TheMilford wrote:Hard Volume - AWESOME
Lifetime - AWESOME
Everything else - Meh
Rollins band - Not Crap on the merit of these two records alone.
I have to agree with you on this one. If nothing else, Rollins fed the families of Sim Caine and Andrew Weiss for a while, and this is an absolute good.
Even that Wartime record had some moments.
True Rollins Tale from the Jodi College Years Archive: When that Wartime record came out, I got to interview Rollins/Weiss a day or two before they were set to play at Saratoga Winners (as the Rollins band, with Fugazi!) - in a swanky hotel room paid for by Chrysalis, during CMJ.
Andrew was super nice to me, and we had an interesting conversation about choosing instruments/instruments choosing you, the worst diners in New Jersey, stuff like that. Every time I addressed a question to Rollins, he either ignored me or gave a sarcastic answer, and barely looked up from the magazine he was reading (I like to remember it as Muscle and Fitness, but it was probably something else.)
After about 35 minutes of mental farts from Henry, we wrapped it up. I interviewed a few more bands that day and returned to school in Albany.
The day of the Saratoga Winners show, the Rollins band came to my radio station, and since I was the engineer, I had to be present for their questioning. When they filed into the station, I got a big hug from Andrew, a very courteous handshake and smile from Sim, and the deadeye from Rollins.
As I led them back to the live room, Andrew asked why I had not said anything to him previously, to which I replied "Oh, I didn't think it would make a difference."
I sat them down, making sure Rollins got the chair with the poking springs in it, gave them each mics, and went to check levels. Then, under the pretext of adjusting something, I went back into the live room with a stack of magazines.
"I brought you some reading material, Mr. Rollins," I said, in the most unctuous voice I could muster "because I know how much you love answering questions. Just be careful not to get too close to the mic when you turn the pages."
The guys in the band laughed. Rollins did not.
I felt good.