Rock on Honorable Ones!!!

• Artist: Bowling for Soup
• Rating:
• Release Date: 1998
• Genre: Rock

Review

The success of the slaphappy Hangover You Don't Deserve singles "1985" and "Almost" warrants this reissue of Bowling for Soup's first album, 1998's Rock On Honorable Ones!!! It was originally released on the tiny Texas label FFORE, but as the sticker on the front of Jive 's version says, it's "finally available to all non-Texans!" The BFS template is alive and thriving on Rock On -- it's by-the-numbers bash 'n' pop-punk in the vein of Nerf Herder or Diffuser. But while fierce originality isn't their game, being fun and clever and avoiding filler certainly is. Jaret Reddick writes songs about insecurity, girls, and insecurity because of girls, and he's unabashedly first-person about it all. "I have no idea what I did," he says in the breakup song "Corndog," and then he polls the audience. "Let me ask you, do you think I was wrong?" It's an endearing trick, and gives Bowling for Soup's songs a weight they might not otherwise have. In this way the band suggests Boston's Mighty Mighty Bosstones, whose own style is a hyper mixture of charisma, honesty, punk, metal, and ska. (That comparison is even more apt for Rock On Honorable Ones!!!, since cuts like "2113" and "Belgium" make good use of a horn section.) "Scope," "Kool-Aid," and "Cody" are just rock songs with pieces snatched from Cheap Trick and punk rock. But Reddick wavers between lovable haplessness and dumbfounded luck, the songs are always jacked with high-volume guitar, and they hold up longer than you might expect. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
2113 (Lyrics)	Erik Chandler, Jaret Reddick	Bowling for Soup	(4:49)
Scope (Lyrics)	Jaret Reddick	Bowling for Soup	(3:38)
Valentino (Lyrics)	Jaret Reddick	Bowling for Soup	(3:29)
Corndog (Lyrics)	Jaret Reddick	Bowling for Soup	(4:14)
Cody	Jaret Reddick, Erik Chandler, Chris Burney	Bowling for Soup	(4:20)
Belgium (Lyrics)	Erik Chandler, Jaret Reddick	Bowling for Soup	(3:35)
Milo (Lyrics)	Jaret Reddick	Bowling for Soup	(3:46)
Captain Hook (Lyrics)	John Cale, Jaret Reddick	Bowling for Soup	(3:45)
Ack!!	Jaret Reddick	Bowling for Soup	(3:40)
Thespian (Lyrics)	Jaret Reddick, Erik Chandler	Bowling for Soup	(4:37)
Kool-Aid (Lyrics)	Jaret Reddick	Bowling for Soup	(3:40)
I Don't Know (Lyrics)	Chris Burney, Jaret Reddick, Erik Chandler, Amina Figarova	Bowling for Soup	(2:26)
Wisk (Lyrics)	Jaret Reddick	Bowling for Soup	(3:21)
A**man	Jaret Reddick	Bowling for Soup	(3:54)
Friday (Lyrics)	Jaret Reddick	Bowling for Soup	(4:51)

Credits

Eric Delegard (Engineer), Mike Duffy (Tambourine), Chris (Vocals), Mike Duffy (Tambourine), T.J. Hernandez (Artwork), Jaret (Guitar), John Ross (Logo), T.J. Hernandez (Tattoo Art), Lance (Vocals), Lance (Drums), Lance (Group Member), Jaret (Vocals), Eric Delegard (Executive Producer), Mike Swartz (Layout Design), Jaret Reddick (Producer), Brian Kruse (Photography), Lance (Vocals), Jeff Roe (Horn Arrangements), Chris (Guitar), Lance (Drums), Randy Burgeson (Trumpet), Eric Delegard (Producer), Jeff Roe (Trombone), John Ross (Design), Jaret Reddick (Layout Design), Erik Chandler (Guitar (Bass)), Ray Hillner (Performer), Eric Delegard (Mixing), John Ross (Artwork), Jeff Roe (Trombone), Erik Chandler (Vocals), Jeff Roe (Layout Design), Chad Makela (Sax (Baritone)), David Lown (Sax (Tenor)), Eric Delegard (Mastering), Chad Makela (Baritone), Robert Hamilton (Cover Art)