1,001 Albums [I] Must Hear before [I] Die: 13

The "Chirping" Crickets - Buddy Holly and The Crickets

Is it just me, or does the lead singer of this band look just like Rivers Cuomo?

(Crowd groans).

Okay, now that that's out of my system...

I can clearly remember being a small child, rummaging through my parents record collection, turning on what ever caught my eye. This is exactly how I was introduced to, and became a fan of Buddy Holly. As a kid, for whatever reason, I was drawn to and loved this thick-rimmed-glasses-clad pop singer of the 1950s. So, the question is, having not listened to The Crickets in quite a while, does the music hold up from when I was a kid?

The answer, in short, is yes and no.

I certainly still enjoy it, and had a fantastic time listening to this album. The musicianship is over par, and the songs are great - almost every track is both memorable and fun.

However, at the same time, it's all a bit cheesy.

Music being cheesy is not a deal breaker for me, though. As a progressive rock fan, having just been playing along to Yes songs before doing this review, it would be ridiculous for me to say that I am turned off by music being cheesy, but I simply cannot ignore that The Crickets have a strong feta-esque aroma surrounding their music. Even back in the day in which rock and roll first came out, shrouded in controversy, and considered to be "the Devil's music", I can't see anyone finding this to be offensive in the slightest. It is almost the musical equivalent of a Disney movie. Everyone loves it, it's classic, there's nothing offensive about it, but it also lacks any challenge to it.

Long after the untimely death of bandleader Buddy Holly, the impact of his is still felt. The Beatles, arguably the greatest rock band ever (not my favorite rock band - although they're up there - I do recognize them as very likely being the greatest) even named their band to be a twist on 'The Crickets'. Buddy Holly and The Crickets defined and pioneered pop-rock, and every pop-rock band since, up to and including modern bands such as Maroon 5, owe more than just a bit to this band.

If you are not familiar with Buddy Holly's music, this is probably my favorite album of his and I certainly recommend it. If you are already familiar with his music, then I suppose you can skip this one, although I doubt you'd be disappointed if you don't.

P.S. - My girlfriend just noted that I reviewed my 13th of these 1,001 albums of Friday the 13th. That is pretty cool, I guess.