its ups and downs, but isnothing to get very excited about unless you are a very big Pennywise fan.
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(reviewed by Robert Grazer)
I have a decent knowledge of punk music and even own a few compilations. I am certainly not a big punk fan, but I will most definitely say that this is easily the best punk album I have ever heard and (I'm a little ashamed to admit) one of my favorite albums ever. It is better formed and more entertaining than anything else Pennywise or any other punk band has ever put out. For me at least. This is by far the most dramatic punk rock experience I'm aware of, and a near-perfect display of everything good that the genre has to offer. To put it simply, this album is great. Now comes the problem with reviewing great albums, where to begin? "Homesick" is the most known song from the album, so why not start there? It gives a good example of the greatness shown all over this release. Fast as hell, but controlled to make it sound absolutely great.
The title track is great as well, easily the best title track they have ever done. From the powerful beginning bit to the ever so predictable slide and into the "So you're currently content with you're surroundings" line you should already know the quality of what you have just bought. Unknown Road also has the honor of containing my two favorite punk songs. "Nothing" is, in my opinion, the second greatest punk tune ever. It’s catchy as hell, and for a punk song, extremely emotional and melodic. It combines the slow verses and fast chorus better than any other band I have heard, and when they hit the climax of the song with the somewhat typical punk style corny lyric "If you don't to hear my problems, well you can fuck off and die," the music (and only the music) reaches a state of beauty nearly unparalleled in the whole punk rock genre.
So then, after "Nothing" comes "Vices" to close the side. Slightly below the mark, yes, but worth the listen to prepare you for what is next. From the opening bass line of "City is Burning" you can see that nothing that Pennywise or any other punk band has done is going to top this one. Punk was never this great before, and most likely will never be again. I can't even describe the song; it’s just so amazing. Both the bass and guitar solos are breathtaking and brilliant. No, certainly not in talent (the guitar solo anyway), but this song is formed around strong emotion, and while it doesn't have the power of some the works of far superior artists, it’s as great as anything in this genre will get.
There are a couple songs ("Vices," as I said before, and "Give and Get") that do fall just a little bit short of the mark. It’s not like they're bad or anything, just a tad substandard, especially by the standards set by the other tracks on here. Just a little however, they cannot even begin to ruin the greatness established by the best tracks on this album ("It’s Up to Me," "Nothing," "City is Burning," "Clear Your Head"). There are times when I cannot figure out why I love this album so much since I have always preferred different styles to the punk genre. Unknown Road is certainly my biggest guilty pleasure, since I'm supposed to be liking The Sex Pistols and The Clash and hating all modern punk. Yet it is a great album, highly recommended to all who are even remotely interested in punk rock, because this is the ONLY punk album I know of that will get a full 10 from me.
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(reviewed by Robert Grazer)
Well, this is no Unknown Road, but nevertheless this is a fine punk rock album. The first four songs are great. Each one demonstrates the way all punk music should be, whether it’s the incredible vocal harmonies of "Peaceful Day" (easily the best track on the album) or the speed of "Waste Of Time" or the catchiness shown with "Perfect People," this is among the best of the genre. The next few, on the other hand are not that great. In fact it's probably the worst stretch of Pennywise music we've had in years, or maybe ever. "Searching" provides nothing more than a dull head bang for three minutes, "No Way Out" is awful, the worst on the whole album and one of Pennywise's all-time worst songs, and "Freebase" is completely dull song with just a nice intro and good vocals on the chorus, certainly nothing very good at all.
Fortunately, the rest of the album is excellent. In fact, the lyrics on "Killing Time" even manage to impress a little. I'm not kidding. Good lyrics in a punk song, it does happen sometimes. "Same Old Story" is a great punk tune with a catchy verse and great chorus. You may have heard it if you're big into punk, and then you should know how great it truly is. About Time is certainly not as good as the one before, but like most albums has its ups and downs, the downs being some of the band's worst music ever, and the ups being good enough to fit on Unknown Road, and that is a big compliment.
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(reviewed by Robert Grazer)
And then Jason Thirsk killed himself. And we get this. Second only to Unknown Road, Full Circle comes off as an excellent entry in their career. The songs are generally faster than most of the other stuff that they have done, not necessarily a bad thing as this is a fantastic album. Like About Time, the first four songs provide the most memorable stretch on the album. "Fight Till You Die" is an awesome opener to kick off this ultra-fast album. "Date With Destiny" picks up where it left off, keeping the fast mood of this great album. It ranks as my second favorite on the album for a nice tune to accompany its excellent vocal melodies. The speed punk continues with "Get A Life," and then the well-known "Society." Those four alone make the album worth the price. Well, maybe. Most of the copies of Full Circle I've seen for sale have been rather expensive.
While the first four may be the best as a whole, the best individual song is "Bro Hymn Tribute." The original "Bro Hymn" was certainly no bad song, but this here tribute blows it away. It takes the "this one’s for you" style (and line) of the original and changes it all to fit Jason, including a section sung by his brother. It doesn't really add to the artistic quality of the peace, hearing this crappy voice sing "Jason, my brother this one’s for YOUUU," yet I guess it was necessary to the feel of the song, so I make myself like it. Byron gives us a nice little drum solo, so if you're big on punk drummers, you may really enjoy it. The other songs are pretty much good, nothing like those five. "You'll Never Make It" has a nice, even if predictable intro to get it started. The verses of "Running Out of Time" are melodic and very catchy, and the vocal melodies in "What If I" successfully combat the less than perfect (to say the least) lyrics. There are a few weaker areas here and there like "Every Time" and "Nowhere Fast," so this one isn't nearly as perfect as Unknown Road was, but I still recommend it to any Pennywise or punk fan.
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(reviewed by Robert Grazer)
Every flaw of punk rock that I have tried to ignore for the past albums (sometimes quite effortlessly, like on Unknown Road and Full Circle) is so terribly obvious here, and the generic nature of the music is so pitifully apparent that it is hard to believe this is the same band who, just six years ago, were the gods of their genre. The songs are awful, just awful. And they all sound exactly the same. I have tried very hard to try to avoid that with this band and I have also tried pretty damn hard to see the differences in the songs, but I honestly cannot do it here. It’s every flaw of punk rock squeezed on to one CD. I should name a few songs to criticize since that is what I do on these things. However, this one is difficult. A single song can represent them all. So, which one? Let's use "My Own Way" as our representative song. We call that ultra-generic punk pop rock there. That is what we call this whole album. Well, on this particular song the bridge was impressive. Hear this one, you'll know exactly what the rest of the album is like. Let’s hope they never do anything like this again.
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COMMENTS
[email protected] (MiKe Burrus)
what the fuck? a 3?? a damn 3?? i'm a huge pennywise fan and i agree w/most of your reviews, but holy shit, this album definatly isn't a 3! It's not as good as their best work, of course. Did you expect it to be anywhere near as good as Unknown Road? Yes some songs SOUND similar at first, but they're NOT. but there are some great songs on here. The only song on here that is absolute garbage and makes me want to puke, is "Master of Reality". and yeah there are some other weak ones that are not as bad. But still it is punk rock and it kicks ass! i give it a low 8/10.