Amplifier Magazine, May-June 2002 issue

The Knack
Live From the Rock 'n Roll Funhouse
Zen Records
www.image-entertainment.com

"Whatever happened to fun?" once asked '80s pop/metal/hair band Candy. The long-awaited answer to that question can be found in spades on The Knack's first official live CD release, the aptly titled Live From the Rock 'n Roll Funhouse.

Throughout the disc the band is tighter than a buck private's bunk sheets, and lead singer Doug Fieger's vocal chops still rank among the best in the business. While the usual suspects are here ("My Sharona," "Good Girls Don't," "Baby Talks Dirty") lesser known but no less worthy Knack tracks such as "Oh Tara," "That's What the Little Girls Do," and "(Havin' a) Rave Up" keep spirits from flagging, as well. Knack kneophytes and fans who haven't kept up with the band's latter-day output (shame on you!) will be quite pleasantly surprised by "Pop is Dead," "Harder on You" and "Can I Borrow a Kiss" from 1998's criminally overlooked Zoom. The uncharacteristically tender "One Day at a Time," from the otherwise forgettable Serious Fun album (later revived on last years' Normal as the Next Guy) particularly shines-Fieger's yearning vocal perfectly matches the song's melancholy mood.

Arguably best of all is the disc's closer, a torrid "Tequila" which morphs into "Break On Through (to the Other Side)"--quite an apt pairing, when you think about it. Not reigned in by the Knack's recorded version of the song(s), guitarist Berton Averre flexes his chops and takes the rest of the band along for the ride.

-- Rick Schadelbauer