Posted by SteelyJack at stpvscan1.merrillcorp.com on December 29, 2000 at 11:51:09:
In Reply to: Q: for Kevin: DOGMA "Thank U's"/End Credits. posted by SteelyJack on December 28, 2000 at 17:42:32:
In response to what everyone has replied with (and I think all the responses were great), I still think that "Rant" is something special. It's really beyond comedy. True, "Relentless" is some funny shit (I also own "Arizona Bay", which is also brilliant) and the other CD's have some of what "Rant" has. But, keep in mind, the shows that "Rant" pulled from, they don't tell you in the liner notes, were among Bill's last and were when he was being treated for the cancer that now had become an inevitablility. So, true, it sacrifices some laughs here and there, but there is a NAKEDNESS to it that I don't think even Bruce or Pryor EVER got to show (dared to show?) The anger is not just "funny" anger (a la Denis Leary, another favorite of mine), it's unfiltered, un-homogenized. In other words, it's Real. And it's powerful. Try listening to "Rant in E Minor" on a long car trip, when you can listen unhindered. I always bring that disc with me when I head outta L.A. towards Vegas.
By the way, if you go to www.allmusic.com and search for Bill Hicks, their reviews of the four Rykodisk CD's pretty much nail it and say it a lot better than I can.
Check it out.
SteelyJack@aol.com