New George Carlin

Hi folks. Today is the day of the release of the new album by George Carlin. Wait! What? Yes, he’s been dead for 8 years now but we the fans have been given something new that we probably haven’t heard before. I will get into the title and the tracks in this post, as well as my own comments on it as a Long time fan of his work.
First of all, the album is called i Kinda Like It When A Lotta People Die. That was the original title to the 2001 HBO special and album called Complaints and Grievances. It was changed after the September 11th attacks in New York for obvious reasons. However he didn’t throw the title or the main peace from the show away and it exists in 3 versions, with 2 of them here and the other on the 2005 special Life Is Worth Loosing. it also exists in written form, in the posthumously published book Last Words, also read in the audiobook by George’s brother Patrick. I’m actually surprised that he didn’t keep the peace as it was in the original show, despite the attacks. After all, comedy and tragedy go hand-in-hand. Right? However, New York was the main focus with media on the September 11 attacks so, I have no problem with it.
Now, let’s go through the album track by track and I will give my own opinions if necessary, on each track and what he says about the topics discussed. The first track is called Boston Rant 1957 and is a comment on how those in Authority may not be oh good people. In particular, he talks about the police and firemen and the people in both jobs who have less to do. They may be stealing from you or planting guns in the hands of dead people, so they could say that he committed suicide, after the police had shot them. Or, so they can say that the person have a gun on them so they had to shoot them.
The second track is called Rats and Squealers, which goes after the snitch hotlines, which exist for the public to help the police solve crimes.
Track 3 is called Cocaine and is a short one of very little significants. Track 4, The Fecal Differential is about farts on a plain and in particular, those from coach class. He even gives us some fart jokes. If you have the album Complaints And Grievances you will notice that these are the same fart jokes from that album an HBO special.
Track 5 is a comment about there being too many songs and it is called Tired Of Songs. He also says that all the songs we hear are mostly love songs or about a broken heart. Well, those are the ones we hear on the radio to cell albums and attract the young hipsters. There aren’t any songs about Cancer or things that come up in everyday life, according to him. I agree and unfortunately those songs are kept off the radio and TV and only in the individuals homes or on their playback devices. Think about a band like Cannibal Corpse and songs such as Fucked With A Knife. It’s a shame he didn’t mention bands like that and how they should be played on the radio, even on specialty shows spotlighting all forms of heavy metal. But he couldn’t do that because that would be too obvious. Right?
Track 6 is called The First Enema and well, I’m going to leave that for you to listen to for yourself. Track 7 is called Uncle Dave and is the first version of I Kinda Like It When A Lotta People Die, with Uncle Dave and all the other dead Uncle Dave’s in the peace, along with some material about natural disasters.
Track 8 is George’s long time manager Jerry Hamza talking about how he met George and about how this album came together. Track 9 is an interview with Rocco Urbisci, who produced 10 of George’s HBO specials and in fact, his last 10.
Track 10 is the original peace itself, I Kinda Like It When A Lotta People Die, which he read out in front of an audience for the first time. He’d been writing and fine-tuning it for almost 13 years or so, before he did it some time in either 2000 or 2001. When you listen to it and the earlier track uncle Dave, listen to the intensity which builds throughout both pieces. Doesn’t it remind you of an earlier peace he did on the 1986 album Playin’ With Your Head called Things To Watch Out For? Then, listen to the track Coast To Coast Emergency on Life Is Worth Losing and you will notice this version builds then tails off slightly, when uncle Dave shows up. Then it builds again when things explode and end off the album on that rather large ominous note.
Overall, I think this is a great album in its own right although, the sound Quality could’ve been better but I don’t mind. After all, the bonus disc on the Little David Years box set contains 20 tracks and they’re all in mono so, I’m not going to complain. Also, the material is taken from recordings in 2000 and 2001, except for the Boston Rant 1957, obviously because you can hear more of his New York accent and his younger voice. Which reminds me, have you noticed that his voice timbre changed significantly, after 1992? I first noticed the change on his TV show The George Carlin Show and at first, I didn’t recognize him except for how he talks in his comedy routines. Well, it’s just something I noticed but it’s not bad.
If you are a serious diehard fan of George Carlin I suggest that you go out and get this album to keep and not to stream. You should have this in your collection so you can Play it for your friends and family. Congratulations to those who had a hand in putting this album together and if there is more material on the way, please, let me know so I can blog about it. I’m just a regular guy who is a fan and wants to share things with people, like this new album.
Anyway, that’s all from me and I hope you enjoy both this post and the new album.