Full Nelson Reilly

There's almost no way the Didjits could have repeated the genius of Hey Judester without divine intervention, and sure enough, on Full Nelson Reilly they don't quite top their own high-water mark. But they do come closer than they ever would again, and this album finds the Didjits in gloriously manic form. Short of a 3-D virtual reality hologram, no recording can capture the full rock spectacle of Rick Sims in performance mode (a man destined from birth to be one of God's own rock stars, regardless of his sales figures), but the best cuts here preserve his Nugent-on-speed guitar moves, his manic vocal presence, and his weird-ass sense of humor with remarkable accuracy, and his rhythm section is so good they can actually keep up with him. And two-minute bursts of genius like "Top Fuel," "Who's Ready to Get High," "Eat the Roach," and "Promise Not to Kill Anybody" merge punk fury, hard rock pomp, and post-adolescent snigger as well as anyone before or since; if Urge Overkill had the formula down this well, they really could have taken over the world (and Sims' fashion sense was at least the equal of Nash Kato). Great stuff from a band whose great moment didn't receive the notice it richly deserved. ~ Mark Deming