Track Listing
- Only Rock 'n Roll
- The Ganster Of Love
- Manic Depression
- Cadillac Walk
- Highway Chile
- Ju Ju Man
- Your Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash
- Crosstown Traffic
- Wild Thing
- The Queen
- Crossroads
- Red House
- Can't Stop Rockin'
- Barefoot Rock
- Romeo's Escape
EB Rating - 5.0
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The Hamsters, a blues-rock power trio based in the United Kingdom,
are a very talented, tight, and well balanced band. The guitar playing is excellent, as are the vocals.
They do some songwriting, but their specialty seems to be a balanced mix of very tasty interpretations of
early classic rock n' roll, ballads, blues, and Jimi Hendrix. They definitely like Hendrix.
Hamster Jam is a high energy live recording. 57+ minutes of hard rockin'
early classic rock, rock 'n roll, and Hendrix favorites. They bypassed the ballads for this recording, and
just keep cranking out rockers. There's little let up from start to finish.
There's a good bit of straight rock 'n roll, but plenty of blues-rock as well,
all of it featuring excellent guitar support. Blues-rock guitar affectionados will not be disappointed with
this disc. They do relax a bit for the start of Jimi's "Red House",
but before for long this builds into one of the more intense songs on the disc.
Rounding out the varied selection of popular classics and originals, are some
great sounding, less frequently heard cover tunes like "Your Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash"
and "Wild Thing".
In all, there are five Hendrix flavored songs on the CD, and I really enjoy The Hamsters'
interpretation of Jimi's music. Their approach to the Hendrix style is plenty agressive, but without the
excessive feedback, over-extended lead breaks, and other over-done pyrotechnics that sometimes accompany Hendrix's
covers. In fact, this "to the point" playing style carries through most of the CD.
Hamster Jam is easily my favorite of the three Hamsters discs I own. This is one of
those CDs that's best enjoyed by crankin' it up and playing completely through
uninterrupted, so try to set aside a full hour for your first run. The bad news is, for some unknown reason
which I will never understand, the Hamsters have discontinued this CD and it's no longer available through their
website. All of my normally reliable European connections also failed me. But I finally found it at
www.amazon.co.uk.
Current cost is around $15 in US funds including shipping.. This is a bargin to get this excellent
CD shipped from the UK.
Update - 06/05/2000
Amazon.co.uk no longer carries Hamster Jam Your best hope now is to try to locate a stray copy through
www.gemm.com.
Update - 08/17/2000
Due to popular demand, The Hamsters have reissued this CD. It's currently available at www.Amazon.co.uk once again.
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