The Mr. T Experience - The Miracle of Shame 12" - Pink Vinyl

Sounds Rad (2024, Reissue)

Until this 12" reissue came out at the end of last year, I don't think I've listened to this five song Mr. T Experience EP aside from one time right when it came out back in the year 2000.  I didn't like it then, so I didn't listen to it again and it just ended up in my CD rack with the rest.  Now it's back with its first ever release on vinyl.  I commend Sounds Rad for finally getting this out there, but I do feel there are other Mr. T Experience reissues that I would have preferred be tackled first.

As much as Alcatraz was a departure from Revenge Is Sweet and So Are You, The Miracle Of Shame is so different from the rest of the MTX catalog up to that point that 25 years later, I still don't really know what to make of it.  For the kind of music that it is, it's well done and Frank's lyrics are as sharp as ever.  But it's very unlike most of what came before it.

There's the breezy, jangle of "Spy vs Spy" and "Leave The Thinking To The Smart People."  Things go a little more power pop on "Mr. Ramones."  The distortion kicks in more fully on "Stephanies Of The World Unite," but it's got a vaguely psychedelic vibe and a wacky fuzzed out outro.  The EP wraps up with the acoustic "Don’t Know Where Dan Treacy Lives."  All of these are good songs, but they're not really what I personally want from the Mr. T Experience.  It's a curveball in their discography that my peabrain still isn't able to process correctly, as it wants something faster and louder.

That said, the reissue is lovingly done as usual, with the five songs occupying the A side of the 12" and an etching of the cover art on the B side.  I'll also always support more CD only albums getting the vinyl treatment.  I picked it up because I will pick up all of these reissues.  I like Mr. T Experience more than enough to give up the money and shelf space required to have this record in the collection to keep it complete.

The Mr. T Experience - The Miracle of Shame:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kZA6E82qSeWJNFlIRFIM2XL4uM-Pygez4

Dr. Frank - Show Business Is My Life LP - 180g Vinyl (/200)

Sounds Rad (2024, Reissue)

It's taken me way too long to write about the Sounds Rad reissue of this Dr. Frank record.  It came out last year and is (sort of?) part of the Sounds Rad Mr. T Experience reissue campaign.  I'm eagerly waiting for the next entry in that series.  It's been a little quiet lately, but I keep hoping the next one announced will be Making Things With Light.  Maybe my favorite Mr. T Experience record, but definitely the one I would really like to hear a remastered and spruced up version of.

But today, we have the Dr. Frank solo record from 1999.  I remember after Love As Dead had come out there were already rumors and scuttlebutt about a Dr. Frank solo record.  Based on the recent string of acoustic songs on Mr. T Experience records, I had assumed that a solo record would be more of that with just Frank and a guitar.

What we got instead was a record of predominantly full band rock songs that to be honest, mostly don't really sound all that different from the Mr. T Experience records of the era.  I was really disappointed by this at the time and truthfully, I didn't really listen to the record all that often.  As the years went by, I didn't remember much from it aside from the "Knock Knock" song, which was admittedly fun.

When the reissue was announced, I was again kind of disappointed that it was 'taking' a spot from a Mr. T Experience album that could have been released instead.  But, I didn't have this on vinyl and figured it was time to give the album a shot again.  Especially as all of the Sounds Rad reissues have been excellent, and the die cut vinyl sleeve on this one was particularly cool looking.  And I'm glad I did, it's better than I remember it being and listening to it without a preconceived notion of what I thought it should be let me appreciate the record more for what it is.

In a lot of ways, I think it's an even stronger record than Revenge Is Sweet And So Are You, another one that I didn't appreciate as much at the time, but ended up enjoying more when I went back to it many years later.  It's more varied in sound and kind of has a ramshackle mix tape sort of vibe to it as opposed to the glossiness of Revenge.  And there are a handful of acoustic songs on here too, so it's not like that section was completely ignored or anything.

In hindsight, I should have given this album more of a chance 25 years ago, but I had less patience back then and was always looking for that next amazing thing.  A lot of times, I never found it and ignored some pretty good stuff that was sitting right under my nose.

Dr. Frank - Show Business Is My Life:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mFjGDEION3dzNaLpeg99Nt7EV_suLDB9k

The Mr. T Experience - Road to Ruin LP - Yellow Vinyl (/300)

 

Sounds Rad (2023, Reissue)

I'm a much bigger fan of The Mr. T Experience than I am of the Ramones.  I know the Ramones' hits and they range from 'fine' to 'pretty great,' but they aren't a band that I ever connected with and I think part of that is just because of my age.  They were an older band and I was more focused on what was going on around me during my formative years than I was about what was going on in the past.  And on top of that, they weren't old enough for my parents to care about them, so I didn't hear them growing up like I did The Beatles, Electric Light Orchestra, Tom Petty and that sort of thing.  The Ramones were just in that sweet spot where they were somewhat invisible to me.

The Mr. T Experience, on the other hand, was front and center in my life, particularly in 1998 when I was twenty-one and the original version of this album was released.  Clearview Records was doing a gimmick where they were having bands cover entire Ramones albums and when Road To Ruin was up, The Mr. T Experience stepped to the plate.  I have the original version of this from when it first came out.  It had a felt cover and was on split color vinyl.  I remember being psyched that I had gotten my hands on the limited, fancy-pants version, though I don't actually remember listening to it very much.

Now that I have this newly re-released and revitalized version, I'm still not sure it's going to be an album that I revisit with a ton of frequency.  It is better than I remember it being and I think a lot of that is because of how they spruced up the way everything sounds.  It's much fuller where it needs to be and brighter in the other spots.  MTX does a perfectly serviceable job on these songs, though I can't pretend to be super familiar with several of the originals.  "I Wanna Be Sedated" is still a lot of fun, no matter what band is playing it.

It's a little perplexing to me why this album was prioritized so high on the list in the Sounds Rad reissue series.  It certainly should be reissued, of course, but if you were to ask me, there are other albums I would have put in line before it.  Regardless, it's important to own and I'm happy to still be getting the 'dibs' versions of these albums.  I am eagerly awaiting the earlier Mr. T Experience albums, in particular, and am hopeful that Making Things With Light is coming very soon.

The Mr. T Experience - Road to Ruin:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nbhaCiozW08Qk06GzudRNQd8bQ0Hg6xP8