Mr T Experience, Who are they? (Our Bodies Our Selves - The Mr. T Experience)

Member Name: kylecoare

Product:	Our Bodies Our Selves - The Mr. T Experience
Date:	13/03/04 (33 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great poppy punk moments, some good clever lyrics, Dr Franks great vocals

Disadvantages: Unknown to most music fans.

MR T EXPERIENCE - OUR BODIES, OUR SELVES.
-----------------------------------------

So there I was, vowing to never review another Mr T Experience album, when it seemed like the only CD that wanted to sit in my player seemed to be by the almighty MTX, so I apologize in advance for writing more reviews on this great band, but it wasn't my fault the cd player wouldn't let me listen to anything else!

So I thought id venture back a few years, to a time long long ago, in a place where meer mortals were scared to play pop punk, due to the fear of ridicule and a lifetime of playing to empty venues.

So this was just before the big breakthrough album by Greenday, back in 1993, where music was dark and growling, and pop didn't have a place to stand in rock circles.

But Mr T Experience(MTX as im gonna call them from this point on) didn't care about this dislike of pop music, and they welcomed it with open arms...

And made the pop punk sound we hear all around us to this day.

MTX formed in the early to mid 80's and became a bit of a cult band in their Californian area.
Making friends with many influential bands of the time, and signing on to LOOKOUT records, home of some amazing punk bands, and future home to Greenday.

MTX were formed by lead singer Dr Frank, one of the finest vocalists in this genre.
Other than Frank, the band has had numerous members joining their ranks and then quitting, to be replaced by another new member who also quits and gets replaced, the only original member of the band today is Dr Frank.

To learn a bit more of the history of the band you would be advised to check out my many reviews on the band, they wont be hard to miss as im the only person writing about them!

So its 1993 and the band has a new 3 piece line up who come out with an album that finally shows a lot of the promise of the future of the band, up until this point the albums had
all been good, but you always knew there was something better lurking beneath the surface, on this album that something started to break through...

BAND MEMBERS
-------------

Dr Frank - Vocals/Guitar/Songwriter/Genius.
Aaron - Bass/Backing Vocals.
Alex - Drums.

As with all MTX's albums this was produced by Kevin Army, who deserves a mention for the tight but live sounding production of the album.

THE ALBUM
----------

Okay I've finally got to the part everyone is interested in.
The album clocks in at a fantastic 51 minutes, and contains 16 tracks.

Being 16 songs long, ill probably only talk about a few of them as you've probably all got something better to do than listen to me rambling on about a band you've never heard of!

---SOMEBODY WHO CARES---

As soon as the album starts with this driving piece of pop rock, you know your on to something a bit different, something that has a lot of quality.

The song opens with a racing guitar riff and some loud crunching drums, which makes a great wall of noise for Dr Frank to place his poppy tuneful witty vocals over.

And as I've mentioned on numerous occasions, this vocalist is one of the all time great punk singers, and can change a tune from a simple three chords to a piece of beauty!

---LOVE MANIFESTO---

So its onto the next song, and we have a bit of a change of pace, something this band has never been scared of is changing styles over the course of an album.

This song is a slower number than the last, and opens with a crunchy chuggy guitar riff, which is catchier than a cold.

Again the tune is only a backing for the fantastic vocals, and this again shows a different side to Franks singing, a more soulful offering with lots of feeling, whilst still offering enough of the punk bite to keep fans of the genre happy.

One downside though is Aaron'
;s backing vocals, which really don't work very well, he sounds a bit like a dog yelping, but it is drawn quite far back in the track so you will hardly notice!

---PERSONALITY SEMINAR---

This is a great tune that will instantly draw you into its little world, and gives a strong impression of where the band was going in terms of skill and talent.

The music is again a little slower than some of their other offerings, much more like a rock tune than a punk track, opening with a growling crunch riff, which many rock bands would be happy to have in their possession.

The vocals are a little rougher and edgier, showing another side to the talent of Frank.
The song kicks into an amazingly catchy little chorus, which shows some clever word play and tunefulness.

---EVEN HITLER HAD A GIRLFRIEND---

Classic song, this is the story of a man that just cant find a girlfriend, and starts analyzing why he cant get one, even though some of the worst people in history had girlfriends.

A very funny yet sad song, which is played solo by Frank, with just an acoustic guitar for backing.

Well worth the price of the album alone.

Musically this is just a simple campfire strum along, with Frank again showing an amazing talent for vocals and wordplay.

Frank shows a lot of feeling here, and although the song is humorous you cant help but feel sorry for the guy!

---I FEEL LOVE---

This is a cover of the song by Donna Summer.
MTX have always been good at covering strange choices, and although this isn't up with any of their other covers its still quite cool.

Musically its the same as the original with a thrashy guitar sound instead of the poppy sound of the original.

Vocally this is one of Franks worst performances, but it is still one to listen to.

---MORE THAN TOAST---

This great song takes the band back to their pop punk sound, and shows
again why these are one of the best in this genre.

With some amazing lyrical word plays and rhymes, this shows a very clever and witty side to Frank, which really needs to be heard to be understood.

Musically this is a basic three chord punk pop track, that comes in at a fast tempo and is catchy enough for most people to get into, but again its still the vocals that win you over on this song.

---SWALLOW EVERYTHING---

Another song which shows how great this band is at producing a perfect pop punk tune, which if another band had released would have been in the top ten, but unfortunately this band never receives enough mention to get to those dizzy hights.

The tune opens with Frank throwing lyrics at us at a speed of way over 100mph, and yet still remaining tuneful at the same time.

The music is again simple but very effective, and does everything in the right places, with some nice crashing drums and a driving distorted guitar sound making up the backing track.

The tune again features a nice chorus which will have you jumping around.
Its also a fantastic song live.

--------
OVERALL
--------

The rest of the songs on the album all show a lot of quality, and most of them are as good if not better than the ones mentioned above.

As MTX albums go this isn't their best, in fact it wouldn't come in their top four, but it is still a great place to find some great pop punk moments and will keep fans of the genre happy.

I would recommend trying the later albums first, as these show the band at their peak, this just misses out by not having quite as much quality as the later albums.

Thanks for reading.

Kyle.

Summary: