''Nice'' is a studio album by the American
rock band
Rollins Band
Rollins Band was an American rock band formed in Van Nuys, California. The band was active from 1987 to 2006 and was led by former Black Flag vocalist Henry Rollins. They are best known for the songs "Low Self Opinion" and " Liar", which both e ...
, released in 2001. It was their first album released on
Sanctuary Records. It was the Rollins Band's final studio album.
The band line-up was
Henry Rollins fronting the
blues rock
Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...
band
Mother Superior, whilst retaining the Rollins Band name.
Production
During the making of the album, Rollins was often flying in and out of
Vancouver, Canada to record parts for
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelv ...
's horror anthology show ''
Night Visions'', which he was the host of.
Critical reception
''
Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'' deemed the album "lukewarm metal oatmeal with funk raisins."
The ''
Cleveland Scene
The ''Cleveland Scene'' is an alternative weekly newspaper based in Cleveland, Ohio. The newspaper includes highlights of Cleveland-area arts, music, dining, and films, as well as classified advertising. The first edition of the newspaper was pub ...
'' called it "looser, calmer, and more varied in its sonic attack." The ''
Hartford Courant
The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...
'' wrote that "songs occasionally drift off into quiet blues-guitar passages, but they're inevitably interrupted by Rollins' brutish bellow, which often feels out of place." ''
CMJ New Music Monthly'' wrote that "it may not be a full return to relevance, but ''Nice'' does serve notice that Hank still, somehow, rules." In February 2002, ''
Pitchforks Dominique Leone gave the album a negative review, awarding it only a 3 out of 10. He wrote, "Henry Rollins' latest release, ''Nice'', is utterly irrelevant in the context of almost every other album reviewed at ''Pitchfork''. It's too macho to be indie, too rock to be punk, too 'in your face, to tha X-treme' to be current, too Guitar Center to be Amoeba. It is certainly too Rollins to be subtle or multi-dimensional."
''
Louder Sound'' ranked it as the worst Rollins Band album in 2022.
Track listing
#"One Shot" – 3:03
#"Up for It" – 4:39
#"Gone Inside the Zero" – 2:39
#"Hello" – 3:04
#"What's the Matter Man" – 2:58
#"Your Number Is One" – 4:27
#"Stop Look and Listen" – 1:48
#"I Want So Much More" – 3:42
#"Hangin' Around" – 5:25
#"Going Out Strange" – 4:51
#"We Walk Alone" – 3:59
#"Let That Devil Out" – 4:21
Bonus tracks
#
"Nowhere to Go but Inside" – 3:02
#"Too Much Rock and Roll" – 3:49
Australian edition
#"Soul Implant" – 4:57
#"Marcus Has Evil in Him – 4:00
Personnel
Rollins Band
* Henry Rollins – vocals
*Jim Wilson – guitar
*Marcus Blake – bass guitar
*Jason Mackenroth – drums, saxophone
with:
* Clif Norrell – trumpet
*Jackie Simley-Stevens, Valerie Pinkston, Maxayn Lewis, Sueann Carwell, Tyler Collins – backing vocals on "Up for It" and "I Want So Much More"
''Technical''
*Recorded at Cherokee Studios, Los Angeles, California
*Produced by Henry Rollins
*Engineered by Clif Norrell
Charts
References
External links
Mother Superior discography
Rollins Band albums
2001 albums
Sanctuary Records albums
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