Cheap Thrills

This was sooo damn good woow

Fair warning - You have to like Janis Joplin’s voice. Personally I do, especially backed by Big Brother & The Holding Company. Piece of My Heart and Summertime are stand outs.

Album feels raw and rough around the edges. It also runs on a bit.

Janis sounds amazing, and it’s a gigantic step up from the debut.

4/5

A few songs I knew, a bunch I didn't but am glad I do now. Not quite sure why they made it sound like a live album (even the ones that aren't) but it kind of works.

Best asset is Janis, and her voice, but the whole thing is solid and flawless.

Sloppy psychadelia, loose let it all hang out acid rock based in blues. The bass provides a solid danceable foundation with some pretty deep grooves, the drummer kicks it along, and then the extremely awesome sounding fuzzy as hell squealing guitar and Janis Joplin take it turns wailing over the top (or not and both just go for it at once). I used to have a licorice-type reaction to Janis Joplin's vocals, but they've grown on me. She's maxing out, pushing her voice into the red: there's something earnest about the hoarse, scratchy delivery where you can hear the effort exceeding the limits of her ability. Nothing complex musically here but its very effective and one of the most enduring artifacts of hippy culture. The guitar on here is really great - that 60s Santana, loud and fuzzy reverby mostly pentatonic thing that gets epic/melodic and then descents into scattered squealing - basic as hell, but so much fun.

Favorites: Oh Sweet Mary, I Need a Man to Love, Ball and Chain, Peice of My Heart

Four gentlemen and one GREAT, great broad! A great band just cutting loose so nearly an hour, Janis at her most raspy begging you to take another piece of her heart, and you want to... But mainly they are gonna knock ya, rock ya, gonna sock it to ya now.

I never knew.

Joplin! Good times. Fun album cover too

Was not aware of this of Joplin in general. Very good! 3.71

Some blues. Some rock and roll. Good Stuff. I liked "Turtle Blues" the best.

“I guess i’m just like a turtle”

This album excited me because of Janis Joplin’s name on the album, but after reading the history of this band, how they brought her to the light and she left them in the dust, I have a little bit less respect for Mrs. Joplin.

For the first couple songs, I was really enjoying the album, and T4- Piece of my heart was such a great song to be able to hear in the context of the album (playlist song). another notable track is T5- Turtle blues (nice 12-bar blue). After 6 or so songs, everything started blending together with the Joplin vocals, although I really enjoyed the inspired guitar solos throughout the album. Album could’ve been a 4, and started that way, but I know i’d never listen to it again.

3/5

When I was in high school, I had a Janis Joplin greatest hits album. I enjoyed it until I convinced myself the only reason that I liked her was because I’m supposed to. Turns out that’s a shame, because I really liked this. The band was fantastic and the overall sound and energy was so fun.

Can't stand her voice. This album contains possibly the worst version of Summertime I've ever heard.

If you must make a fake live album, make the crowd sound consistent throughout the album. At some points it's a rowdy Fillmore crowd, at other times its a genteel dinner party. I spent half of Turtle Blues trying to figure out what they were discussing in the background.

Ik schreef eerder dat de rockstem van Janis niet zou misstaan in een stevige band. Blijkbaar kwam ze daar al vandaan, hoor ik nu. Het is inderdaad een fijne match. Af en toe schiet de balans er wat uit. Hoort er wellicht bij. Maar het kost het album wat mij betreft toch de vierde ster.

I surprise myself sometimes

This is eerily similar to the other Janis Joplin album on here when it comes to my opinions, that being that there's one especially notable song with the rest of it being not all too notable for me. I did like this album more, as some of the rock reminded me of other groups I enjoy and the such, but the fake "live" sound did start to annoy me near the end, and songs generally felt relatively similar. None of this makes this a bad album, because I can see the importance here, it just isn't my cup of tea musically.

I know this is sacrilege, but I think I really do not like Janis Joplin's vocal style. I don't mind raspy or gravely, and her baseline is totally fine! But it's specifically when she goes for high notes, her voice gets really *breathy* in addition to all that and it hits my ears badly. Like there's having a singing style, and then there's "this sounds like these notes are out of your range and you keep trying to go for them anyway"

La ignorancia es infinita. Es imposible saberlo todo. Descubro este disco, este grupo y aún más, descubro que aquí empezó Janis Joplin. Está "Piece of My Heart" así que no hay mucho que decir, no me ha enamorado el disco pero tiene canciones muy buenas que merecen escucharse.

Janis is the draw here for me. Without her, they'd be a competent blues band but nothing to catch my interest. But you know...it's Janis. Her voice, and that definitive live version of "Piece of My Heart"--classic vocal blues. At 37 minutes, this album is not a minute too short.

HL: "Piece of My Heart", "Oh, Sweet Mary", "Summertime"

February 18, 2023