G. Love And Special Sauce

The special sauce is just ketchup and mayo mixed together.

I had never heard of this before, but my hopes were not high for this eponymously titled 90s white boy hip hop album by G. Love and Special Sauce. However, I should not judge an album by it's cover, nor its awful artist name, nor its generally questionable genre. This is reminiscent of music by Dirty Projectors with vocals by the Hiphopopotamus vs. the Rhymenoceros, and is really quite good (at least for the first 40 minutes or so). Cool, jazz infused, music with a great double bass sounding baselines, and easy enough vocals. At an hour long it could have done with losing the final third, which started to be a bit of a slog, but overall, I'm pleasantly surprised. Rating: 3.5/5 Playlist track: Blues Music Date listened: 08/07/23

Not very good 90s music. A must-listen to understand how mediocre some music can be.

I feel like if you were heavy into this guy, you might also be curious about bath salts?

Ah here's a band that I've heard so many references to, but have never actually heard a song from. Based on festival attendance, they run in a similar circle to the jam / indie bands that I like. The Things That I Used To Do opens up with a Cage the Elephant style spoke word snarl (understanding that these guys are predecessors). Super crunchy texture that I like out of the gate. Satisfying drum line with an equally comfortable bassline. Not something that would be single territory, but a low-key jam fit for a college house party. Blues Music takes over with a similar spoken word style through a reducer on top of a lazy drum and bass line. Creates a very chilled out atmosphere. Good music for munching Doritos. Garbage Man brings a little more attitude to the mix. This is about as head-bobbing as this album has gotten so far. I'm once again stricken by how similar this feels to Cage The Elephant. Digging the atmosphere. This would probably make for an awesome show song. Eyes Have Miles is a noodly number that stays in the same atmosphere. Instrumental is reminiscent of some less bright jazz / surf rock (mei ehara, robohands). Baby's Got Sauce flips into some bright guitar strokes and the most didactic vocals of the album so far. This is music tailor made for a middle of the day backyard summer kegger. I'm a little surprised this is the most popular song according to Spotify. Its a fine tune, but I actually prefer their more laid back songs so far. The chorus is kind of rough IMO. Rhyme for the Summertime is more effective IMO. It taps into the snare-tap drum beat paired with a surfy guitar tone that while brighter than most songs is still disappointed (minor) sounding. Feels similar to Mac Demarco a la This Old Dog. Cold Beverage is another head bobbing jam. Guaranteed crowd favorite that I'm sure helps to boost bar tabs. Simple concept, but honestly it works on the rawness of it all. Fatman follows this on with a fun little jam that lets things open up with a harmonica riff. Ends with some loose guitar noodling that segues into more reserved This Ain't Living. This Ain't Living feels like a more typical rock structure out of the gate; very effectively done. Walk To Slide is another standout in my mind. Love the lugubrious bassline that keeps things flowing / sliding all the way through. The echo on top of the sparkly guitar is a nice effect as well. This and Garbage Man are my favorites so far. Some Peoples Like That and Town To Town are both way down tempo crawls. Heavy blues influences shining through both. I enjoy both songs for what they are. Album finishes out with a traditional stripped down blues song with sparse acoustic guitar and hand clap making up the composition. This is a really pretty song and so far from where the rest of the album has been. I really enjoyed this album and see the appeal of G. Love. This is a rough and crunchy album that shows a decent amount of range, from the spoken word, almost rap like deliveries to traditional blues. Many of the songs sound like they are made for backyard barbeques or smoking a joint and watching cars drive by. I will absolutely come back for another listen. 4 leaning towards 5 / 5.

We’re on over 175 albums, and I keep going back to the title of this project. 1001 albums to listen to… before I die? THIS is an album I need to listen to? Before I die???? Didn’t like. I think there are better bands that do some of this. Give me any early Dispatch song, any record on any album, over this. This just feels like what is playing in a random coffee shop in Cambridge 20 years ago. I could tolerate it in that environment, but that’s as far as your gonna get me onboard. I found it monotonous and kind of tiresome. It does feel very adjacent to things I like, as a Vermonter. But that doesn’t make me like it. 2/5

Never heard of this guy, but, despite a couple of duff tracks, I really like his scrappy, laid-back sound. Beck without the weirdness, or Fun Lovin' Criminals without the cringe, or Beastie Boys without the boyish aggression.

I can enjoy 1-2 songs, listen to 4-5 of them, but by 6 I'm ready to drive off an overpass.

just the worst

G. LOVE!!!!!!!!!! I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the app and saw this album. Every party I went to from the mid 90s to the early aughts, this album was played at some point. Doesn’t matter where, Center City, University City, South Philly, the Great Northeast, and the burbs. I can’t believe this album is on this list. I’m breaking my 5 star rule. It’s supposed to be 5 stars go to the greatest albums of all time. I don’t know how many I will hand out but I gotta imagine it’ll be less than 10% Maybe around 5%, I dunno. This is not one of the greatest albums of all times. But it’s one of the most fun. It takes me back to a great time in my life. It’s getting 5 stars. I love me some G Love and Special Sauce. I can’t believe this is is on here.

The bluesy pseudo hip hop from the early-mid 90s really works for me. This is like a stripped down Beck from his Mellow Gold era. Best track: Cold Beverage

This album sounds like Rage Against the Machine if the rage was less about anger and more about just getting drunk and playing music with your buddies.

Not the biggest of fans but mostly enjoyed this.

There was a time in my life that I may have liked this more, but its not now

Got a bit too samey too quickly for me.

this is like if "guy who brings guitar to a party" was an entire band

loved this

I'm surprised they didn't get more popular, because this is the White Stripes before the White Stripes.

already heard it so many times

Fun album

Absolutely LOVED this - been listening to it now for days...

I actually love this album. I'm not sure it really counts as "hip hop" but it also doesn't fall cleanly into any genre - which is what makes it cool. It's simple, it's fun, it's well-executed. What's not to love?

Oh hell yeah dog this is what I'm talking about. A great example of a band that make being tight as fuck seem laid back and effortless. His voice is something else too. The whole thing exudes cool. I'm always trying to figure out what my definition of cool is, and this fits what ever that definition is. It feels like they hit something very special that so many 90s bands either totally overshot or way undercooked. Other bands who hit the same mark: Sublime, President of the United States of America, Beastie Boys... I sense a playlist coming on.

9/10 crazy good, like beastie boys meets bob dylan

5/5 Ska-ey and hip hop-ey, love it

LOVE it

Throughly enjoyed this one

One of my favorite albums and artists of all time. Such a phenomenally talented musician.

Still a banger

Very much and album of its time. The Slacker blues-jazz meets hip hop sloppy sound seems to have hit an epoch in '94 with similar sounding Beck and Bran Van 3000 popping up independently at the same time. I forgot how much I loved this post grunge break from seriousness

Loved this album, never heard of them before

Surprisingly enjoyable. His voice wasn't the best, but the music was great.

5 stars, funky and fresh.

Fun, Unique.

Niiiice! Didn't get introduced to this album till about 1997 or 98 but listened to this a lot in college. I've seen G Love in concert a couple times. He's still great

This takes me back. "Baby's Got Sauce," "Cold Beverages," "Rhyme for the Summertime"... So much to love here.

This was an interesting one. It's astonishing by how much rap music can be improved if you take out the cringey, forced toughness/gangsterism/toxicity. Still not sure if it can actually be called rap, but since I usually don't like rap, pushing the genre boundaries seems like a good thing to me. Rounded up from 3.5

Blues y hip-hop, una mezcla curiosa. Venga, un 4 por lo original.

Funky. Raw vocals. Favorite tracks: Baby's Got Sauce

Blues y hip-hop, una mezcla curiosa. Venga, un 4 por lo original.

Digging it. 4 stars.

This is my first encounter with this type of music, and to my surprise, it's not bad.

great album, unique with some funk, rock, r&b

Huh. This band slipped under the radar - it’s the right era, and right genre but I had never come across them. Growing up I’d have loved them - a bit of Beastie Boys, Sublime and a mellow JSBX - and the accent somehow is both grating and refreshing. Now I’ve kind of moved on from this blues / funk thing but still an interesting find for me.

I enjoyed this, Tessa and I used to listen to a lot of G love. In the early 2ks.

my levels of confusion here are through the roof. he's fucking insufferable with his whiteboy funk/rap shtick. But... for some reason i really enjoyed it. The rhythm section is really strong and give him his dues, he's pretty good on guitar and it all works together with his street lazy singing thing. i also love the really tight band that sounds sloppy thing. every problem i have with this band is his accent/ way of singing. Is this just what Philadelphia is like? everything i've heard of the place is that it's full of not rights.

I really enjoyed this a lot. Not sure if I’d listen to the whole album again but it was super cool

Oh wow, why have I never heard of this before? First song it’s on for an easy 5 stars. Laid back jazzy white boy hiphop. But it got old real quick, very little variation throughout the album drags it down to a 4. Super interesting to hear that this predated Beck and Fun Loving Criminals by a good few years through

I was really into this. Maybe it's not for everybody, but it has its own style which I enjoyed. Certainly has 90s sounds, but I don't mind that here.

I had a roommate in '94 who brought this home. We liked Beck's Mellow Gold so this fit right into the soundtrack. Good memories listening to this album.

was expecting something like Vanilla Ice, but not that definitely a nice surprise

perfect barbequeing music I love it 4.5 tbh

This thing fucking slaps. MAYBE IT'S THE SPECIAL SAUCE. It's gotta be the special sauce. I'm not so sure that I'd call what this dude does "rapping". He reminds me of a local band I saw in Nebraska of all places where they did Whole Lotta Love mixed with a lot of vocals similar to what G. Love is doing here. If he took off his shirt and wore a sock on his dick, he would have been bigger than Anthony Keidis.

There are many blues appendices in Anglo music, skirting genres longer-lived in this universe. G. Love and Special Sauce becomes ever so slightly caricatured near the end, but the bass puts on a strong anchoring performance, liveness to balance the hip-hop swirling. Slack, stoned, on the nose: The shtick works at least once.

Funky Rock, macht sehr viel Spaß

took me back to being in college

I hadn’t heard of this band. They sound like a really tight local band that holds the Saturday night residency at the coolest bar in town.

It sounds like a super fun bar band, one you're not expecting when you go out, but aren't upset about listening to while you're enjoying your time. It runs a bit long, but I enjoyed the loose, sounds-very-unpracticed-but-is-really-probably-super-practiced style. It runs a little long, but call it a 3.5, bumping up because Philly, baby. Favorite tracks: "She's Got Sauce", "Cold Beverage"

I had never heard this before, but I enjoyed. I’d say 3.5 stars

Lots of great jams but a bit long in my opinion.

really of the time.... gets a bit old

At this stage of the 1001 if we get more hip hop it better be alt. This one is and is enjoyable even as background music which is how I listened to it

Brings back some fantastic memories. A place I used to work played this all if the time - especially 'Baby's got sauce'. Beautiful oddities the sounds created on this. Inventive and quirky. Well worth a listen.

I got to see G Love once. When this album broke so it has a lot of sentimental value to me. Great record

Solid

Just plain basic funk. Who doesn't love this?

This album was played by my friends so much in the 90's I never needed to own it. At the time of release it was nice blend of genres and with some unique production, perhaps it sounds dated now. Blues Music sits on a few of my playlists but it's an album I don't every listen too. 3.5 for me but given he was raised in Philly that's enough to bump it to a 4.

Love the funky music

A catchy fun album that grows on you! I’m glad it was on the list!

3.5

90s sloppy Philly hip-hop, what's not to love?

Mycket bättre än det borde vara

pretty solid makes good use of dynamics, mixing and mastering are pretty solid. I enjoyed the mixture of the rap vocals over blusier elements. overall pretty good would recommend to fans of incubus

This is so unique and only possible in the 90’s

Not bad.

That’s a fun listen

Heavy dose of nostalgia with this one. Great fun

Take either the voice or melody away and you have crap. Perfect combination.

Fun, funky album.

Need a nice Cold Beverage for when I listen to this one while I’m driving from Town to Town.

Liked this a lot. Chill out jammy rock sounds, hip hop style lyrics. Very understated.

The music itself is good. Good bluesy sound mixed with a blend of blues and hip-hoppy vocals. A lot of the songs sounded the same, however, which made it feel repetitive at some points. Overall good album, though.

I never heard of these guys but I actually really liked the album. Drummer was great and unique guitar almost like a mix between black keys, cake, and cage the elephant plus toned down rap/talking vocals.

Great unplugged-indie sound. Did not know the band and it is definitely a great discovery and addition to my playlist.

Reminded me of a british sublime

allez +1 pr la jolie voix

Disco raro, muy de guitarra acústica y voz rota. Safa.

Enjoyed what they were getting at, but there were a lot of duds. High 3

Ik houd hier wel van. Net geen vier sterren omdat ik het iets teveel van hetzelfde vond.

dit kon ik boven verwachting goed hebben! 2x gedraaid zelfs. Mooi open geluid.

Best lekker die swampy funk, maar iets teveel van hetzelfde.

I'll probably be seeing these dudes in OC later this year. I have no clue what I expected from this. Kinda thought it would be more Jack Johnson-ey? Realized I only said this because he covers a song by them. Digging the first 2 songs though. Blues Musak is solid. Pretty interesting rekkid. Definitely a different type of hip hop and honestly pretty surprised this came out in 94. I think I'll see them. I can see it being Citizen Cope-like.

Started out fairly solid, and never really deviated from solid. Some cool hip-hop sounds to begin and moved a bit more towards blues. Good listen, nothing spectacular to me though.

i liked it! v chill although maybe a bit same-y. unsure if this is really an album u need to listen to before u die though?

Ok so based on the cover and title, here is my grand prediction: this is going to be a PG-rated version of Fun Lovin' Criminals/Everlast. PRETTY MUCH NAILED IT. A bit jazzier, but overall I'm satisfied with my guess there. I imagine this is what happens when you give a poor kid a scholarship to a music school, or when rich a music school kid gets into weed a few years too early. 3/5.

There's definitely style, but it gets a bit repetitive.

Aina hienoa ku taustat on oikeilla instrumenteilla soitettuja. Hauskaa ja rentoa meininkiä

En muistaakseni ole tällaisesta bändistä ennen kuullutkaan. Rento meno ja pitää joskus ihan ajan kanssa kuunnella uusiksi kun jono on saatu kurottua kiinni.

Average 3/5

I don't know why this album cover and title is so familiar. The music certainly isn't. It's fine.