Different from "Performance & Coctails" Yet Very Satisfying

The Stereophonics' third album is a departure from the "stomp rock" album that was "Performance & Coctails", and may take a while to get used to for those looking for a repeat of that album, but in the end is a very satisfying album.

The album starts off where "Performance & Coctails" left off: the opening track "Vegas Two Times" is a great guitar-riff based romper. However, things change very quickly: track 2 "Lying in the Sun" is a very gentle, accoustic guitar-based song, quite pleasant, and very representative for the overall "feel" of the album. "Mr. Writer", a big hit single in the UK, sounds great musically, but leaves to be desired lyrically (lead singer Kelly Jones whaling against and dissing music journalists... yeah, Kelly it's hard to be famous!). Tracks 4 and 5, "Step on My Old Size Nine" and "Have a Nice Day", (both of which also were hits in the UK) are much gentler again, and much more intimate. (I had the good luck of seeing the band in their " US accoustic tour" earlier this year and those songs were fab live.) "Everyday I Think of Money" is one of the other great tracks, with smart lyrics from Kelly.

Electric guitars and hooks are not nearly as prominent as they were on the band's previous albums, but no matter, the album provides a more mature sound of the band. "JEEP" is a great album... BUY IT!

Not Bad

After the first listen, I didn't like this CD at all but it grew on me. 'Vegas Two Times' is a fantastic opener but not as epic an opening as 'Roll Up And Shine' was on the last album. 'Lying In Sun', in my view is the best one on the album. The lyrics are superb and the basis behind the song is very moving. With a beautiful melody behind it, this one is my favourite. 'Mr Writer' is the most technical Stereophonics track to date, with keyboards and backing vocals, this is a new, and interesting road for the 'Phonics. 'Step On My Old Size Nines' and 'Have A Nice Day' are two of the best tracks on the CD and they both look like being contenders for singles. I especially like the story of the taxi driver which inspired the latter. Some of the best Stereophonics lyrics ever come in 'Nice To Be Out', however the tune is somewhat basic and repetitive. 'Watch Them Fly Sundays' is another good track and 'Everyday I Think Of Money' is one of the best 'Phonics tracks of all time, sounding more like something off 'Performance & Cocktails' ('I Stopped To Fill My Car Up' / 'T-shirt suntan' from a lyrical point of view). 'Maybe' keeps the album going that little bit longer but by now you've got the feeling that its dragging on too long and 'Caravan Holiday', the bands worse song to date, ruins the album. 'Rooftop' begins a revival (and what a revival) and it does the album justice, ending on a high. Overall, probably not quite as good as 'Performance & Cocktails' and no where near as good as the 'Word Gets Around' debut. A more mature sound perhaps but I still prefer 'Word Gets Around'. A brilliant album all the same. I am editing my review now I have just seen the band play live at Donington here in the UK and they were absolutely amazing, the best live concert I have ever seen. Having seen them play some of these songs from this new album live, they have grown on me and I now love this album. Previously I wasn't too keen on 'Rooftop' but it is now one of my favourites as it was absolutely breathtaking when they played it live to close their set, in a word, brilliant. Admitedly I still prefer the other two but this is still a classic.

This is a good cd.

I had never heard this band in America till last year, when over the summer I was glued to one of the very addictive music television channels in India. They played many Stereophonics videos. When I came back to the States, I programmed my Yahoo Launchcast radio station to play them, and I really enjoyed them. After looking at their CDs available in Borders, I bought "Just Enough Education to Perform". I enjoyed most of the tracks, except, for some reason, the first one about Las Vegas. The lead singer's voice is very nice, and the music is comforting.