Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsCamp Kill yourself never closes
Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2003
Anyone who's seen Jackass or anything from the CKy video collection, whether they know it or not, has heard CKy's music. That link is obviously how they have become (somewhat) popular. But even though this CD has an `explicit content' sicker on it, the guys keep it mostly clean. I bought this album because I heard "My Promiscuous Daughter" in CKy2K and thought it was absolutely hilarious (and rocking). But sadly, I found the rest of the album, aside from a few choice songs and parts, to be rather tame. Now, if you're going to be associated with a TV show called Jackass and have a member's brother be Bam Margera, I would think you'd have to be crazy as all hell. And that's really the only thing wrong with CKy: their target audience. Other than that, their music is rock-solid.
The two great songs on Volume 1 are "My Promiscuous Daughter" and "96 Quite Bitter Beings". Both those tracks are absolutely incredible. Particularly "96", which might be one of--if not thee catchiest song I've ever heard. The lyrics to "Daughter" are a bit simplistic (`I caught my daughter giving ... to my brother' X *about* 10), but they're just too darn funny to become repetitive. Without those two songs, this CD would've got one star from me. Another ample tune is "Rio Bravo", which, overall, is kind of reminiscent of Marilyn Manson circa 1995. "The Human Drive In Hi-Fi" has some of the best lyrics on the album; the finishing quote, `you'll keep pretending that the world is ending... you'll be fictionized', sums it up rather nicely. And the `it's on this TV / it's on that TV' part is equally as cool. It does have a kind of disco feel to it though, as another reviewer noted. Both "Disengage The Simulator" and "Lost In A Contraption" have catchy beats backed with good lyrics. Still, they don't outdo the two gems. "Knee Deep" consists of only about two lines of words, and therefore it's hard to get into. "Sara's Mask" is CKy's version of a love song. For the most part it is amiable, but it doesn't flow too well and the beat never takes shape. Nevertheless, it's a good change of pace. The closer, "To All Of You", might actually be the weakest song on Volume 1. Deron Miller's voice seems too drowned out, and the music is nothing especially new. It'll say track nine is 23 minutes long, which again is misleading as about 8-10 minutes of that are silence between the "hidden" tracks. Of the two hiddens, you get a creepier Manson-like tidbit of "Rio Bravo" and another (decent) slow song in the vein of "Sara's Mask".
I might be one of the select few CKy/Jackass fans that isn't a (huge) fan of CKy the band. But I have to be honest and say I was expecting more out of this album. After hearing "My Promiscuous Daughter" and haunting, catchy riffs of other unnamed tunes in their videos, I expected this record to blow me away. It did not. But I can't give the cold shoulder to these three guys. There are particular days when I need to hear "96 Quite Bitter Beings" or "Daughter". And if it weren't for those days I wouldn't be giving Volume 1 three stars and I wouldn't be telling you to check these guys out. But I am. `They've deleted all the tourists at the bottom of the lake'; and they're here to stay... hopefully.