"I'm not the one you wanted"
First of all, I must say that I'm tired of people commenting on Sleater-Kinney and reviewing their albums without ever listening to their music. People saying ignorant things like "This band would never get so much hype if they weren't all women" or people lumping the band with other women performers that share absolutely nothing musically in common other than their gender. I need to get this off my chest: this is a great album no matter what gender the band members are. If you enjoy alternative or indie rock with jangly guitars and overlapping harmonies, you will enjoy this. If you don't, then stay away. Simple as that. In my honest opinion, this album is definately one of the band's top 3. Clever, introspective lyrics with beautiful overlapping verses sung between Carrie Brownstein's alto voice and Corin Tucker's unusual Belinda Carlisle-on-speed-vocals. "The Hot Rock" came out in 1999, and the impending fear of the new millenium is touched upon in some of the songs like "Banned from the End of the World" and "God Is A Number". That's what I've always liked about Sleater-Kinney, is that they have lightly touched on issues that affect the world around them. I was crushed to hear the band broke up in 2006, for they were one of my favorite modern bands. We need more rock bands like Sleater-Kinney, regardless of whether they are male or female.

Possibly the Best Album of All Time
The title may seem drastic, but you know they deserve it. First off to other reviewers who hear this album once then claim they hate should not be allaowed to review. To review an album to need to listen to it over and over, anylising every aspect, and that is epsecially true for this stunningly complex album.

Track by Track

1 Start Together - A great opener. With some wicked intertwining riffs. Wait till the 0.27 mark, where the guitars crash, and its one of the best moments on the album

2 The Hot Rock - My least favorite song, but that doesnt mean i don't love it. More upbeat them most from this album, yet still as mellow as ever.

3 The End Of You - Very clever lyrics, one of my faves, i think Corins vocals have been a a little bit stronger here though, because i think she couldv'e managed it.

4 Burn, Dont Freeze - this is a trademark s-k song to me. Completly original, with overlapping voices and guitar riffs. Corin makes up for end of you here.

4 God is a Number - the standout feature of this song is Corin screaming GOD IS A NUMBER till she just about explodes.

5 Banned From the End of The world - awesom interweaving guitars here, a staggered guitar line in some parts, its great.

6 Don't Talk Like - different to the rest of the songs, and the chorus has a really unsettling bass line which i absolutly love. Also the line "part of me is dead" is extremely fitting. A great Vocal perfomance.

7 Get Up - may just be the best song in the world. The guitars by themselves are quite simple, but coem togthere they create an extremely rich and complex listen. also fine drumming perormance by janet. I can never quite tell which is Corins guitar and Which is Janets bass drum.

8 One Song for you - has an amazing bridge where Corin just goes off, and even i am inclined to think Where The Hell Did That Come From whenever i hear it.

9 Size of Out Love - haunting and brilliant. a carrie song, which is a nice change of tone for the listener.

10 Living in Exile - strange lyrics, but great song, another classic hot rock song. Chorus is the best bit

11. Memorize These Lines - has four parts to it, whic means it never gets boring. The best bit it Corins Bridge "can u tell me what we;re fighting for". Her voice is quite chilling here.

12 - Quarter to Three - sad ad mellow and fantastically different to everything else. Corin again is amazinglty subtle here, plus i hear a harmonica, which i love.


For the album as a whole, i think the way the guitars interveweave adn play off of each other is breathtaking. I cant beleive these songs were writtain by two different people. It sounds like Carrie's writtain this speactactual riff, then put it a computor which kinda simplifies it, lowers the pitch, jumbles it up a bit, and out comes Corins guitars, its amazing the way the guitars come together.

This is the first album where Corin has shown off the mellowness, and subtleity to her insanley wonderfull voice. I think this is the first time she really tapped into it aside from maybe One More Hour. Not to say shes without her trademark shrieks, like in One Song for You say, but now she mixes it up with beautiful performances all around.

Also Carrie increases her vocalist role, her sweet, low, sugary voice is the perfect counterpart to Corin, and shows it off in Size of Our Love.

I don't think Janet had reached her full potential yet (well None of them had but hey), but her drumming is still fantastic, complex and originial, yet consistant and precise enough to make up for the lack of bassist, which goes completly untoticed in this record, which i think is the first time thyve managed that as a whole album.

Another worthy mention is to the spooky and clever, ironic, lyrics. Very multilayerd, yet still reache out politically, albeit less then other albums. A whole album of poetry

This album is an artistic masterpeice, my new fave s-k album. Dfeintatly greater tha the some of its parts, which go to say, are brilliant in themselves

Brooke

Look at the name of the reviewer below (it says: The Jerk)
Also, pay attention to the fluctuating 4 to 4-and-a-half star rating this album got as of 1999, after 84 reviews. That means, more or less, 84 people gave this album a review that warrants at least an "excellent". Sleater-Kinney will be missed.

The answer is no
During Pearl Jam's riot act tour in 2003, Sleater Kinney was
the opening band.I got tickets for the show. In preperation
for the concert, I picked up a few kinney albums.
First this one. For one I had heard songs at the college
station I worked and since one member Janet weiss was in
Quasi( a great band) I thought it couldn't be all bad. At
first listening to the albums it was alright. Then it got
annoying. Those high pitched screams from the singer began
to be fingernails on a chalkboard. Repetitive, middle of the
road punk. Then came the concert. Once Sleater hit the stage,
everyone and I mean everyone around me had no clue who they
were. They were all asking me, who's this? I had to tell them
all. No one was digging the concert. Minamal applause.
No dancing or cheering, nothing. The songs that night didn't flow. The usual screaming was,as always, ear screeching and annoying. A few people mis-took the bassist for a man, but we were in the nose-bleed seats. Once sleater-kinney did their
last song and walked off stage the audience clapped with much enthusiasim, cause they knew they were finally done.

Intimate and intricate
I've been a fan from the beginning, and this is my favorite Sleater-Kinney album (though THE WOODS is now vying for the title!). The others always get talked up more than this, arguably their most intimate and painful record. I don't know if it's the production, the lyrics, or the music itself, but this record always feels to me like a secret whispered by your best friend in a dark bedroom late at night and long ago, or a kiss from someone you know you can't hold onto. The technique of Corin and Carrie singing two different lyrics at the same time is in itself a feminist statement -- you cannot pin us down, we are both at once. Although I loved their records before this, THE HOT ROCK is The One that made me fall IN love with them.