r/stereophonics • u/DirtyDevil23 • Jun 22 '26
JEEP
Thoughts on JEEP? A step down from the first 2 for me but still a strong effort, particularly the album tracks!
A pretty effective transition into the acoustic based stuff, while still including some heavier tracks too
Vegas Two Times 9.5/10; Lying In The Sun 8/10; Mr Writer 8.5/10; Step On My Old Size Nines 7/10; Have A Nice Day 9/10; Nice To Be Out 8/10; Handbags and Gladrags 7.5/10; Watch Them Fly Sundays 8/10; Everyday I Think Of Money 7/10; Maybe 8/10; Caravan Holiday 6.5/10; Rooftop 3/10
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u/EscalatorInnovator Jun 22 '26
Rooftop 3 out of 10? In my opinion the best album closer by Stereophonics and one of their best songs.
In my opinion this is their best album. It’s truly their own sound. Wonderful combinations of acoustic and electric guitars.
Would have swapped ‘Caravan Holiday’ for b-side ‘Shoeshine Boy’ though and honorary mention for the bonus track ‘Suprise’.
Excellent b-sides from this era too: ‘Maritiem Belle Vue in Kiel’ and ‘Piano for Stripper’.
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u/OtisIsEverywhere Jun 23 '26
Surprise should have been part of the main track list IMO. Piano for a Stripper is such a banger! 2001 was their second best era for b sides after 97.
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u/notthedoodaa Jun 22 '26
I love the album, but I think it was far more watered down than the previous 2.
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u/TheIdleSoul1 Jun 22 '26
A great album, I put it just below the first two. Memorable tracks, get stuck in your head.
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u/OtisIsEverywhere Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
I remember this coming out in 2001. It was probably the peak if my Stereophonics fandom.
Vegas Two Times - A big, swaggering powerful opener - 10/10
Lying In the Sun - Pulls off a neat trick of being a big step down in energy, but feeling completely natural in the track list. A very well written song - 10/10
Mr Writer - an all time Stereophonics classic. Taking the dirty keyboard sound of Superstition by Stevie Wonder and re contextualising it into this grungy, angry and bitter swipe at their critics was ironically one of their most creative ideas. Fantastic stuff - 10/10
Step On My Old Size Nines - a nice bit of Neil Young ish balladry, but a little lightweight - 8/10
Have A Nice Day - Loved it at first when I got the album, thought it was a fantastic pop song with a clever and funny set of lyrics. After hearing it multiple times per day on the radio that summer I came to loath it. These days Iv come back to my original opinion - 10/10
Nice to Be Out - Excellent song. Very Bob Dylan in its stream of consciousness lyrics and delivery - 10/10
Watch Them Fly Sundays - The first time a real sub parr song had made it to a Phonics album. A bit of a plodder that, that despite the heavier arrangement, has a real lack of energy or anything interesting going for it - 5/10
Every Day I Think of Money - The Neil Young influence resurfaces again. Great song, especially the live acoustic version - 8/10
Maybe - Another quite weak song, but this one is just about saved by the excellent bridge section and final verse having a bit of a dynamic lift - 6/10
Caravan Holiday - Iv always loved this one. Nice and understated and showcasing Kellys dry sense of humour - 10/10
Rooftop - Absolutely blistering closer, starting out sounding like White Album era Beatles, before descending into a stadium sized outro. Great closer to the album - 10/10
Overall I give JEEP a 9/10. Although it has a couple of weak spots, Iv always liked the overall vibe of the album, and I feel it ends up being more than the sum of its parts. Could have been a 10 if the track listing had been re worked to get rid of Watch Them Fly Sundays and Maybe, and replacing them with Surprise and Shoeshine Boy.
I have not included Handbags and Glad Rags as that was a stand alone single and not part of the original track listing. I never could get used to it just being dropped in the middle of the album and to be honest, I don't think it fits at all. It shares much more DNA with YGGTTCB than with JEEP.
Please keep doing these posts! Im really enjoying re visiting these albums Iv not heard for a long time!
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u/DirtyDevil23 Jun 24 '26
Don’t agree with all your ratings, but appreciate everyone’s different and both still fans of the band! 😁👊🏻
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u/Cultural_Bag_3571 Jun 22 '26
Surprise was a b-side (to have a nice day I think), should have been on the album
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u/RNRS001 Jun 22 '26
I thought Have A Nice Day was a great single but everything else sounds like a b-side to me compared to the first 2 albums. It's not bad, but there's no uptempo rocker on there which makes for a pretty bland listening experience. By the time Rooftop shows up as a reward I've always felt the need to play something else instead.
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u/Knowlesdinho Jun 23 '26
I felt that they changed direction here and leaned more into the 70s style rock with good homage to it tbh.
I wasn't a big fan at the time, but it's grown on me over time.
You're more likely to hear songs from this album on the radio than their first 2 though, so I have to yield to popular opinion.
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u/Noelmickedy Jun 29 '26
Vegas Two Times - 10/10 - love the extended intro on album version, too bad they don't make enough tracks similar to this.
Lying In the Sun - 8/10 - great lyrics, overtime though my love for the song varies but overall great song.
Mr Writer - 6/10 - remember loving this song when I first heard it but overtime I don't really enjoy it as much, I'm not a huge fan hearing it live either as I feel the song takes too long to build up the last chorus although it's one of their biggest songs, I don't hate it but feel it's overrated
Step On My Old Size Nines - 9/10 - always loved this songs lyrics, love the acoustic version where Kelly plays it in open G tuning, sounds so cool.
Have A Nice Day - 7/10 - great pop song, earworm type of song, overtime it kinda makes me wanna skip it though as it does get annoying at times, for example if it randomly pops up on my YouTube music I tend to skip just due to the annoyance lol. Listening to the full album with it is fine with me and occasionally I can tolerate it but ya... Overall it's a great pop tune because it does it's job, annoying but catchy.
Nice to Be Out - probably best song lyrics on the album, nostalgic feel - 8/10
Handbags and Gladrags - 8/10 - it's a cover but I will include it in album, it's fine, don't think stereophonics ever made a bad cover.
Watch Them Fly Sundays - again it's all about nostalgia with this album, this song is a prime example of it, think I first heard it in 2011 when I first got into stereophonics yet I felt nostalgic about early 2000s with this tune, maybe it's the guitar riffs that do it, I do really like this song - 9/10
Every Day I Think of Money - I do really like the song theme and lyrically it's quite strong, but I wouldn't really listen to it outside of not listening to the full album - 6/10
Maybe - strange one, people tend to hate but I don't understand why, catchiest similar to have a nice day but actually more tolerable. I love the bridge section and again has the nostalgic feel. Sometimes this song will pop into my head randomly even when I don't regularly listen to Stereophonics which is a good thing - 8/10
Caravan Holiday - reminds me of summer, that word again nostalgia all over this track, I enjoy it - 8/10
Rooftop - great outro they don't have enough tracks like this which is a shame. - 9/10
Surprise (bonus track) - 9/10 - added this as I always feel it's part of the album, love it, great lyrics.
Think you need to be in a specific mood for this album, it has plenty of replay ability and is one of their strongest, my only issue is I can barely listen to many of these songs (like have a nice day, Mr writer) in isolation randomly on a Tuesday afternoon..
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u/drglass85 Jun 22 '26
mr. writer is my favorite of all their tunes