Cheap Thrills

Glad to see Janis again, and I had no clue she’d been in a band. Didn’t like this as much as Pearl, but it’s on the higher side of 3.

I really liked the cover art until I noticed the racist caricature which is blatantly not how the artist draws other people. It was cool to have all the songs represented on the cover like this; shame they made that decision which taints it a bit.

Wow, I watch Big Brother every summer (and one time there was an alliance called "The Moving Company"), yet I've never heard of this! Pretty wild! But I have heard of Janis Joplin (a.k.a. Janice from the muppets), and apparently this is a band she was in. Fine. In theory I like that the album cover is a comic, but in practice, I hate it very much. Other things I hate: "incorporated recordings of crowd noises to give the impression of a live album". Real live albums are bad enough, you don't need to laugh-track it!

All told, I like this a little better if I pretend it's Marge Simpson, but I still don't like it very much.

Highlights: 'Piece of My Heart', 'Turtle Blues'

The thing I don't understand is why they wanted to make a studio album sound live. Why not just record it live? Recording in the studio and adding crowd noise seems fake (bacause it is). And if you're in a studio why not use the facilities to get the best sound possible.

That being said, this was listenable, but I think it could have been done better and I didn't like being conned.

3.5/5. Janis Joplin’s vocals on this album are great, it feels like she was made for this type of bluesy music. Was also an interesting choice to try and make this sound like a live album even though most of it isn’t, the crowd sounds are edited in which is kind of funny to me. Not an all time favorite for me but I enjoyed it and I’m glad to got to hear it.

Nous sommes en 1968, et pour moi qui suis né en 1970, c’est une année de préhistoire, mais c’est surtout l’année où le rock a commencé à sentir sérieusement la sueur, le stupéfiant de contrebande et le soufre. On s’attaque aujourd'hui à "Cheap Thrills" de Big Brother & The Holding Company.

Alors, posons les bases : "Cheap Thrills" c'est du blues-rock psychédélique enregistré (ou faisant semblant de l'être, merci la production maligne de l'époque) au milieu d'une foule en délire. C’est gras, c’est lourd, et c’est exactement ce qu’il fallait à l'époque pour secouer les puces des mignons petits hippies de San Francisco.

Ma note ? 3 sur 5. Pourquoi pas plus ? Parce qu’on sent que le groupe est à la traîne. Janis Joplin est une force de la nature, une tornade de douleur et d’extase qui hurle ses tripes comme si sa vie en dépendait. Et derrière ? On a des musiciens qui font le job, certes, mais qui semblent parfois ramer pour suivre la cadence infernale imposée par leur chanteuse. On est à mille années-lumière de la Janis impériale qu’on découvrira plus tard, une fois débarrassée de ce carcan parfois un peu poussif.

L'album s’ouvre sur « Combination of the Two », mais soyons honnêtes, tout le monde attend le plat de résistance. « Piece of My Heart » est là pour nous rappeler que Janis n'était pas là pour faire de la figuration. Elle ne chante pas, elle supplie, elle engueule, elle explose. C'est viscéral. On sent déjà que Big Brother est devenu trop petit pour elle. C’est le syndrome classique : une étoile filante qui s'apprête à quitter l'orbite d'un groupe de bar, aussi bon soit-il.

Il y a bien sûr la pochette de Robert Crumb, ce génie irrévérencieux qui a parfaitement capturé l'esprit du disque : un joyeux bordel coloré, un peu vulgaire, totalement culte. C’est l’esthétique de Haight-Ashbury condensée en un carton carré.

Au final, "Cheap Thrills" reste un document historique fascinant. C'est l'acte de naissance d'une icône et l'acte de décès (artistique) d'un groupe qui ne s'en remettra jamais vraiment. C'est le brouillon génial d'une carrière qui allait devenir légendaire et tragiquement courte.

On le garde sous l'oreille pour la ferveur, pour « Ball and Chain » qui te retourne l'estomac, et pour cette impression d'assister à une explosion en direct. Mais pour la suite, on sait tous que le meilleur – et le pire – restait à venir.

Some classics, overall a great album, but I was reluctant to give it full marks - I'll stick with 4, to see if I can “escape” this hippie era a little :-)

Decent classic rock album. Probably ideal for a segment of driving through Kansas?

3.5

Perfectly adequate, though Joplin sometimes resembled Marge Simpson

Not bad. I liked the vocals and most of the music, but it wasn't anything spectacular. 3.5/5

Finally, the first great album of this year! Cheap Thrills is Janis Joplin's last album with Big Brother & The Holding Company and includes her signature song “Piece of My Heart.” It features a slightly overexcited Janis (during her solo career she developed an even stronger, somewhat clearer voice) and the well-known Hendrix-style band. This makes me think once again that it would have been only natural for Janis and Jimi to team up - if they had only lived through the 70s...

While I like the songs on this album, I don’t love them or the album overall. There is a bit too much jamming for my taste that’s better saved for an actual live show.

Jackie Jormp Jomp sure could sing, but there are to many songs like Turtle blues and roadblock that just make the album feel slow and dull.

I’m still not in love with her voice, but I actually enjoyed this more than Pearl.

I really liked this album, love the blues and the guitar work. Janis is always amazing. Piece of my Heart is so amazing.

Not sure I loved the pipped in crowd noise, but it does make an impact.

I'm torn between a 4 and a 5 on this one, but I haven't had a good album in a while, so It's going to get the 5.

Piece of my heart is great, but I'm not a huge fan of the rest. Joplin's voice borders on grating.

As amazing as Joplins vocal can be it gets grating here. 2.5/5. Raising to 3.

This confused me at first as i wasn’t aware Janis Joplin ever fronted a band and after reading this i was still surprised the sound of it.

I really like this. It is great blues rock with Joplin adding guttural vocals. The version of summertime is brilliant and as a 1-2 combo with Piece of my heart it doesn’t get much better. For some reason the bv and some guitar work reminds me of the Jimi Hendrix experience, which cant be bad.

It’s a lot heavier than i expected but showcases the vocals perfectly

I had clearly not had enough lsd before listening to this. Piece Of My Heart is great, everything else is fine I guess. The added crowd noise is a bit odd? Why would you bother?

Just not for me, but I'm not angry about it, so

2/5

No strong feelings about this really. Some good songs, but like a lot of the other 60s SF albums, I think you had to be there. I appreciate Janis Joplin's vocal talents, but don't really enjoy them that much.

Piece of My Heart is the obvious standout. Rest is hardgoing jammy bluesy rock though. And just not a huge fan of her voice