Dictators: Manifest Destiny

The Dictators: Manifest Destiny

1977

Asylum Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Exposed  2. Heartache  3. Sleepin' with the TV On  4. Disease  5. Hey Boys  6. Steppin' Out  7. Science Gone Too Far  8. Young, Fast, Scientific  9. Search & Destroy




Man, how do you follow up "Go Girl Crazy"? That album introduced an entirely new worldview to rock n' roll...The burger-eating, wrestling-watching, slob. It was bold, funny and catchy as hell. But in the meantime punk happened and suddenly a lot of bands were aping their caveman pose. And how funny would the joke be the second time around? Not to mention the album stiffed commercially. Their solution was to play it mostly straight...Play up the Arena Rock angle and hope the Foreigner fans weren't paying too close attention to the lyrics...

It pays off in places, in other places it doesn't...They're throwing a lot of stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks...And I think in the end, the moments that work like crazy are when the band does a bubble-gum version of hard rock...Highlights like "Exposed," and the fan-fucking-tastic "Science Gone Too Far" sound like a smart-ass Kiss...BTW, I'm extremely fascinated by the mad scientist angle of "Science Gone Too Far" and "Young, Fast, Scientific." YES! Scientist Rock! A worthy conceptual conceit to follow up the low-brow lifestyle rock of "Go Girl Crazy"! They should have explored this thread more thoroughly since it makes for the two most memorable moments of the album...Oh yea, Handsome Dick Manitoba gets upgraded from hype man to co-lead vocalist, and he sounds great! Hoarse, sloppy but he nails every hook he's handed and his conversation with his psychiatrist at the beginning of the otherwise so-so "Disease" steals the show...

We also find out the Dictators weak spot...Ballads...To be honest the ballads are only tolerable because they're colored by your previous knowledge of the band and their worldview. The fact that they're coming from the same band that gave us "Master Race Rock" and "Two Tub Man" imbues them with a wise-assedness that may or may not actually be there..."Hey Boys" just sounds like a damn Queen song, but because it's coming from the Dictators, the line "So pass the beer while I shed a tear..." gains additional heft....And "Sleepin' With the TV On" is just overcooked Meatloaf balladry that's only amusing because you imagine Classy Freddy Blassie is what's flickering on that titular TV screen (it's not though...He's watching some old gangster flick or something)...

I'm also a little torn on the merit of their Stooges cover...I mean yea, it kicks ass but I can't help but think it's the sort of thing that should have been relegated to a live disc or something...Their cover of Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe?" Revelatory! But the Stooges? Yea, no shit these guys were influenced by the Stooges...It just seems overly obvious to me. Although I'm willing to bet "Search & Destroy" wasn't so ubiquitous back then. Maybe in 1977 it was an obscure or overlooked gem or something...I dunno...

So here's my track listing for the amazing "Manifest Destiny" EP:

1. Exposed
2.  Heartache
3. Steppin' Out
4.Science Gone Too Far
5. Young, Fast, Scientific


Stick to the hard rock stuff and you have a classic EP. A short and sweet warm up for "Bloodbrothers"...'

Here's "Science Gone Too Far" by the Dictators...Enjoy...