Bill Hicks - Arizona Bay: Album Review

Bill Hicks, Arizona Bay (Rykodisc, 1997)
If, for some reason, you weren't already aware, Bill Hicks actually died about 10 years ago. In the last year that he was alive, he recorded enough material for two 2Pac-style posthumous albums, this one, a sort of weird mixture of comedy and music that was supposedly intended to be a sort of "comedy Dark Side of the Moon" and the next one, which I'll write about tomorrow that's really frickin' awesome.

GOODBYE YOU LIZARD SCUM

So Bill didn't really care for L.A. much, and I can't blame him. I couldn't imagine living in a town where it's always hot and sunny. I would never go outside. At least the chicks there are better looking though, I guess.

STEP ON THE GAS (L.A. RIOTS)

I actually always kinda wondered too why that guy Reginald Denny let those guys pull him out of his truck like that. Supposedly, he had been listening to country music and wasn't aware of what was going on, but I'm sure he could see the whole fucking city burning around him.

HOOLIGANS

England doesn't really have crime like we have it here. Every once in a while, a few hooligans will knock over a dust bin, but that's about it. Bill speculates that the few real crimes that they actually do have are probably American tourists. I wouldn't be surprised.

OFFICER NIGGER HATER

The cops in that Rodney King trial had balls so big, they had to carry them around in wheelbarrows. One of them was actually named Officer Nigger Hater. The other ones were Officer Coon and Officer Kick Darkie Down. Still, it's all in how you look at the tape.

AS LONG AS WE'RE TALKING SHELF LIFE (KENNEDY)

Bill claims the Kennedy assassination was his favorite topic and goes off into this little spiel about how it's an archetypical example of how the totalitarian government parcels out information in a manner in which people are left to form their opinions based on erroneous information, but then he realizes which meeting he's at (in other words, not the one at the docks). It's funnier when you actually hear it, and true.

THE ELEPHANT IS DEAD (BUSH)

It's kinda weird to listen to this bit about the time first Bush was defeated for reelection in 1992 with this election coming up so soon. It's also kinda sad in that we know now that the Republican Beast is never actually, it just goes away for a while and comes back that much stronger.

ME & SADDAM

Politcs really does make for strange bedfellows. I know if President Bush were to somehow electrocute himself or fall down a flight of stairs, I'd laughing my ass off right along with bin Laden and whoever.

BULLIES OF THE WORLD

Bill compares the U.S. to Jack Palance in the movie Shane throwing a pistol at the sheep herder's feet and saying, "Pick it up," just so he can have an excuse to shoot him. "You all saw him, he had a gun."

SHANE'S SONG

The songs on this thing are kinda retarded.

DINOSAURS IN THE BIBLE

Apparently, fundamentalist Christians believe the world is 12,000. But if that's the case, then why aren't there any dinosaurs in the bible. Did God leave dinosaur fossils all over the place just to fuck with us?

LIVING GOD

I'm not sure what the hell Bill was talking about when he referred to a "living god." He did a lot of drugs.

MARKETING & ADVERTISING

"If there's anybody here in marketing or advertising, kill yourself. Seriously." My degree is in marketing, but I work at a White Assholes, so I pretty much agree.

DON'T TALK FOR ME

Again with the music...

CLAM LAPPERS & SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

I'm pretty sure that whenever I'm 30, I'll still be watching porno and playing videogames, especially during Easter weekend. State of arrested development my ass. I was more developed than most people will ever be when I was 8.

SHE'S GOT A BROKEN HEART

Ooh, on this one Bill actually sings. Why, I don't know.

PUSSYWHIPPED SATAN

Satan probably wouldn't stand much of a chance against the average woman's ego. Also, I suppose it's heartening to know that even a stud like Bill Hicks occasionally had problems scoring with women. Not that I do, but, you know, if I did...

L.A. FALLS

A celevratory song about an earthquake in which L.A. falls into the sea creating the titular Arizona Bay.

ELVIS

Bill Hicks' Elvis and Charlie Hodge routine is one of the funnier things you'll ever hear. I can't really do it much justice just by writing about it, so I'm not really gonna bother.

Honestly, I don't think the idea of an album combining comedy and music like this really came off that well, but the material on this is still pretty fucking golden. I'd say it's worth checking out except that you can pretty easily find the audio from Bill's "Revelations" video which duplicates a lot of the material from this and I think is a somewhat better performance and without the music. Either way, you can't really go wrong.