The Screaming Jets
All For One


3.0
good

Review

by Eclectic USER (42 Reviews)
November 20th, 2009 | 19 replies


Release Date: 1991 | Tracklist

Review Summary: This was released in the early 1990s and that’s exactly where it belongs.

Before going into this album and review there is something you must understand. The Screaming Jets, in 1989, won a national “Battle Of The Bands” competition run by Australian radio broadcaster Triple J. It is important to know this because it becomes clear as soon as the first song starts that TSJ are just an average bunch of Australian blokes who picked up their instruments, learnt a few chords and rhythms respectively, and realised “hey guys, we can play music!” Of course, that wouldn’t have been complete without them having listened to AC/DC most of their lives and hailing them as “gods” of rock. And what did we do with our rock gods of the 70s and 80s?

We emulated them.

Luckily the band physically can’t copy their heroes note for note. They try really hard, but they just can’t do it. You’ll notice this right from the start when Gleeson, the lead singer, attempts a falsetto and ends up producing one of the most awkward sounds you can imagine. It’s as if he’s still working on it and hasn’t perfected the art yet.
This begs the question: “Why try?”
It’s like a guitarist attempting a riff he physically can’t do. You don’t record his attempts and put it on the album anyway. You wait until he can do it; until he’s good enough to perform it, then you record it.
TSJ forgot the last step and skipped right ahead to the recording process.

To cover up for their inability to mimic AC/DC the band picks up other influences, such as KISS. The result is basically a softer, Australian version of the latter (Oh joy!). To be fair there are a number of good guitar solos to be heard, whilst they’re not incredibly technical (remember, we’re talking about a couple of guys who most probably spent half their time down at the local pub drinking schooners) they do manage to sound interesting and save otherwise monotonous songs. Unfortunately the rest of the guitar work mainly consists of power chords, a few blandly plucked notes, and absolutely nothing else. The bass guitar is nothing special either. It’s thankfully audible, but it never strays from the root notes of the guitar chords and, as such, suffers from the same bad case of mediocrity that the other members seem to have caught.
The drumming is a surprising highlight of the instrumental section. As like the other instruments it’s nothing incredible, but Brad Heaney does add a few great drum fills here and there. The pick of the bunch being in “Stop The World” where he sustains the rhythm section nicely.

Then we come to the lyrics, the band’s true weak point. You know you’ve hit new lows before you’ve gotten off the ground when your debut has a song entitled “Fat Rich C***s” (they shortened it to “F.R.C” for the sake of public image). It’s supposed to be an ode to rich stock brokers (“you got your offices up 50 floors from the ground. You hire your slaves to bid for you”) but it comes across more as “You’re richer than me, get f****d.” With its nauseating hook sung in a thick ocker accent.
“You fat, fat, fat rich c***s.”
And the album is littered with laughably bogan lines, like this one from “Better”
“They said you'd never get anywhere,
Well they don't care and it's just not fair”

This doesn’t deserve anything lower than a 2 simply because it’s a fun album. Yes its mediocre, outdated and laughably bad, but there’s a sense of fun and energy that runs throughout it. It’s a throwback to the days when rock music was used as an excuse for the population to get out, dance and have fun. You can’t criticise it for that, and if you do it just means you’ve forgotten what it was like back in those days.



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user ratings (7)
3.2
good


Comments:Add a Comment 
Eclectic
November 21st 2009


3302 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Hopefully I have minimised the grammatical mistakes, I'm really quite annoyed at myself for the slew of them that was found in my past 2 reviews.

[10 reviews, cheers guys]

AtavanHalen
November 21st 2009


17919 Comments


Review's paragraphs are a bit choppy but the band rocks. Good stuff, mate.

Eclectic
November 21st 2009


3302 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Choppy?

Thanks, I'm trying to improve.

AtavanHalen
November 21st 2009


17919 Comments


I dunno, the paragraphs that aren't the one-liners and just go for like three lines or so I feel could be merged.

Eclectic
November 21st 2009


3302 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Ah, yes, good point.

Eclectic
November 21st 2009


3302 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Is that better, or are the sentences awkward now?

Douchebag
November 21st 2009


3626 Comments


haha these guys actually played at the local pub in my very town a few years ago. From what I heard (forgive me if i'm wrong) the singer was a jerk and spent most of the time saying how much of a c**t Kevin Rudd is (he had only just become our PM)

Seriously a pub is for some loud fun bogan music, not a political rant. From memory the song 'better' is ok but I really cannot remember it.

Awesome review fellow aus rocker though.

Eclectic
November 21st 2009


3302 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Thanks man.

Better is one of the (excuse the pun) better songs on the album, but that isn't saying much really, lol.

I am not surprised in the slightest that he did that, his annoying "political" statements on this are just as bad.

Douchebag
November 21st 2009


3626 Comments


When it comes to political rants, you have to have it in moderation. Bands such as ratm get away with it with sheer energy and bands like Green Day get away with it by contrasting it with a fun side such as when they play live he may mention something he feels stronger about but 10 minutes later he'll be being immature and mucking around with the crowd.


Eclectic
November 21st 2009


3302 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Very true.

It also helps if you're not a bogan or an idiot, lol.

Douchebag
November 21st 2009


3626 Comments


lol especially if your playing in my dodgey town! nobody here would give a toss, they just wanna drink beer and sing along to 'better'.

Eclectic
November 21st 2009


3302 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

hahaha, I can relate to that, its the same here.

Hey, I just finished an Eminem review, should I post it now or wait?

qwe3
November 21st 2009


21836 Comments


nah dont post it now.

i heard a song by these guys that was so fucking catchy but i cant remember what it was

AtavanHalen
November 21st 2009


17919 Comments


October Grey, off one of their late nineties records, remains a favourite Australian song of mine.

Eclectic
November 21st 2009


3302 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

dont post it now.


Tomorrow it is then.



I expect they got better with age, it seems logical.

qwe3, most of their songs are catchy so I can't help you thar, lol.

Jim
November 23rd 2009


5110 Comments


hey the screaming jets alright

review seems a bit rushed compared to your others, and it also reads quite negatively for what is ultimately a good score. still, props for doing some classic oz rock.

Eclectic
November 23rd 2009


3302 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Hmm, odd that. I've done reviews quicker than this before.

I just couldn't find it in my heart, despite all the negatives, to make it "average" since it is actually a good listen.

Coast
October 7th 2018


1629 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

stop the world, cause this is where I get off

conesmoke
February 10th 2022


7875 Comments


Better is so good



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