Pocket Full of Kryptonite - Spin Doctors (CD 1991)

"A band has its whole life to write the first album and about two weeks to write the second one"
~Aaron Comess, Drummer, Spin Doctors (I'll address this quote later)

I'm only 19, so I don't remember what the music scene was like back in the early 90s, from what I can gather however, is that before Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Hole, and other grunge acts that put the music world into a frenzy in 1992, the 1st 2 years were spent jockeying for position as to what would be the next big thing after hair metal.

One of those bands were the Spin Doctors, their pop foundation, along with classic rock sound, turned the music world on it's ear for a about a year. Their debut album (which is what I review now) went 10 times platinum in the world (5 here and 5 overseas), was nominated for a grammy, got them on the cover of "Rolling Stone" (and that just dooms everyone doesn't it?), and served as a launching pad for such bands as: Blues Traveler, Widespread Panic, The Black Crowes, and other blues oriented jam bands.

THE HITS:

The opening track "Jimmy Olsen's Blues" was one of the hits off this album, telling the story of poor old Jimmy Olsen, who is trying to win the affections of Lois Lane (when she isn't falling off buildings of course), this classic rock sounding tune may seem like a throwaway at 1st, but the catchiness will grow on you.

"Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" was one of the MASSIVE hits off this collection, featuring a great blues guitar by Eric Schenkman, this one is a song ripped right out of the life of Lead Singer Christopher Barron, it's a song about his very difficult relationship with his step-mother, and how he's happy to see her leave:

Been a whole lot easier since the b*tch left town
Been a whole lot happier without her face around
Nobody upstairs gonna stomp and shout,
Nobody at the back door gonna throw my laundry out
She hold the shotgun while you do-si-do
She want one man made of hercules and cyrano
Been a whole lot easier since the b*tch is gone
Little miss, little miss can't be wrong

Little miss, little miss, little miss can't be wrong
Ain't nobody gonna bow no more when you sound your gong.
Little miss, little miss, little miss can't be wrong
What'cha gonna do to get into another one of these rock and roll Songs?

But in the end, he figures that it isn't that bad with her:

I hope those cigarettes gonna make you cough
Hope you hear this song and it pis*ed you off
I take that back I hope your doing fine
And if I had a dollar I might give you ninety-nine

"Two Princes" was another massive hit, it was a very simple, and more poppy than anything else here, it tells the story of 2 guys trying to woo the same woman, one with gifts and things, the other with personality, this one is catchy as hell, and it's interesting to note, that the insperation behind this song was band friend/contributor John Popper.

THE OTHERS:

"What Time Is It?" is just a dabble into Party Funk, it's interesting musically, featuring an extended solo by Schenkman, "Forty Or Fifty" is a soft, VERY strange make no sense song, "Refrigerator Car" is a Rockin' good time, very guitar heavy and more ambitious than the other stuff, contains a killer Bass solo in the middle by Mark White, "More Than She Knows" and "Off My Line are blues numbers featuring John Popper on Harmonica "More Than She Knows" is a quick 2 minute blues tune that isn't that interesting, "Off My Line" Features Schenkman taking over vocals, and once again, this is more ambitious material, it's ok, though the guitar solo at the end is hard hitting.

"How Could You Want Him (When You Know You Could Have Me?)" is a pretty love ballad that tones down the sound a bit, it's not bad, just not anything to write home about, rounding out the album is a 2 in 1 jam, "Shinbone Alley/Hard To Exist" is interesting in the fact that they are able to fuse 2 songs together without stopping "Shinbone Alley" is a hard rocker about New York City and what's around it, it's a real good song, and "Hard To Exist" and a randy blues song about seduction, interesting, but not too special.

The fact that this album spawned 3 major hits, just might have doomed the band, with the follow-up "Turn It Upside Down" people expected more of the same pop tunes with more of the same hits, but instead (despite the fact that it was a really good album) people were disappointed, and they moved on when they wern't able to replicate the hits, and that's when the quote at the top comes into play: they had forever to make this one, but they didn't give them long to make the next one, and when album #3 came out, interest was at 0, and that doomed the Spins to be a 3 hit wonder, which is a shame, considering that "Pocket Full Of Kryptonyte" is a very good album, and with that: I'll give it 4 stars.

TRACKS:
1. Jimmy Olsen's Blues: 4:37
2. What Time Is It?: 4:49
3. Little Miss Can't Be Wrong: 3:52
4. Forty Or Fifty: 4:23
5. Refrigerator Car: 4:43
6. More Than She Knows: 2:09
7. Two Princes: 4:16
8. Off My Line: 3:57
9. How Could You Want Him (When you Know you Could Have Me?): 4:59
10. Shinbone Alley/Hard To Exist: 12:41

THE BAND:
Christopher Barron: Lead Singer, Acoustic Guitar on: "How Could you Want Him?"
Eric Schenkman: Electric Guitar, Lead Singer on: "Off My Line"
Mark White: Bass
Aaron Comess: Drums

SPECIAL GUEST:
John Popper: Harmonica on: "More Than She Knows" and "Off My Line"

Other Spin Doctors Reviews:

Turn It Upside Down (1994)
http://www.epinions.com/content_196542893700

Nice Talking To Me (CD & DVD) (2005)
http://www.epinions.com/content_197035265668